OYSTER SALES DELIVER

SUCCESRETAIL

LOVE for Pacific oysters grew in the six months to June, delivering listed business Angel Seafood record half-year sales and a 46 per cent boost in revenue.

REWREWARDO

The Coffin Bay-based South Australian business, backed by billionaire investor

Alex Waislitz’s Thorney Opportunities

YSTER SALEWS

Group and top rural fund and 11 per cent shareholder Laguna Bay Pastoral Company, reported sales of 4.7 million oysters, up from 3.2 million in the previous corresponding period.

The demand reflected the traditionally strong summer surge through to Easter, but was also a validation of Angel’s strategy to pivot its sales towards more retail channels.

Sales of shucked oysters through wholesalers to supermarkets and other fresh food markets made up 70 per cent of sales. Pre-covid, Angel sold 90 per cent of its oysters through hotels and restaurants.

In late June, it started Halo Club, bringing the “fine dining experience to home” where members pay $100 monthly for a box of three dozen live oysters plus condiments.

Revenue from oyster sales during the half-year increased to $3.6m while earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortisation rose 166 per cent to $1.3m.

The group reported a half-year profit of $489,000, up from a $160,000 loss in the previous corresponding period.

Angel Seafood chief executive and founder Zac Halman said the results were pleasing during a period of “increasing change and uncertainty”.

Angel Seafood chief executive and founder Zac Halman’s company has acquired oyster leases around Port Lincoln in South Australia, including at the sought-after Coffin Bay and Smoky Bay oyster hubs.