East Coast Shellfish Growers Association June 2024 Newsletter

Member Profile:
Ben Lloyd, Pangea Shellfish and
Standish Shore Oysters
by Robert Rheault,
ECSGA Executive Director
It was a treat to catch up with
Ben Lloyd recently and to hear
about how his shellfish dealer
business in Boston’s Seaport
District has been doing. Ben
and I go way back to when he
worked on my farm while he
was a student at the University
of Rhode Island. After graduating
in 1998, Ben left Rhode
Island and started working for a
Boston area seafood wholesaler,
where he learned the ropes of
buying and selling seafood to
area restaurants. He remembers
that at the time, “you could feel
the oyster industry starting to
blossom. More farms were being
permitted and the restaurant
industry was demanding a larger
variety of high-quality oysters.”
In 2001 Ben founded Pangea
Shellfish Company, where he
was one of my best customers
for many years until I sold the
farm. He recalls that he saw an
opening to focus on what he
knew best, setting out to become,
“the best Boston-based
shellfish wholesaler [specializing]
in providing high-quality
oysters from all over the U.S.
and Canada. That’s us in a
nutshell.”
Through the years Ben and I
have been able to check in with
each other briefly when I visited
his well-stocked booth at
the Boston Seafood Show. But
with all the distractions at the
shows, we never were able have
in-depth conversations about the
business. That all changed earlier
this year when Ben stepped
up to become the ECSGA’s new
treasurer. His laid-back affect
and cheery disposition belie the
huge number of irons he has
in the fire, so I was pleasantly
surprised that he agreed to take
on the role.
In addition to overseeing the
ever-growing dealer operation
in Boston, Ben has been running
Standish Shore Oysters in
Duxbury, Massachusetts, for the
past 15 years, and is a partner
in Blish Point Oyster Farm in
Barnstable. Managing 32 fulltime
and a dozen part-time employees
while raising three kids
and two Saint Bernards keeps
him busy.
Pangea focuses almost exclusively
on shellfish (with some
urchin and crab thrown in),
and Ben estimates that oysters
account for about 75% of
the business. His approach to
marketing is uniquely effective:
while many dealers simply show
a price list, Ben goes to great
lengths to describe each of the
104 varieties he sells, taking the
time to educate consumers on
“Oysterology ® ,” with elaborate
descriptions of flavor, culture
methods, and even details about
the growers and their stories.
Nevertheless, Ben says he
doesn’t really need to do much
marketing. “After 23 years in the
business, we have developed a
good reputation and now we can
rely mostly on word-of-mouth
references. We display most
years at the Boston Seafood
Show [Seafood Expo North
America], which is a great way
Made in Brunswick, Maine
info@topmeproducts.com
www.topmeproducts.com
KATHY RHODES/AQUATECNICS
ECSGA Treasurer and Pangea
Shellfish owner Ben Lloyd (R) and
account manager Charlie Canty
preside over an impressive display
of shellfish at the Seafood Expo
North America held in Boston in
March. Pangea’s marketing approach
relies on educating consumers
about “Oysterology,” with detailed
descriptions of flavor, culture
methods and growers’ stories.
to reach a larger market. We are
also on social media, but admittedly,
we are usually too busy to
keep up with it,” he said.
For Ben, the best part of the
job is dealing with great people.
“Shellfish growers tend to be
very humble and down to earth.
I think growing oysters can do
that to you!” He can’t imagine
himself working in a different
industry, and points out that,
“growers have to work with
Mother Nature and she is always
giving them challenges. Storms,
rainfall closures, ice and heat are
always throwing wrenches in
the supply chain, so matching
supply and demand is a constant
balancing act.”
Ben was one of the early adopters
in building a wet-storage
system to help modulate supply
and demand. He noted that wet
storage is key to keeping mussels
and West Coast oysters in
prime condition for customers.
Although he says that Pangea’s
prime mission is to “keep fighting
the battle each day to provide
the best oysters in Boston,”
the team works constantly to
expand the variety of products
on offer to keep things fresh for
customers. “Our motto is: The
oyster is our World, and we are
always looking for new highquality
oysters and shellfish,”
Ben said.
—Continued on page 6
ECSGA Newsletter
Page 2 Issue 2 June 2024