Lobster roll craze drives wholesale prices of the crustacean to an 11-year high
Wholesale lobster prices have hit an 11-year high following a burst in popularity in lobster rolls and the now-affordable luxury gracing the menus of more and more casual dining chains.
Lobster is now worth $6 (£4.80) a pound, according to US data group Urner Barry.
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Groups such as B.O.B Lobster and Lobster London have helped popularise the seafood as pop-ups and urban street food markets have boomed in popularity.
Turnover at restaurant group Burger & Lobster rose by 42 per cent to £25.2m in the 53 weeks to 4 January 2015, according to the group's latest accounts filed on Companies House.
"The lobster roll 'phenomenon' has created excess demand for lobster meat," chief executive of US group East Coast Seafoods, Michael Tourkistas, told the Financial Times.
Lobster prices fell to less than $4 in 2009, as the effects of the financial crisis took their toll on the expensive seafood and populations on the east coast of the US flourished in warmer waters.
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The majority of lobster we consume in the UK comes from North America, though a much smaller number is caught off the British coastline.
Once the mainstay of New England and coastal towns, demand for lobster rolls has boomed in the UK in the last few years (Source: Getty)