OYSTER STOUT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23805, 11 May 1939, Page 16

OYSTER STOUT

A NEW CONCENTRATE CONTRACT WITH ENGLISH FIRM A PROMISING ENTERPRISE (Special to Daily Times) INVERCARGILL, May 10. The first shipment of oyster concentrate will leave Bluff in a few days for England, a firm of brewers having placed an order for it for the purpose of making oyster stout. It is hoped that this will be the first of regular shipments to England and other parts of the world. Thyrodone Development Ltd., which has a factory at Bluff, is handling the manufacture and marketing of the product. The idea of combining oysters with stout occurred to the factory manager (Mr E. Barnes) as a result of the use of stout with oysters in their raw state. Mr Barnes, in cooperation with the company, carried out experiments for two years before the concentrate was considered to be in the best marketable form. The oyster concentrate was first produced as a powder and later a liquid form was evolved. The firm of British brewers which has arranged for a steady supply of the concentrate has also been experimenting for the last 18 months to perfect a combination of stout and the concentrate, and the resultant product has been analysed and tested in London by the most competent authorities in the world to prove that it is free from all harmful bacteria. The medicinal value of oyster stout has also met with support from Harley street medical men.

A capital of £3,000,000 is behind the firm of British brewers which intends marketing the product. The firm intends spending a minimum of £20,000 on initial publicity in Great Britain for the product, which will be marketed from August onwards. Arrangements have been made for a display at the office of the High Commissioner for New Zealand. The concentrate when mixed with stout is equal to one oyster per glass, and in its concentrated form is stated to be more efficacious than oysters in their raw state.

With a view to using the oyster concentrate for tonic wine one of the world’s leading firms has been conducting experiments for some time with Foveaux Strait oysters and encouraging success has been met with. In the marketing of the concentrate the Thyrodone Company has had valuable co-operation from its London associates. As a result, it is possible that nine different lines with Foveaux Strait oysters as a base will be produced in Great Britain. These lines include an emulsion which has already been successfully added to cod liver oil to increase its body-building powers.