Australia’s Oyster Coast has been named this year’s Sydney Rock Oyster Champion by the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales at the Sydney Royal Fine Food Show.
The oyster business won the title for its Appellation oysters at Merimbula Bistro in addition to multiple medals including two gold medals (90+ points) for Appellation oysters at both Merimbula Bistro and Wapengo in NSW.
The judging panel were made up of 15 industry experts including Australian chefs Sean Connolly, Josh Niland and Richard Purdue with a judging training program modelled from the Sydney Royal Wine Show.
“There was unanimous consensus amongst the judging panel regarding the successful oyster champion,” says Sydney Royal Chair Judge John Susman.
“To be able to produce that quality of oyster given the growing conditions this year is a testament to the business. Australia’s Oyster Coast should be supremely proud of what it has achieved.”
60 per cent of marks in the competition are given based on taste and flavour while the remaining 40 per cent is allocated based on visual appearance.
The Sydney Royal Fine Food Show point-based system awards gold, silver and bronze medals to those that receive over a benchmark score, with the gold medal recipients in each class judged once more to identify the winner.
Australia’s Oyster Coast Chief Executive Officer Devin Watson stated that the result came from the hard work and effort from the company’s teams, despite recent natural disasters providing less than ideal weather conditions.
“The 2022 results show that we can produce a high quality and consistent product despite the challenges we face as oyster farmers,” says Watson. “Our Merimbula and Wapengo teams nailed the quality and should be very proud.”
Full results of the competition can be read here.
Image Credit: Three Blue Ducks