CLYDE River oyster farmers Ben and John Ralston are involved in a new international tourism campaign, which aims to showcase the South Coast’s food and wine experiences.
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The campaign features a range of Australia’s seafood, restaurants, produce, people, food events, food trails and wine stories.
The local oyster farmers said they decided to become involved in the campaign to lift the profile of oysters and oyster famers in Australia.
“I’m a fifth generation farmer, and we have never had the respect or appreciation as having a world recognised job,” Ben said.
“Being involved in things like restaurant Australia changes that approach and makes us look like we are professional and at the top end of the market, which is how we should be recognised.
“I want to get oysters recognised and respected as high quality product within Australia.”
The Ralston brothers are also a part of Australia’s Oyster Coast (AOC), a tourism endeavour set up from the Shoalhaven to the Victorian border.
As part of AOC, the brothers are keen to promote an oyster trail between the eight estuaries in the region, allowing tourists to explore and gain a better understanding of the industry.
“The trail came about as one of the objectives the oyster farmers involved wanted to happen,” Ben said.
“I recognised overseas that tourism is increasingly flowing towards farms.
“In one of many cases, an oyster farmer from the Netherlands opened up his doors to the public and in his second year being opened has had 50,000 customers through his farm.
“To know that these trends are happening around the world and that there is such a huge interest, if we can promote this region right we will have international visitors on our farms before we know it.
“The community and everyone will benefit from it because the tourists will be spending money in our town.”
Ben said the oysters that came from the Clyde River were unique because of the pristine environment and high quality standards.
“We have, by far, the highest quality oysters standards in the world,” Ben said.
“All that’s left for us to do now is promote our oysters and farms on the world stage so we can achieve amazing recognition and demand for our world class oysters.”
