What It Takes to Grow Four Million Oysters From 1.5 Billion Larvae | WSJ Operating Costs

Ward Oyster Co. is one of the largest cage oyster farms and hatcheries on the East Coast, selling 4 million oysters and tens of millions of oyster larvae each year. But it takes two years for the oysters to mature, and in that time, a lot can go wrong. To recoup its large operating costs, Ward sells both market oysters, eye larvae and other seed to other aquaculture companies. What are the biggest costs facing this huge farm and hatchery?
WSJ takes an inside look into the complicated web of processes that helps raise millions of oysters each year.
0:00 Ward Oyster Company
1:03 Royalties
1:40 Utilities
2:33 Staff
4:26 Repairs
5:05 Insurance
6:18 Supplies
7:22 Capital expenditures
#Oysters #Food #WSJ

[@MrBumbo90]

I LOVE this concept. Please make more of these operating cost videos.

[@dianapennepacker6854]

I don't understand oysters or clams. I heard they are tasteless or taste like seawater. Yet can be incredibly risky compared to many other foods to eat. Yet breeding them seems to be good due to the way they clean where they are farmed. They also can keep algae populations down which is incredibly important as algae blooms or red tides are wiping out entire swathes of the ocean. That is only getting worse as humans keep messing with the ocean. Like the sheer amount of nitrogen and phosphorous going into it from agriculture.

[@GodzHammer]

Costs are quite interesting...but without providing a range of potential revenue it's kind of pointless. Okay you spend X amount - but what can you maybe expect to return on said investment???

[@jbranche8024]

@GodzHammer I believe you mean earnings or profit, revenue is sales. I believe with all the different grades, sizes, and volume produced the market price could vary substantially. Excellent video, I will appreciate and savor oyster a lot more knowing what they take to produce.

[@superkas]

Along with Metric System addition would be awesome!

[@DaveWasHere112]

This definitely had an “Insider” feel to the video. The explanations and layout is all like theirs.

[@Scottingham]

definitely a rip, but I'm here for it if it's more like this one!

[@housemana]

@@Scottingham great art is stolen art, scotty my guy!

[@nix007100]

I was waiting for the part where they spoke about their profit margins😢 they omitted that altogether

[@henrytenden]

In agriculture especially oysters farming there is no such thing as "profit margin" since the yields are unpredictable and vary greatly from time to time. You get what you can get. That's it. One bad weather or diseases can easily wipe off all of their years of hard work..!!

[@Bigjoe99]

Its actually the hatchery that makes money in fact, keeping the operation afloat which is typical of large aquaculture operations.. Its the same for Salmon, shrimp etc.

[@obtuseangler768]

In a gold rush only a couple miners in 10,000 ever struck it rich whereas if you had water to sell to miners down the hill you were assured to get rich. So you were always better building sluiceways than working a lease with a sluicebox, every time😊

[@Sjalabais]

What a beautifully enlightening presentation! I end up rooting for the company and its fortunes.

[@Strykenine]

Nice to see this positive US business story. Also, I love oysters so it's nice to know where they come from.

[@oystermasterguild]

This is a fantastic piece! We will definitely be sharing it with our oyster appreciation course students.

[@Maliceless100]

Companies with a conscience. Thought-provoking and entertaining video.

[@carrisasteveinnes1596]

I wonder when the "elites" and deep state criminals set about destroying this valued food producer, like they are doing with production facilities, crops, poultry, cattle, seed and fertilisers, water and power supply and transport networks. Resist agenda 2030, WEF, IMF, WHO, global central government and digital currency, and climate doom myths. Trump 2024, to save America. And the world too, it seems.

[@jerrynadler2883]

Restaurants buy them for 0.4 cents then turn around and sell you an oyster platter for $35, and you have to pay their employees with tips.

[@DanielMcCauley-up7oq]

.4$ not cents

[@BrightthgirB]

​@@DanielMcCauley-up7oqwhat?

[@DanielMcCauley-up7oq]

@@BrightthgirB .4 dollars not cents I assume I meant. Not watching again.

