Since 1974 when Rod and Joan MacGregor first ventured to coastal Maine to source live lobster for the NYC restaurant trade, Lobster Place Seafood and Specialty has been a trusted partner to the city’s best commercial kitchens. From humble beginnings in an Upper West Side storefront, we’ve grown to become one of the largest and most respected fishmongers in the New York metropolitan area. In 2021 we merged with boutique specialty food distributor Gourmet Cargo adding a growing line of gourmet foods and beverages to our line.

We’re proud of our SQF-certified processing facility which ensures top-notch food safety, cleanliness, and sourcing transparency. It reflects our thorough and professional approach to delivering the freshest, highest quality products to foodservice and retail outlets across New York City, Westchester County, Fairfield County, the Hudson Valley, and New Jersey

Still family-owned, the business has been run by Rod and Joan’s son, Ian, since 2002. We also own LP Hospitality Group – operators of Lobster Place Seafood Hall and Cull and Pistol Oyster Bar -so every day we walk a mile in our foodservice customer’s shoes. This informs our goal of focusing on on-time delivery of pristine products – so you can focus on delighting your guests and customers.

We have gone through some of the most rigorous food safety and sustainability certification processes in the industry to guarantee quality and safety for our customers.

Ocean Wise

The Ocean Wise Seafood Program helps ensure healthy oceans for generations to come. By partnering with Ocean Wise, we’re committed to promoting sustainable seafood across our business. The Ocean Wise symbol next to a seafood item is an assurance of ocean-friendly seafood choice.

Marine & Aquaculture Stewardship Councils (MSC/ASC) Chain of Custody Certification

The Marine Stewardship Council and Aquaculture Stewardship Council are independent third party organizations that certify the sustainability of wild caught and farm raised seafood products. Their rigorous sustainability standards for how seafood is caught or farmed give you peace of mind about your sourcing decisions.

Safe Quality Food (Level II)

The Safe Quality Food (SQF) Program is a rigorous and credible 3rd party food safety and quality program that is recognized by retailers, brand owners, and food service providers world-wide.

Lobster Place Wholesale is the only full-service seafood processor/distributor in New York City to achieve SQF certification. This means that our HACCP, sanitation, and food safety procedures are audited by a third-party inspector annually to ensure you receive properly labeled, fresh, clean seafood that makes food safety a top priority.

As a family business, relationships with other organizations and nonprofits has always been important to our mission. Whether it’s through donations or another type of more tactical support, we work with organizations focused on sustainability and equity.

Billion Oyster Project

Billion Oyster Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring oyster reefs to the New York Harbor through educational initiatives. As the BOP Shell Collection Operator, we collect discarded oyster shells from over 70 restaurants and markets around New York City (including our own Seafood Market inside of Chelsea Market) so they can be used to seed new oyster beds.

James Beard Foundation Smart Catch

The Smart Catch program provides training and support to chefs so they can serve seafood fished or farmed in environmentally-responsible ways. By becoming a Smart Catch Leader and earning the Smart Catch seal, chefs give consumers a simple way to identify and support their restaurants. As a smart catch supplier, Lobster Place Wholesale furnishes Smart Catch Leaders with detailed information about the sustainability rating of every product we offer.

Stewardship is a Lobster Place core value. We have implemented a number of initiatives and practices in our Wholesale division to minimize our impact on the local environment:

Solar Power

Our warehouse is equipped with solar panels that generate 89,000 kWh of electricity each year which reduces our carbon footprint by over 60 tons per annum.

Ozone Sanitizing Water

We continuously sanitize our processing facility using O3-infused processing water which virtually eliminates the need for harsh chemical sanitizers.

Fish Scrap Recycling

We divert thousands of pounds of fish scraps out of the waste stream and send it to processors who make pet food, fertilizer, and other useful bi-products.

Reusable & Recyclable Delivery Packaging

We are constantly developing and improving our re-usable and re-cyclable delivery packaging to minimize our footprint in the waste stream.