Being invited onto TV’s Shark Tank is one accomplishment, but still being successful nearly 15 years later is another.

Cousins Maine Lobster was originally seen on the Shark Tank show in 2012, featuring cousins Jim Tselikis and Sabin Lomac. It has grown to more than 70 food trucks and restaurant locations combined nationwide.

Now Columbians can savor the deep-sea version of the delicacy from Maine.

The West Coast-based company franchised and opened a permanent food truck in Columbia. The truck, owned by long-time business partners Matt Cobb and Dave Blosser, launched Feb. 28 at the Fireflies’ Segra Park.

“A huge part of our menu is bringing the Maine food experience down here to the community, and then we’re all about service and fun,” Blosser said. “Matt and I have really encouraged our team (to) bring the energy, bring the fun, and let’s have a great time with this business.”

The cousins who started the business had a food truck in Los Angeles, California, before being approached about being on Shark Tank, Blosser said. The cousins’ goal was to bring family traditions from Maine to other states. Barbara Corcoran, a judge and investor on the show, helped make that happen. She told the cousins they needed to franchise.

Throughout their journey, the partners and their franchisees have been able to continue putting family first, Blosser said. 

“We love the family-first mindset and culture and just thought this would be a great opportunity to bring a really cool franchise, bring something that isn’t easy to come by,” Blosser said. “This is our way to bring this Maine menu to Columbia and throughout the state of South Carolina.”

Cobb’s daughter Madison is also a co-owner, and his other daughter might help out as well while she is a student at the University of South Carolina.

Blosser’s family may pitch in to help through the administrative side, Cobb said. 

“It’s a chance to kind of pass that knowledge down and give them a chance to dip their toe in the pool, so to speak, in the business ownership world – and kind of just help them get off the ground and be successful financially,” Cobb said.

Cobb and Blosser hope to continue that success with a bigger presence in the Southeast. The LA cousins allow each franchise owner to try and expand as much as possible to become successful, too.

There are plans to have more food trucks in Georgia and Alabama, Cobb said. They wanted to claim as much land as possible for the future.

“We have a long-term strategy going into this,” Cobb said. “This was not an ‘open up a single food truck and operate that truck.’ We’re going to build this into a larger-scale business down the road.”