Angel Seafood, biggest southern hemisphere organic oyster farmer, on Eyre Peninsula, taken over in 2022
Founder and CEO Zac Halman (top) of Angel Seafood that in 2020 extended its oyster farming leases on Eyre Peninsula, producing organic oysters.
Main image by Robert Lang
South Australian Coffin Bay oyster company Angel Seafood ceased trading on the Australian Securities Exchange after a $32 million takeover by Queensland agribusiness fund managers Laguna Bay in 2022.
Angel’s founder and chief executive Zac Halman retained a significant proportion of his shareholding and remained involved in the business.
Angel Seafood gained extra leases in Cowell and Coffin Bay on Eyre Peninsula in 2020 to boost production by 20% to 12 million Pacific oysters a year.
Already the southern hemisphere’s largest certified organic and sustainable Pacific oysters producer, Angel Seafood in 2020 fast tracked plans to build a retail sales for its Coffin Bay oysters after restaurants closed due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Angel's growth strategy was to ultimately double its annual production to 20 million oysters; increase productivity and lower costs; and build its brand to improve oyster pricing. Angel’s added 6.25 hectares – 4.25ha in Coffin Bay and 2ha in Cowell – included about 2ha with existing quality infrastructure that would immediately increase production from 10 million to 12 million oysters per annum.
Zac Halman said demand for its premium organic oysters had continued to grow.
The Port Lincoln-headquartered company also announced the trial of a biodynamic oyster farming system, called FlipFarm, in Coffin Bay. This modern biodynamic farming method, tried successfully in New Zealand, had the potential to be a game changer for Angel’s productivity and cost cutting and perfectly aligned with Angel’s values of organic and sustainable oyster farming.
Eyre Peninsula, about 250km west of Adelaide, was known as Australia’s seafood frontier and was a premium producer of tuna, abalone, oysters, lobster and kingfish for global export markets.