[@shane_rm1025]

Love videos like this, where you learn about a business/industry you never think of. It'slike "how it's made" but modernized.

[@Pikapal1]

This is way way more labor intensive and costly than Pacific cultivation on the west coast ...

[@nagasako7]

That's why Japanese oysters and West Coast oysters are majority of oyster markets.

[@The_Savage_Wombat]

I think the costs were overstated. It looks like a highly profitable business.

[@carrisasteveinnes1596]

Hard men work harder, and reap the rewards and satisfaction of their strength and skill.

[@ndb_1982]

😂 Completely different environments. Of course it is different.

[@laykhom3212]

Good vibes loving it. Thanks

[@hteacave]

Let's eat more oysters. To support the oyster business

[@MarkMclaughlin-qm8kq]

great video thx

[@WilkinsonX]

4:15 I wonder what their profit margins are. $1 mil in labor expenses seems pretty low for a business of 3 dozen staff.

[@jerrynadler2883]

How much do you think an oyster shucker in North Carolina pays?

[@succatash]

​@jerrynadler2883 the oyster shucker near me in Baltimore, makes 6 figures in tips.

[@Lost_itt]

​@@succatashtips don't come from the company, though, so that isn't calculated in labor expenses. Not to mention, unless this particular company is running a restaurant, that particular position isn't going to exist.

[@freedomordeath89]

probably seasonal workers, not fulltime full year

[@francissenecal-lebeuf513]

If they sell each oyster for 0.40$ and sell 4 million of them. That 1.6 M$ in revenues. It claims it costs 1.9 M$ to produce those 4 million oysters… who’s in the business of losing 300 k$ a year?!?

[@vistacollege7459]

I was about to say the same thing. Something doesn't make sense. Maybe they aren't including the sales of the larvae etc to other places? I would like more clarification as well.

[@jtgd]

You’re also not adding revenues for selling oysters to other farms and places

[@thawfeeqjamaal1777]

Their business model doesn't make any sense. At first he said they sell for about $3 and then he said they sell to the for about $0.4 dollars.

[@DangerPotatoe]

An oyster costs 3 dollars for you in the restaurant or smth, but 0.4 dollars for a vendor. That’s fine

[@renviluan2842]

It's easy to evade taxes with seafood.

[@nnnashed]

What a BUSINESS! HatsUp!

[@ismaelhall3990]

More concept video will be awesome.

[@user-vk4cf6fi3b]

Excellent video. How much is the revenue ?.

[@3rdeyezero315]

Such a high cost for so much work, these people are so kind hearted to do this to make sure we are all fed and no1 goes hungry in america 🙏

[@jzzsxm]

Hahahaha! Yeah, oysters being sold for $5/ea at high end restaurants are keeping the poorest families fed, for sure.

[@mrd.808]

Very interesting 👌 👍🏼 ❤. Much appreciated WSJ 🤙🏽

[@UniversalPatriots]

I never realized it was that expensive to raise oysters .

[@Aoskar95]

2 bucks a year?

[@jackmanders7077]

This is hugely profitable , the margins don’t lie

[@MrHenrikq]

@@jackmanders7077 Do the math. They are losing 300 0000 dollars a year

[@UniversalPatriots]

This video was very educational, thank you .

[@ross49452]

How could rising sea levels increase salinity?

[@1.gatuquan]

$1.9M to raise 4 million oysters then sell it for $.40 each? Am i missing something?

[@wraithnamedsteve]

The rest of the revenue probably comes from selling the larvae to other farms. I don't know what the margin is on a pound of larvae, but I agree, the business does seem to operate on a razor's edge.

[@hans7686]

Maybe the video editors made a mistake somewhere?

[@BroAnarchy]

​@@hans7686nahhhhhhhh

[@jacobl5488]

they're probably making 5 million a year, youre not missing anything, they wouldnt do it if it wasnt profitable.

[@rishinikam424]

@@jacobl5488 People own agriculture farms which work on razor thin margins and are not profitable for number of years.

