![]() The farming operations are centered around the Apalachee Bay, which is part of the same estuary as the Apalachicola Bay. “When you’ve got oysters that rely on filtering more than 50 gallons of water per day, giving them the mega nutrients that our waters do, that allows them to grow faster than anywhere else on the planet.” The location also has two tides per day, which keeps nutrients moving in and out. Olin says this allows for algae to thrive, which feeds the oysters and allows them to grow more quickly. The pure spring water flows through and mixes with the saltwater, making up North America’s most diverse estuary. The co-op also benefits from their location, next to Florida’s Spring Creek, the largest freshwater spring in the world. We’ve been able to cover so much ground as a team that we could never have gotten done as any one individual.” You stumble around and you find your way and you start to get a rhythm, then you start to elevate your performance, and from that elevation you move on to perfect performance. ![]() And like anything you do that’s brand new, it’s like walking into a hotel room when the lights are off. “We’ve been able to enhance the rancher’s performance by way of the financial allowance and economies of scale that we bring to the table,” says Olin. The rancher members and the board of directors both meet once a month, in additional to an annual shareholders’ meeting. We had to have an actual structure for a USDA loan, so in that way we’re different.”Īs CEO and chairman, Olin is the decision-maker for a lot of day-to-day issues, however, larger questions regarding operations or philosophical changes are made with the 30 members of the co-op. ![]() We have to have enough money to buy the marina to house everything. “We have to have investors to build the infrastructure we needed. They also help them make effective business plans.Ī key difference with many co-ops, Olin notes, is Panacea’s for-profit nature. The co-op provides seed, ongoing training, technology and a guaranteed place to sell their product, at a guaranteed price. We now have a pretty substantial juggernaut.” So all they have to worry about is growing the perfect oyster. “I think we’ve attained our goal, which is to provide our members with everything they need - support in terms of accounting, legal, finance, operations, and advertising and marketing. “We just cobbled a team of very diverse but incredibly talented professionals together for the business side,” says Olin. It didn’t take much convincing the group voted Rob Olin as CEO and, later, as chairman of the board. While working on separate aquaculture operations, an Australian equipment supplier suggested that they consider forming a cooperative. The co-op was formed two years ago by a group of classmates at the Wakulla Environmental Institute’s Oyster Aquaculture program.
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