I bumped into Matt Jacobson at the Portland Chamber’s gubernatorial debate, and as always, he had something interesting to say. The former president of Maine & Co. (and a gubernatorial candidate himself in 2010), he is now heading up the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, a new organization trying to stoke a global appetite for lobster.

Hired in July, Jacobson said his first order of business was enlisting Technomic, a food industry consultancy, to assess how many restaurants across the nation have Maine lobster on their menus. It’s a little crazy that Maine can count the lobsters its exports because of trade regulations, “but has no idea how many restaurants in say, Pittsburgh, feature Maine lobster,” he said.

Maine’s 300 or so lobster processors and dealers tend to be a tight-lipped bunch when it comes to their customers. But Jacobson said to create a sound marketing policy, he needs information derived from real data.

Technomic will gather data for a year. It will detail where lobster appears on a menu, whether it’s listed as Maine lobster, and whether it’s listed as an entrée or an appetizer. Analyzing that data will tell the collaborative where lobster is already a market staple. If it already has a toehold in the local culinary scene, the collaborative can focus on branding Maine lobster, Jacobson said. If lobster doesn’t have a presence, marketing efforts can introduce it to a whole new fan base.

The other revelation he expects is information on competitors and market correlations. Research shows that culinary markets with a strong preference for crab legs also tend to be good markets for lobster. Same thing with chocolate mousse.

“These correlations will help us pick our target markets,” Jacobson said.

Chocolate mousse and lobster? Who knew?

LICKING THE COMPETITION

Here’s a luscious accolade: Gifford’s Famous Ice Cream is Maine’s retailer of the year, according to a release from the Retail Association of Maine. The organization’s board of directors will bestow the recognition on the Skowhegan-based ice cream company at its annual meeting Thursday.

“Gifford’s Famous Ice Cream is an iconic Maine brand. However, their commitment to using Maine ingredients wherever possible and branding their product line with Maine themes helps extend the Maine brand beyond our state border,” said Curtis Picard, executive director of the Retail Association of Maine. “Gifford’s recent expansion to the mid-Atlantic region will help generate millions of new Gifford’s ice cream fans.”

The fifth-generation family-owned company was selected because of its growth, commitment to supporting Maine through products, purchasing and branding, and its support of the community, which includes donating 10 percent of its profits to organizations that support healthy kids.

WHITE HOUSE RECOGNITION

David Bartage, plant finance manager for Tambrands, the tampon manufacturer in Auburn, was honored at the White House this week as a Champion of Change for his work integrating people with disabilities into the workforce at the plant’s new FlexiCenter. The FlexiCenter handles special and custom orders for Tambrands, which is the only Tampax maker in North America.

Anyone from Lewiston-Auburn knows what a big player Tambrands is in the local economy. Since 1997, Tambrands’ parent company, Procter & Gamble, has invested $350 million into the plant, with an additional $11 million in 2012 that created the FlexiCenter expansion. The company employs about 450 people. And here’s a fun fact: If you attend an L-A chamber event sponsored by Tambrands, you often get a 10-pack of tampons as swag.

Bartage designed flexible and tailored work schedules that accommodate workers with disabilities, who now account for about 40 percent of the workers in that division, and who work beside workers without disabilities. The workers are given competitive wages and undergo training for their duties.

Tambrands executives traveled to South Carolina to see how a similar program developed by Walgreens worked and adopted it for their manufacturing process.

It’s a great model other companies should consider. Unemployment among the disabled is about three times the rate of unemployment in the rest of the population. With some thought and accommodation, they can be a terrific addition to a labor force.

Business Editor Carol Coultas can be contacted at 791-6460 or at:

ccoultas@pressherald.com