[@chrisziemba3889]

i would like to see a camera system to watch the daily activity. that would be cool.

[@Djhomie1964]

Only thing I hear from this video. Complain complaint complaint about how much money They had to spend. But They don't say how many Millions of dollars, they Made on profit..

[@KiwiGirlG6]

In NZ for a dozen of bluff oysters are about $40

[@juangregorio-hs1vt]

In Philippines, it sells for only $0.50 per kilo.

[@DC9848]

Very interesting video, thank you for the company and the team for your work! Couple thoughts come to mind: 1) I have understood baby oysters can move to live into a empty shell so have you thought to create a circular process where restaurants send the used shells back? 2) Related to that, you could consider moving to reusable transport boxes (empty shells back, new oysters to restaurant) 3) As a end consumer would be great to hear that you move to using electric motors = no waste fumes into the same water where you grow the oysters

[@toddpatton5015]

oysters cannot grow inside old larger shells, they secrete and grow their own. They do however grow on beds of old shells that form "reefs". These are farmed oysters that are contained in cages for easy harvesting. Shells are typically recycled by restaurants for reef formation for naturally occurring oysters to grow on.

[@ndb_1982]

Certain snails or crabs can occupy an empty shell. Oysters cannot. Leave the electric 💩 out of it

[@intigomez2666]

Delicious Virginia oyster with Tajín and Corona 🍻

[@chcgo2undaground]

At 5:21, how does rising water levels increase salinity? Logically that relationship should be inverse.....

[@Yourmanjeff]

All of those numbers presented and i tried to figure out how much they walk away with after a year of expenses, but they were in the red fairly early in the video. They have to be selling a good chunk of their inventory to Retail versus distributors or getting great compensation for running the hatchery in order to break even.

[@edwinmoore4560]

I will be putting in a oyster farm real soon I just purchased a 72 acre island in Florida to live on and to run this farm. So I hope to but seedlings from you. I need to find away to contact you for business

[@RoseaCreates]

The water must be super clean after they do their work

[@ArronPigford-xv5fq]

I like it 😁

[@ItsAVolcano]

Unlike fish or shrimp farming oyster farms will actually clean the water around them, whether it's through the bottle method shown here or just by setting them directly in a bay on giant hanging ropes each holding multiple cages.

[@tomw2003]

There is NO WAY those cages are costing them 800k per year (or more), he is also giving high numbers for "Labor" and just about everything! I know for a fact.

[@tomw2003]

100K for an empty semi trailer???????????? And 50K for a skid????? They are lying!

[@robdogracing]

Anyone vibing with the background music. I’m picking up some LoFi RuneScape.

[@wiwingmargahayu6831]

wow

[@DeathsGarden-oz9gg]

You do know making the water flow on a very slight hill will move the nutrients better and if you dig a big hole to a level you keep your water temperature you can run lines down there and pump the water back up using solar and the water will always no matter what will be the same temperature.

[@array7899]

能否带中文字幕

[@chrisfrank4267]

Excellent video

[@kennguyen1594]

Maybe my calculations are off, but how can this business be profitable if they produce 4 million oysters a year and they sell them for .40cents each? Their overhead is close to $2 million a year.🤷‍♂

[@The_Savage_Wombat]

Okay, 4 million oysters at $3 each = $12 million a year customer cost. Minus $100,000 royalty, minus $75,000 propane and electricity, minus $1 million labor (three or four workers?), minus $800,000 for cages (reusable), minus $150,000 cage repair, minus boats, equipment and buildings, minus $75,000 insurance, minus $100,000 packaging...still looks like a highly profitable business.

[@BS-my2ky]

sold 0.4 whichs 1/7 of $3. so they sold 1.6 mil not 12 mil.

