Joffrey Dubault believes he can make the world his oyster – a raspberry or ginger flavoured one, that is, reports Bloomberg.
The 29-year-old French farmer of the shelled seafood began selling flavoured oysters two months ago to entice youngsters who are less enamored of the delicacy than their parents or grandparents. While local connoisseurs are turning their noses up at the idea, Dubault is shipping them by the crates to places as far as Hong Kong.
“I thought that if there’s no need to get the lemon separately, it’ll tempt a younger crowd to have oysters with pre-dinner drinks” Dubault said over the phone between two deliveries. “It turns out that restaurants in China, Dubai, Spain, Belgium and Italy fell for the idea.”
As the festive season reaches its peak in Europe, his farm in Marennes, on the French Atlantic coast, is shipping one to two tonnes of flavoured oysters a day, with a taste of lemon or shallot, or sweet wine, ginger or raspberry. Although Dubault has signed a contract with a French supermarket supplier, about 60 percent of his oysters are going abroad.
“In France, flavoured oysters are an entry level product; but in Asia, there’s high demand, so they can be sold at a much higher price by exclusive restaurants or wholesalers,” Dubault said. Flavoured oysters sell for up 15 euros ($18) a dozen. They already represent more than a quarter of his oyster sales and Dubault expects to double sales next year.
The son of an oyster farmer, Dubault grew up in oyster territory on the island of Oleron, on the Atlantic coast. Like most local youngsters, he turned to the sea when he hit the job market, fishing for shells until he got started with oyster farming in 2013. He sold his produce mostly in Parisian markets.
Although Dubault came up with the idea of flavoured oysters a while ago, getting the method just right took some time: he soaks the oysters in flavoured seawater for between two and 12 hours depending on the aroma.
Dubault knew he had a winner when he took his product in April to the largest European gathering for the trade, the Brussels Seafood fair, and found curious Chinese restaurants owners stopping by his stand.
With a pretty small oyster farm – 2 hectares compared with the country’s average of 5 hectares – Dubault is having to buy oysters from neighbouring farms to keep up with demand. The contacts he made at the fair have brought in an avalanche of orders since he started production in October.