Larry's value out of the water: $8.00
Value after staying at LobsterWorld: $9.30
Value after staying at Tangier (aka lobster spa): $11.60
Value after flying FedEx: $14.40
Value after passing through wholesaler: $17.40
Value on plate: $52.20
It looks as though the 'voodoo' (if there is any) of lobster economics is mainly set by the restaurant who marks up the product.
Just because a meal is expensive doesn't mean it suddenly pays more of the rent. It's the profit margin while he's making a loss on other meal.
If all those diners had bought a $40 meal instead, the rent would not have magically decreased.
An excellent lobster dinner for $30 is good value. I now knew, however, that the actual cost of Larry was barely $10 a pound. But that’s the formula in the restaurant business. “On the industry standard theory,” Chris said, “a third of what you sell it for is food cost.”
Restaurant Man by Joe Bastianich:
http://www.amazon.com/Restaurant-Man-Joe-Bastianich/dp/B00B9...
Linen is the number-one evil, because it is expensive and no one pays for it. Same with bread and butter. ... paying a dollar and a quarter for a tablecloth and thirty-five cents for each napkin that someone gets dirty before they even have their first drink is a drag.