The oyster farm that runs on solar power
Meet Tal Petty of Hollywood Oyster Co
Tal Petty admits that he was “delusional” thinking it would be easy to go from a hobby farmer to a professional oyster farmer. But despite all the challenges, the 62-year-old from Maryland in the US is still at it.
“I had been hobby farming for over five years when I maxed out the number of oysters I was able to grow. Then the aquaculture legislation in Maryland was enabled and I decided to go commercial,” he says.
“I was completely delusional to think that I could easily go from having a desk job in the city to being a farmer, but the challenges are the same in any small business; raise capital, hire a team, and market and sell the product.”
Tal has a few different products, the primary brands being the Hollywood Oyster, and the Sweet Jesus oyster.
Tal Petty and his premium oyster brands
“The Hollywood Oyster for example, is a sweet tasting oyster grown in the Patuxent River in cages in the water column, off the bottom and not floating. It has a nice distinct melon note with mineral hints and a clean finish,” he says.
“Chesapeake Bay is one of the biggest estuaries in the world. Closer to the ocean it’s saltier, and further up the bay it’s sweeter. We are in the upper reaches of the bay and each creek has its own distinct flavour. Hogs Neck Creek has a clay, sandy bottom lined with fossilized rock, which contributes to the unique taste of the oyster. The thing about an aquaculture oyster compared to a wild one is you know it's grown on a specific lease area and the merroir (marine terroir) of that taste is unique to that area and farm.”
Tal grows the Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) and farms them to develop a deep cup with a thicker shell, which is the desired aesthetic for the local market.
“Oyster farming is hard work. These are hand-crafted oysters that are touched many times in their two-year year life cycle. We tumble the baskets to develop the deeper cup, which holds more meat,” he says.
“In Chesapeake Bay we typically use cages on the bottom. It’s the highest volume of oysters in a container that can be lifted by machines and people. The flavor is already there, so it’s about maximizing the volume to grow.”
Bottom cage on the Hollywood Oysters farm being returned to the water
Hollywood Oyster Co is a family business and in 2015 they decided to switch to solar power.
“Our family has always been interested in its green footprint. Sustainability is important because we have the opportunity to leave the world a better place,” Tal says.
From a business point of view, it’s also been a smart investment.
“It is ‘virtually metered’ with the local electricity company, so we are still connected to the grid. We use 90% of produced electricity for the oyster farm and regular farm. That includes all the machinery, office equipment, processing gear, and even the refrigerated cool room. We just paid off the investment this year. Going forward, the farm entities are treated as ‘customers’ and the family gets an income from the power generated,” he says.
“There were no real downsides. The biggest task was to translate the five electric meter consumption and three ‘customers’ to the 72kW solar system.”
Hollywood Oyster Co's 72KW solar farm
As a businessman, Tal is always on the lookout for economies of scale and efficiencies, which is why he signed up to SmartOysters three years ago.
“On a farm our size, with well over 1,000 cages in the water with oysters of all different sizes and ages, inventory management is everything,” he says.
“The farming team can update cages in and out in real time and we can aggregate that. We can look at our overall inventory from the portal/dashboard and assess it easily. It saves us a s#@% tonne of time.
“Most farms go from a whiteboard to excel spreadsheets to inventory software now. Quite simply, it was a waste of time maintaining the excel spreadsheet, it was onerous and took too much time.
“SmartOysters saves us money because of the efficiencies of planning productivity. I’m the owner/manager, I have a really good farm General Manager and a really good packing house Manager, and the app gives everybody on the team instant access to farming information on a micro and macro basis.
“It gives all of us on the team a sense of security over our farming inventory.”
Click here to learn more about this amazing farm. Feeling hungry? Order yourself some amazing Hollywood Oysters via their online shop today!
Click here to learn more about this amazing farm. Feeling hungry? Order yourself some amazing Hollywood Oysters via their online shop today!
