A new method of shucking oysters, developed in Australia, will make the opening process easier and also present marketing opportunities, according to its creator.
Simmonds Seafood Marketing Agencies came up with the idea of creating an opening for a shucking knife by shaving the lips of oysters’ shells. Those openings are sealed with wax until the oysters are shucked, along the oyster to remain alive and for branding opportunities on the wax seal.
“Most oysters are opened, half shelled and then sent to restaurants and hotels. You only get three or four days life out of the product whereas with the new process you probably get 10 to 12 days life out of the product, which is a huge benefit,” inventor and oyster marketer Bob Simmonds told The Lead, a news site covering South Australia.
Simmonds sells 18 to 20 million oysters annually under the trade name Oyster Bob. He has worked with Australia’s Fisheries Research and Development Corporation to patent the process, and is developing machines to automate the shaving technique.
Simmonds said the new process has “great potential” for both the export and retail market in Australia and beyond.
“Now at retail level we can put them in a dozen pack and people can take them home and open them themselves easily at a dinner party or whatever it may be,” Simmonds said. “It’s also the novelty factor of doing something a bit different too. Having it live at the table and branded are the essential ingredient to me.”
