Farm Fresh ~ French Hermit Oyster Co.
FARM FRESH: GETTING TO THE MEAT OF SOUTHERN OYSTER FARMS
Mike and Anita Arguelles of French Hermit Oyster Co.
When describing Southern food, many fall back on an old cliché, claiming love is the ingredient that makes it special. But for French Hermit Oyster Co., this is no hollow generalization; it’s accurate. Mike Arguelles’ all-encompassing and deep affection for oysters drove him and his wife Anita to dive into Mississippi’s fledgling oyster farming industry in 2019. “He’s just always loved oysters, everything about them,” Anita says. “Since I met him back in the 1990s, he’s traveled around with oysters and would shuck them and hand them out from the tailgate of his truck while telling people how wonderful they are.”
Today, his desire — and ability — to spread that love to both other oyster famers and oyster consumers is the real secret to FH’s success. And it’s a shared success; FH is not a single farm, it’s a collective of six farms, all side-by-side in the waters off Deer Island, that Mike and his wife Anita founded not long after they started growing oysters. “We realized that if we worked with other farmers, we would all be better off,” Anita says, “so we started recruiting farmers to come raise their oysters in this same area with us.”
The Arguelles’ farm, Lee Family Farms, Hurricane Bob’s farm and the Eagle Point Oyster Company farm, South Shore Oyster Co. and Ixolib Oyster Co. farm all maintain their individual operations, but market themselves as one brand: French Hermit. “It works so well,” Anita says. “We all benefit. For one thing, it takes a lot to be farmer when you farm on land, but it’s another level when you have to take a 4.5-mile boat ride to even see your farm.”
The collective idea originated in necessity: When the couple decided to start their farm, they already had a lot going on. They’d left Memphis in 2000 to move back to the Mississippi coast, where Mike grew up, and they founded a marine contracting company. Anita went to work for The University of Southern Mississippi. When the state’s Department of Marine Resources announced its program to teach oyster aquaculture, they called Mike to put in the pilings and other infrastructure. He wanted to be a little more involved than that.
“He was fascinated and asked if he could take the class too,” Anita says. “They said yes, and I joined him. We figured out that our marine contracting business meant we already had a lot of the equipment needed to do the work, a boat, a barge, a crew. And then Mike’s oyster love, so it was a natural fit.”
One thing they didn’t have quite enough of was time. “I work for the university and help Mike run the contracting company, so I thought it might end up more of a hobby,” Anita says. When they pulled the first harvest in, opened a few shells and gave them a try, plans changed. “They were so good. Fat and clean and fresh,” Anita says. “I knew it was a business then, but I also knew it would be a challenge.”
She was concerned about getting to the farm every day. “I felt supply chain management would be an issue. Could we harvest as much as needed? What about storm prep?” That’s when the concept of distinct farms marketing and selling their oysters under one brand umbrella clicked. “We’re all out here right together, so our merroir is the same, giving us product consistency,” Anita says. They share some resources. They share knowledge and best practices. “We each contribute our own skills, be that seafood industry or engineering experience, marketing and business backgrounds,” Anita continues. “We communicate about shared problems and help find solutions.” The group also ensures inventory control for the brand. “We have oysters to sell almost every week, so that keeps revenue flowing, and helps us keep our price steady,” Anita says. “We divvy up some jobs and duties too.”
Above: Just a few of the friendly faces of the French Hermit Co. oyster farm collective. From left to right: Hurricane Bob Oysters, Lee Family Farm oysters and Eagle Point Oyster Co.
Anita works with distributors and gets orders every week and then pushes those orders out to FH’s farmers. They respond and let her know how many they can add to fill the overall order. “And Mike is the French Hermit,” Anita says. She’s referring to the legendary Biloxi character, a Frenchman named Jean Guilhot, who lived on Deer Island in the 1920s and is namesake of the brand. He grew oysters that he sold to Biloxi residents and, in contrast to the common hermit personality (cranky loner), was known to be outgoing and charming. “Naming our collective after him just made sense,” Anita says. “Mike is our oyster evangelist.”
Jean Guilhot, the original French Hermit
Guilhot is long gone, but Mike’s modern French Hermit lives on, and he’s good at his job; according to Anita, his enthusiasm is contagious. “I love the way our oysters taste, and it’s satisfying when we hear – and we hear it a lot – that others think they are great too, but the best part of all this for me is the way my husband feels about what he is doing,” she says. “He loves taking people out on the boat, sharing our oysters and sharing the story of Mississippi oysters. He’s the best spokesperson for oysters and oyster famers. And I get so much joy out of watching him enjoy this so much.”