Among the last producers of 100% natural Oléron oysters, a couple nearing retirement are looking for a buyer

More than nine out of ten oyster farmers raise and market triploid oysters, bivalve molluscs with three sets of chromosomes and artificially created to gain a year of growth. Contrary to these current practices, a tiny handful of professionals still follow in the footsteps of their ancestors by banking on truly natural oysters caught at sea, while others purchase triploids from nurseries and hatcheries.

At the head of Huîtres du Cayens, Nathalie and Mickaël Poirier are among these rare stubborn oyster farmers. Based in Dolus-d’Oléron (Charente-Maritime), on the Arceau channel, this fifty-year-old couple has even made it their “hobby horse” and their only business card. “Our spat are collected near Île Madame. The breeding is carried out off the coast of Dolus-d’Oléron and the finishing of the oysters is carried out at Château-d’Oléron”, underline Nathalie and Mickaël Poirier, proud to offer “a 100% Oléronaise oyster”. This demanding commitment would have ended up paying off, they assure: “Yes, it’s worth it! People want quality. »

Betting on oysters caught in the open sea – and therefore diploid by nature – requires more effort. “Sizing remains the most complicated step: you have to separate the small oysters from each other when you collect the spat,” explains Mickaël Poirier. This choice also requires 3 years of patience when two years are enough for their competitors. “But that’s not necessarily a handicap. This gives us more time to manage our stocks, to slow down or accelerate the productivity of our parks,” estimates this oyster farmer, who took over and expanded the family business with his wife Nathalie.

Twelve points of sale in Île-de-France

To sell 95% of their production, both have always relied on direct sales and supply twelve points of sale in Paris and the Ile-de-France region. “It’s the only way to promote a product that has value,” insist Nathalie and Mickaël Poirier, who spend every weekend, “from September 15 to April 15,” on the country’s roads.

Without a successor, the Cayens – the name formerly given in the Oléron dialect to local oyster farmers – would see a page turn, the one that made the reputation of the island of Oléron.