Farm Fresh ~ Crystal Coast Oysters

FARM FRESH: GETTING TO THE MEAT OF SOUTHERN OYSTER FARMS

Lots of folks in lots of industries do some on-the-job training. But when Kyle Frey and Phillip Lannan started Crystal Coast Oysters in North Carolina, they were the definition of learning as you go. “Our first harvest, we scrubbed the oysters with toothbrushes,” Frey says. “We had no idea.”

That was 2019, but the initial spark for the duo’s farm was struck several years earlier, when Frey was working at a waterfront oyster bar in Morehead City (one of several cities that line North Carolina’s Crystal Coast area) and the State of North Carolina was actively recruiting oyster-farm candidates, trying to jump-start the growth of the oyster aquaculture industry in its waters. “They gave a lease to the owner of the restaurant, but he handed the operation over to me, and I just fell in love with it,” Frey says. He worked the farm for one seed-to-harvest cycle, all the while enjoying it but wondering: Would the oysters sell? “I told myself, if they do, if this works, then I’m going into this industry.” Eighteen months later, every oyster on that farm sold. “I was sold too,” Frey says.

He began applying for leases, and in the meantime, moved back inland, to Raleigh, to finish college; he was studying finance and risk management and working at Lowe’s. When he got his lease, he founded his farm, starting small and commuting to Morehead City to tend to his oysters every weekend. When his business reached a point where he could do it fulltime, he moved to the Crystal Coast and did. “And here we are,” Frey says.

After Frey had begun, but before he made his farm’s first sale, an old friend joined him. “I was at a party and met back up with Phillip, who’d I’d known in high school growing up in Cary, but had not seen in 10 years,” Frey says. As they caught up, and Frey shared “what he was doing now,” Lannan was intrigued. When Frey said he needed some help, Lannan jumped in. “And then I decided to do it fulltime,” Lannan says. And then they cleaned oysters, one-by-one, with a toothbrush. “We know now there are better, faster ways,” Frey laughs.

Their knowledge has increased; so too have sales. “That first year, we sold about 15,000 oysters,” Frey says. “From then to today, we’ve sold about 550,000 oysters, with about 125,000 so far this year. So, we are growing exponentially.” And they’ve set a high goal for 2023. “I’m planting 1.7 million this year for next year; I want to sell 1 million.”

Friends Kyle Frey and Phillip Lannan of North Carolina’s Crystal Coast Oysters had a shucking good time at the 2022 OS Symposium.

Crystal Coast Oyster’s primary markets are restaurants up and down the N.C. coast, as well as locals, who they sell to directly. “Most of the restaurants in this area and the people buying them, they want a bigger 4-inch oyster,” Frey says. “There are not a lot of raw bars, and the individuals buying them, a lot of them are doing oyster roasts.” Their oysters also go via a distributor to restaurants in Charlotte and Raleigh, while Lannan and Frey make the drive down to Charleston themselves. “Bowen’s Island Restaurant, a really old seafood spot there, buys a lot of our oysters. We’re also in Tempest and Chubby Fish, and Husk in Savannah has been a big supporter and buyer too. We actually met them through Oyster South, and they are very consistent customers.”

Lannan and Frey say their particular recipe for success relies on equal parts organization, location and continually seizing learning opportunities. “I have learned I have to be organized. You’ve got to keep everything, gear and such, clean,” Frey says. “If you don't do that all along, you will have issues on the back end. You get what you put into it.”

He also praises the farm’s main lease in the Newport River. “The river has been known for its wild oysters for centuries, and most of the leases on the river are for tongers harvesting wild oysters; we’re one of the only cultured farms on the river, but being there keeps fouling way down, and we’ve found that oysters on our river lease grow the best and in taste, they outshine all the others.”

The friends also credit Oyster South for providing access to information that has proven valuable for their farm. “We were doing bottom cages at first, but after learning more about off-bottom through Oyster South, we realized we needed to research more about that.” Now, Crystal Coast uses a hybrid approach, starting seed in its bottom cages, then when the oysters reach about an inch, moving them to floating bags. “When they get pretty heavy on the line, we move them back down to the bottom cages at the end,” Frey says.

And their secret sauce? Enthusiasm. Passion and excitement for what you’re pursuing can go a long way. Spend just a few minutes with these guys, particularly when they’re proudly shucking and serving their product, and you can tell, they mean it when they say they love what they do. It’s a sentiment they share often. “I don’t feel like I work; it’s like I retired four years ago when I started this. I go out on my boat all the time and have such freedom. It’s a pretty magical spot to be in at my age,” Frey says. (He’s just shy of 30.) “I feel like I’m at summer camp,” Lannan says. “That’s been a running joke since we started, and the goal now is to just keep that feeling going.”