Oyster business developing laser etching technology for authentication

Tasmanian Oyster Co has been awarded a $233,225 grant from the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre to develop a laser etching system to track and identify its oysters.

The project is aimed at delivering a system to differentiate Australian-grown Pacific oysters from mass-farmed, commodity varieties, using a CO2 laser to etch a brand mark on shells.

According to the company — formerly known as Shellfish Culture — this will allow it to increase product to price density by $5 per dozen oysters sold, increase revenues by $3.5 million annually, and add $7 million to the Tasmanian oyster industry “through the new authentication and marketing possibilities” and export growth.

“We think Australian oysters are some of the best in the world, but being able to market overseas is very difficult,” said Simon Rechner, Tasmanian Oyster Co.’s project manager.

“An oyster sold in Singapore, Japan and Australia, without something on it to say where it comes from, could be from anywhere – our new technology changes that and gives us a great opportunity post-COVID to grow our brand.”

Managing Director of AMGC, Dr Jens Goennemann, said the oyster business would add value to their product via adopting advanced technology, streamline processing, increasing their export potential for their oysters “and possibly, even exports of the new technology.”

Picture: Tasmanian Oyster Co

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