Oyster promotion in Australia is in its infancy. While some of the large, vertically integrated companies have developed promotional campaigns, these are largely confined to social media platforms, and in-person events. There has never been national effort to promote these beautiful briny bivalves.
Following the black-summer bushfires of 2019-20, closely followed by Covid lockdowns, there was genuine concern about an over-supply of oysters. Many growers reported running out of gear and room on their farm to accommodate ballooning stock volumes. During this period, one in six growers in New South Wales reported disposing of oysters to make room available for juvenile stock.
Marketing advice was commissioned, and efforts made to initiate a national oyster promotional campaign. Ultimately, this advice was only taken up by one state, who has consequently invested in an oyster promotional campaign, focused on point-of-sale materials and in-person tasting events.
Through the in-person tasting events, over 500 seafood consumers were surveyed, eliciting interesting insights about oyster consumption, buying patterns, industry understanding, and the roadblocks that stand in the way of boosting oyster sales.
This presentation will focus on the results of the survey and start to pull-apart how these insights can help guide future oyster marketing initiatives.