THE FOLDER. High objectives and ambitions for the shellfish tasting farms around the Etang de Thau

Beaucoup d'ambitions autour des mas conchylicoles de dégustation. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

Création de packages dégustation-visite sur l’eau, lancement cet été d’un ConchyliTour : l’essor des mas conchylicoles de dégustation s’accompagne d’une offre territoriale diversifiée autour du bassin de Thau.

"We have come a third of the way but we can go much further without changing the regulatory framework." Fabrice Grillon and the Mediterranean Regional Shellfish Committee (CRCM) believe that tasting farms can have a bright future ahead of them.

A pedagogical logic

The idea is to exploit the potential of the sites. "When we go to a producer, we want to go behind the scenes. At home, we can see the tables in the distance but we can't go there. As these tastings are developed in a logic of education, we worked with the State services to see in what context we could go on the water, before or after having tasted, to discover what’ rsquo;is a rope of oysters in production, what a spat is…", explains Fabrice Grillon.

Tasting in a shellfish farm must be in the Top 3 of the local tourist destination

This is how partnerships were established with around ten passenger carriers to operate a water taxi from Mèze, including a stop at a shellfish farming table. Unique in France, this passenger transport experience with a ‘‘tasting – visit on the water’’ is already a reality. It is bound to develop.

Also read: THE FOLDER. On the edge of the Thau pond, the great fashion of shellfish tasting farms

Immersive experiences launched this summer

Beyond this, the CRCM wants the growth of tasting farms to integrate a territorial marketing logic. The Department of Hérault will help boost this offer by launching a ConchyliTour around "immersive experiences to meet shellfish farmers". Consideration is still underway around the name but the launch should take place in July, with the aim of creating a destination around shellfish.

"Tasting in a shellfish farm must become a flagship offering in the region. The challenge of the CRCM is that it is in the Top 3 of the local tourist destination", dares Fabrice Grillon.

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