The Co-Founders of SoPo Seafood
SoPo Seafood is owned and operated by Matt Brown (Sales Director), Lucas Myers (Operations Director), and Joshua Edgcombe (Marketing Director).
Matt Brown
Co-Founder - Director of Sales & Purchasing
Matt is a native Mainer who grew up on Munjoy Hill in Portland - he was always connected to the Atlantic ocean, swimming, and fishing in Casco Bay. His first jobs were in seafood restaurants, cooking, and preparing seafood in classic New England fashion. After cooking in restaurants through high school, Matt pursued his passion for the culinary arts at Southern Maine Community College.
Matt has spent nearly 30 years in the Maine Seafood and hospitality industry and feels that everything in his career has been leading up to the point of owning and operating his own seafood business. He has sourced and sold seafood in Maine for nearly 20 years and has become trusted by the areas leading chefs as an honest, trustworthy, and resourceful fishmonger.
Having studied Culinary Arts and worked in kitchens, Matt understands and sympathises with the daily challenges and stresses of chefs and seafood purchasers. This has led to the desire to help chefs in a sincere, value-driven, and customer service focused way.
Matt's passion for the local seafood and culinary industry is embodied by the many hours of voluntary service he has offered over the years. He has served as the secretary for the Casco Bay Branch of the American Culinary Federation and thoroughly enjoyed teaching cooking classes to under-privileged and under-served communities with Cooking Matters Maine. Matt's passion for the local food community, food insecurity issues, and feeding people was on full display in his stint as the Chef and Culinary Advisor for Good Shepard Food Bank.
Matt has collaborated with many local chefs over the years at fundraisers and charity dinners. Volunteering his time and being part of the local community is a mission Matt feels strongly about at SoPo.
Lucas Myers
Co-Founder - Director of Operations
Lucas has been heavily involved in the seafood and hospitality industry of Maine for over 20 years. Lucas began his career in Maine seafood when he became a sales rep for a nationally acclaimed Portland seafood company in the 1990’s. He would eventually work his way up to sales manager, where he managed daily fresh inventory, a sales team, and 100's of wholesale accounts.
In 2014, Lucas decided it was time for him to pursue his own small business dreams, so he founded O’Oysters. O’Oysters is a Mobile Oyster Bar servicing southern Maine – you may have seen Lucas around shucking and serving delicious oysters over the last few years.
Spurred by the continuing success of O’Oyster, combined with his entrepreneurial spirit, Lucas decided to become a founding member and the Operations Director of SoPo Seafood. Lucas manages the daily operations of the company and works to make SoPo as efficient and effective as possible.
Lucas has many passions, one of those is for finding sustainable solutions for the sourcing and shipping of seafood. If there is a more environmentally friendly, more energy efficient way of conducting our business, Lucas will make it happen.
Lucas achieved his Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy at Skidmore College in the mid 1990’s.
Joshua Edgcombe
Co-Founder - Director of Marketing
Josh is a Maine transplant, having moved to the USA in 2016 from London, England. He moved to be with his now wife, Karen, to a small town in Midcoast Maine called Edgecomb. The coastal town is located on the Damariscotta River, and this is where Josh’s passion and love affair with the Maine Seafood industry began.
Karen’s family were/are Lobstermen, fishing on the Damariscotta River. Her family have lived and worked from the same land in Edgecomb for 300 plus years. Josh got the opportunity to go out lobstering as a sternman for one of Karen’s family members. Getting to experience working out on the water and living, for a brief time, the fisherman’s life, left a profound affect on Josh.
When Josh moved to Portland, Maine he sought out a job in the seafood industry, eventually landing a marketing and sales role at a prominent national seafood supplier and distributor. He now got to experience the seafood supply chain in action, from the sourcing of fresh product to its selling and then shipping. He loved it!
Josh is excited to continue his journey in the Maine Seafood industry by co-founding SoPo Seafood. He is excited about connecting with fisherman and seafood communities up and down the coast that work daily to bring fantastic product to market. He hopes the success of SoPo can help these local communities thrive.
Josh was educated in England, successfully completing a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree in History.