Kaipara Oysters have enjoyed a very good first year in the European market with orders for the organic shellfish coming in from all over the continent.
This new brand of New Zealand oyster (Crassostrea gigas) was revealed to the European market at the end of April 2010, at the European Seafood Exposition, held in Brussels, Belgium, where it was also shortlisted for an award in the Prix d’Elite Best New Products Competition.
The oysters quickly won a number of foodservice and retail orders, and family-run Kaipara Oysters believes the product could be especially popular over the coming Christmas and New Year holiday period.
The company said an indication of the high regard the oysters have earned in just a short space of time came with the product’s placement on the menu at this year’s Wimbledon Tennis Championships. They were selected for the event by the Compass Group UK & Ireland, one of Europe’s largest professional caterers.
Recommended and provided by Direct Seafoods, part of the Seafood Holdings group and a premium supplier of sustainable seafood to British chefs, the oysters impressed Compass with their eating quality, ease of use and safety.
“At Direct Seafoods, we believe these oysters could revolutionise the whole category. Kaipara harvests and packs their oysters the moment they reach their peak condition. They are then delivered in their perfect state, which means consumers everywhere can enjoy top class oysters regardless of the season,” said Direct Seafoods’ sustainability director Laky Zervudachi.
Kaipara Oysters are produced in the strong, pristine waters of the outer Kaipara Harbour on the northwest side of North Island in New Zealand.
They are produced exclusively by Kaipara Oysters, and are organic-certified under the Asure Quality organic certification programme. This also allows the oysters to be marketed as compliant under European ‘BIO’ standards.
The company’s farm and factory are fully approved by the world’s most exacting food safety and public health agencies, including the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Union (EU) and the Japanese Ministry of Health & Welfare.
Each oyster is individually selected and size-graded to offer the most consistent appearance throughout a batch.