[@The_Savage_Wombat]

Ok, not a good business then. @@BS-my2ky

[@redhongkong]

when i work for the bar, i have to crack full case of oyster every night.(mainly eastcoast, fannybay, westcoast/japanese) east coast oyster seems to be the worst out of all 3, at least10-20% throwaway (some of them are filled with dirt for extra weight, some are rotten) fannybay taste bland，you need some lemon tabasco to go with it. westcoast japanese one smells nice, taste nicely.its the only one i can swallow without any seasoning

[@shawnguy3005]

Amazing job folks. i hope you keep this comment highlighted and respond in 12 months. i am on a schedule but i will be looking to communicate about investing. God Bless and keep up the great work

[@geraldducharme2430]

I worked on many oyster farms since I was 12 years old and that job kept me out of trouble when I lived on the west coast of vc Canada we used to buy large as well as seed oysters there were so many factors that decided if you had a profitable year or not the starfish would grow,at the same rate as the oyster and if you didn't harvest them in time they became starfish food it's a very labour intensive job but it paid the bills

[@kingbonezai4925]

I wish you told us what the revenue was, the 1.9 mil is hard without that context

[@bmedlin00]

"rising sea levels"?.. I've literally lived my entire life on a island right on the beach.. I inherited my families beach house which has been in the same place right above the high tide mark and the water from this "rising" has yet to wash that away.. I mean that's weird right?

[@jo3ywils0n39]

Anyone else thinking about how many employees they have 6 days a week for just over a million in labour. Pay a living wage much?

[@andis9076]

How much is the revenue ?

[@joegadget670]

Everything in this business seems to cost $100,000 except the labor. That is $1 million for 36 people or about $28,000 per person. How sad.

[@missbubu1611]

Yeah, the numbers are off. But I don’t expect any business to talk about their profit margin, actual cost etc. It’s almost pointless to make a video like this because nobody wants to be totally transparent.

[@mikeboone4425]

Farming on land or water is a tuf business with zero guarantees. Happy trails

[@daveg4963]

They should switch to LED lamps.

[@mj31382]

The royalty fee if is crazy at 10~15%

[@Bryan-ex9ol]

Honestly why don’t just go solar panels

[@jaronva]

0:44 why your oysters so brown mate.

[@dircxx8554]

A risky business 😮 sometimes you lost more then you earn 😅

[@SaorAlba1970]

the owner of Ward Oysters looks like a DFB

[@matthewwagner47]

They probley could make those cage themselves and save alot of money.

[@steviesummers380]

Just gonna say the oysters that they open and show on the plate at the beginning of the vid… don’t look so hot.. real brown

[@huntakilla1234]

it seems oysters are a win win win win scenario. Win for the customer, win for the producer, a win for their employees, and a win for the environment, cause they clean and filter the water. I hope they'll stay in business.

[@Blackpill149]

by eating them a lot,we might reduce their population which will be bad

[@United_Wings]

W

[@Kaijuus]

If everything was so expensive. They would be bankrupted. How much do they make in Revenue and Net Profit per year?

[@charisjunianto]

That's why oyster is expensive

[@DHotmanMiky]

All businesses have operations costs

[@gerryanderson2697]

they make it sounds like those 50k forklifts are a one time use only and had to be thrown out. BS big corp playing victim when they make a boat load of cash per day

[@webapple1]

40c each but the restaurant charges $3+ wowowo margins... also if you produce 4m oysters at 40c each , and cost 1.9m a year.... math aint mathing

[@TOMTOM-nh3nl]

Yep, maybe that is the profit

[@webapple1]

@@TOMTOM-nh3nl what profit , 40c * 4m = 1.6m , $1.6m sales - $1.9m net cost = negative $300,000 …. That’s a loss

[@medyc]

Yes, but the cost of 1.9 M is for the cost for the 2 years of operations i think, and 1.9 millions per years for 2 years... math mathing now. I guess.

[@maxwalker1159]

!

[@JeffreyCC]

This stuff grows like a pest where I live.

[@FoodWorld77777]

Numbers are wrongs here numbers dont add up...

[@russelltsamados2862]

It's like eating a salty loogie acquired taste

[@auro1986]

why eat oysters?

