Since the inception of West Passage Oysters, our mission has been clear: take care of the environment, produce delicious and nutritious food, and cultivate a community of loyal oyster lovers.  Luckily, we have been able to accomplish all of these things since we began in 2017. Up to this point, we have focused on wholesale orders to our local food co-op and restaurants with the goal of eventually selling directly to the public.

We want our growing business to reflect and uphold the core values that brought us here in the first place.  To that end, we have explored direct-to-customer sales, and have been committed to finding shipping materials that uphold our ethics of environmental stewardship and sustainability.  We need to deliver fresh oysters directly to your door, and in order to do that, we need reliable packaging that will keep them COLD throughout their 24-hr journey.



Until recently, the only cost-effective packaging option that also kept food frosty was Styrofoam.  We have always rejected this option as a long-term solution, because it’s production leaves a huge carbon footprint, and the final product is nearly impossible to recycle.  As much as we have wanted to expand our business to meet the growing demand, we have refused to degrade the environment along the way. We got into farming because of our love of nature, and we aren’t about to expand at the peril of exactly the thing we love most. 

Through much hard work, research, and sampling, we have finally found a material that we love, crafted by a company we can get behind.  Behold: Alta, a Nationally Certified Woman-Owned Small Business Enterprise that is helping to change the face of sustainable shipping in our country.  The shipping panels produced by Alta are made from recyclable paper-product that can be taken out with your daily recycling. In fact, in most instances, their packaging is already 100% post-consumer content.  The material is cost-comparable to Styrofoam and incurs minimal injury to the planet, a far cry from the results of Styrofoam creation and decomposition. 

https://altapackaging.com/recyclable-insulated-shipping-liners/

Alta has a minimum order requirement of 5,000 panels per order, which comes to $5,000.  Due to the fact that our current wholesale business model is at a complete standstill due to COVID-19, we need your help to invest in this new shipping material. 

Would you consider supporting West Passage Oysters, and the team behind it, by chipping in whatever you can to help us source this product? Every contribution--big or small--makes a difference.  

   


Please help us reach our goal of $5,000 to place a bulk order of Alta packaging to get this eco-friendly show on the road and the oysters you love to your front door without wrecking the only planet that we’ve got!


We are grateful for gifts of any amount.  Below are tiers of giving - special rewards for different payment brackets: 

$1 - $50 (The Buoy):
A hand-written thank you note from the West Passage Oyster family in the mail

$51 - $250 (The Dinghy):
All of the above plus…
Secret surprise West Passage Oyster swag

$251 - $500 (The Skiff):
All of the above plus…
A West Passage Oyster Sweatshirt

$501 - $1,000 (The Barge):
All of the above plus...
A West Passage Oysters shucking kit: including 2-dozen oysters and shucking knife added to your first order

$1,001 - $2,500 (The Lighthouse):
All of the above plus...
A private farm tour with Graham Watson, farm founder, once social distancing subsides

$2,501 and up (The U.S. Comfort):
All of the above plus...
250 oysters freshly shucked at your home by shucking master Graham Watson