HARKERS ISLAND, N.C. — If you've ever eaten a bad oyster, you know how important freshness is, but how do you know how fresh your oysters are?
Ryan Bethea is an oyster farmer whose mission is to guarantee the freshest oysters to customers all across North Carolina.
What You Need to Know
It's hard to know how fresh seafood actually is
Ryan Bethea is committed to same-day freshness
He delivers oysters and other seafood all across the state
“What we want to do is we really want people to be able to have access to fresh North Carolina seafood and oysters that are going to come out of the water that day,” Bethea said.
That's why he started Oysters Carolina about six years ago, to provide fresh oysters to everyone in the state and not just people on the coast. That means Bethea is hard at work fulfilling that mission and harvesting oysters rain or shine.
“If you want to give people the freshest oysters in the state, and they want them on a Wednesday in December, then this is kind of what you gotta do,” he said.
One of the biggest issues with fresh seafood, is that there's often a lack of transparency about what “fresh” means.
“When you eat oysters out, they're still delicious,” Bethea said. “But they've been out of the water for a week, two weeks, even longer than that depending on where the oysters come from.”
Bethea is one of the only people in the country whose company is committed to free same-day deliveries.
“It's not easy to do,” Bethea said. “And there's a reason why nobody else does it, but we take a lot of pride in it. And when you taste an oyster that's come out of the water that day, I think you can tell a difference.”
Bethea is committed to his mission, even if that means he and his team have to harvest oysters at 3 a.m. and drive down the coast, to Raleigh, Charlotte and the mountains all in one day. He often has a 13 or 14-hour day ahead of him after he loads up his truck with fresh seafood.
Every Wednesday, Bethea delivers oysters to customers at Brewery 99. He's become a local celebrity there, with many people greeting him as The Oyster Guy when he pulls up in his delivery van.
“We've been friends for quite a long time, and we both know what we do,” said Pete Frey, owner of Brewery 99. “And it was just kind of like a, 'duh, why don't we just support each other,' and we're doing community supported oysters.”
Frey says oyster night is always a big hit. When he tried Bethea's oysters, he couldn't stop raving about how delicious they were.
Bethea says although it's not easy work, it is rewarding to see how much people enjoy the food.
“We get a lot of gratitude from folks, and it really kind of energizes you as the day is kind of wearing you down,” he said. “You know, you might do a stop and someone tells you how appreciative they are and how grateful they are, and that just kind of keeps us going.”
Bethea sells his oysters for $1 a piece, and he also sells a variety of other seafood throughout the year.
If you want to know if your raw oysters are fresh, here are a few things to look for:
- Fresh ocean breeze scent
- Cool to the touch
- No broken or opened shells
- Plump insides
- Salty taste
- Smooth texture