[@BroAnarchy]

cos

[@chriswatson3464]

Testosterone and minerals.

[@duyle7031]

Feeding oyster processed food defeat the purpose of tasting the ocean

[@BradSmith-ej3pq]

Cash app steals cash including dividends directly out of personal accounts.

[@sliturarse]

We law abiding citizens/conservatives will always loose, it is because the tyrants/criminals will always cheat. The tyrants/criminals will never play by the rules, the problem is We the People, law abidinging citizens always play by the rules, with a strongs sense of pride, and rightousness.

[@edr.2642]

$2M in expenses…how about the revenue??? $10M? Lol

[@dentatusdentatus1592]

I despise oysters. 😝😝😝

[@richieleeallen6667]

Yeah but the company probably turns over a billion dollars a year. The people who own companies and complain how much things cost are always very rich.

[@sifcarmoon]

nice bots you have commenting here WJS

[@nahshonmanzano9649]

so it's not organic? 😂

[@libeshbalakrishnan8840]

Thank you for showing me how not to run a fish farm....

[@ameliamor1938]

before further embarrassment of himself , should leave on his own

[@sivyisvaj8054]

If there no sand in oyster it’s no good. 🤣

[@justmebeingme8370]

math in the first 60 seconds show this is opertaing at 300,000 deficit....meaning tax payer subsidized?

[@justmebeingme8370]

by 1:34 the,y are down another 1/4 mill

[@Stealthy_Sloth]

Go solar you are a company -_-.

[@revanchist5596]

They spend 1.9 million to get 1.6 million? Is this a tax shelter?

[@succatash]

They should call it a viagra farm.

[@nerd26373]

Oysters are precious gems of the sea. Once harvested, it might take a long while for them to have a huge harvest of oysters once more.They could become endangered. Who knows? Only time will tell.

[@hans7686]

Endangered? They are farmed! And there are freaking millions of them per farm. What's going to be endangered next? Pigs? Chickens? Cattle? Ridiculous

[@superchuck3259]

Would a government run (Socialist style government) Oyster farm be productive? Would it care? Would it look to provide the best product?

[@MichaelVascellaro]

how much he spend blah blah blah tell us how he bringing home and making....

[@duran9664]

Oyster is living being 🥺 How can u eat it row! 😮‍💨

[@jaydibernardo4320]

Preferably raw.

[@CarFreeSegnitz]

Absolutely everything you eat has once been alive or is still alive. Go completely raw, local vegan and you’re still “killing” carrots, kale, squash and potatoes.

[@mememan2344]

Yummy

[@Blackpill149]

so what?

[@smartasskickass4260]

Eeew Disgusting

[@austinogg]

Look at the water quality coming from your farm compared to the natural water The MuD brown waste water is the pollution!!!! Its the same for close to shore fish farms

[@rainy6563]

Where are the vegans??????

[@NST50cc]

tax write off

[@DeYanko]

What's with listing all of these expenses? These people are not doing all of this out of the kindness of their heart. You didn't discuss their massive profits, they make off of this!

[@ninaeverest25200]

I'm favoured, $60K every weeks! I can now afford to give back to the locals in my community and also support Charity Organizations. God Bless America 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 TRUMP 2024

[@sabrinnegibson1860]

What do you do

[@sabrinnegibson1860]

How do you earn that much

[@ninaeverest25200]

I earn from investing in the digital market with the guidance of Mrs Elizabeth Ann Larson Brokerage services...

[@ninaeverest25200]

Her strategy has been helping alot of traders/ newbies out there , with her program I was able to recover my losses from the crash so swiftly

[@sabrinnegibson1860]

can you help me on how to connect with her services

[@ReikIavik-yz1ol]

You should do a documentary about the Mexican “anexos” (drugs rehabilitation centers) were human rights don’t exist, interns suffer psychological and physical tortures everyday and the owners of those “rehabilitation centers” make money taking advantage of the most vulnerable.

[@dski8097]

Lost me at climate change, Oysters been here for a million years, These people are delusional.