Virginia Shaffer

Hi there! My name is Virginia and I am the owner of Lady Oyster Tours, a small oyster tasting business in Maine, serving as Maine's first certified oyster sommelier throught the Oyster Master Guild! During our events, we honor the heritage of Maine and share stories behind our sea farmers, as well as the land farmers behind our locally-sourced ingredients. My husband and I lived in Vermont for years, where we managed a 10-acre farm with chickens, apple and pear orchards, veggie patches, and flower gardens. We are open to any size available, and hoping to work at least 5 acres. We would like to combine talents of land and sea, and are in search of a new business home for a small farm and agritourism business. We would invest in a tasting room onsite to host intimate guided oyster tasting events, and grow and cook dinner with on-property produce. We are hoping to lease, sub-lease, buy, or lease-to-buy a farm with a structure as well as acreage for growing produce and flowers. We are open to living on-property or a business-only opportunity. We are already food safety management certified and have built a six-figure business through our tasting events in our first year. We are currently hosting events in multiple locations with a catering license, and now in search of a space of our own.

LADY OYSTER Lady Oyster is Maine’s first-ever agritourism business to provide “oyster sommelier” services. Within the wine industry, a sommelier is the expert on oenology, taste, profiles, and pairings. Lady Oyster delivers that level of expertise to Maine’s oyster industry. After just one year of operation, Lady Oyster won a global food award for "Best Rural Culinary Heritage Experience" by the World Food Travel Awards. Lady Oyster is currently working across the MidCoast with local partners for tasting experiences. The future vision is to expand tasting and tour operations to a land-based location, with on-site produce and flower gardens that marry an agritourism destination across land and sea. MISSION STATEMENT To cultivate a deeper appreciation for Maine’s bounty across sea and land, and promote coastal heritage through sensory tastings, educational farm tours, and unforgettable dining experiences. OUR VALUES 1) A Rising Tide Lifts all Boats: Serving as trusted ambassadors and a force multiplier business for Maine’s most environmentally-sustainable food industries. 2) Gastronomic Integrity: Going above and beyond to help our guests develop a deeper relationship with Maine. 3) Ownership: Enabling our people to take full responsibility for their experiences and treat the business as their own. We will accomplish this through incentives, profit sharing, and educational investment. WHAT PROBLEM ARE WE SOLVING? Maine is considered the “Napa Valley” of oysters, and a global destination for food tourism. We have over 150 oyster farms (more oyster diversity than any other state), and a myriad of micro-climates that produce different tasting profiles. Maine possesses a geographical comparative advantage in sea-based and land-based food tourism. Despite Maine’s forefront position in sustainable aquaculture and small-scale agriculture, there is still a gap on how oyster appreciation and food experiences are communicated and provided to visitors and locals alike. We’ve relied on the standard restaurant model to deliver those messages, when restaurants are time-restricted/volume-based, and too labor-restricted to host tours. There’s a demand for culinary tourism in Vacationland that hasn’t been met. MARKET SIZE We consider Lady Oyster as part of the culinary tourism market. Global Market Size: In February 2024, Brainy Insights (a market research company), released a global report that estimated the global culinary tourism market at USD 1.1 trillion in 2023. It is positioned to reach USD 6.2 trillion by 2033 with a CAGR of 18.9%. Maine Market Size: Maine tourism is an $8.5 billion industry, and $3 billion of that is spent on restaurants and activities/attractions. Of all restaurant/activity spending, 74% of this income is spent on food/beverage/culinary activities. Market Expansion: According to Briny Insights, “the market's expansion [18.9% CAGR] can be ascribed to rising consumer expenditure on travel and tourism, travelers' desire to sample food items manufactured with locally sourced ingredients, and the rise in food travelers who traverse the world and discover new cultures via cuisine. The main factor propelling the market's expansion is consumers' growing interest in trying out regional cuisine to interact with people and learn more about the area, its past, and its culture. MARKET DEMAND Oyster production in Maine is heavily on the rise. According to the GMRI’s industry report (2024) on shellfish aquaculture within Maine, there are projected revenues of over $28 million by 2028, a 40 percent growth from 2022. Maine is a widely-known tourism destination. Maine tourism is an $8.5 billion industry, with over 15 million people visiting Maine each year and $3 billion of that spent on restaurants and activities/attractions. We have an attractive visitor base. According to Downs & St. Germain (2022), food and drink were cited by 74% of respondents as a top activity in Maine. That typical visitor is a college graduate (77%) with an annual household income of $89,100. MARKET VALIDATION We have achieved a 100% 5-star rating on both Google and TripAdvisor from our guests (70+ reviews). In our first year, we hit a six-figure revenue goal and landed on $104,000. This year we are on track to nearly double this revenue. Lady Oyster has been featured in Edible Maine, and after just one year of operation, won a global food award for "Best Rural Culinary Heritage Experience" by the World Food Travel Awards. UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION Lady Oyster provides a best-in-class gastronomic experience by focusing on the following competitive advantages: KNOWLEDGE: Gastronomic study, oyster mastery, and years of storytelling in Maine make Lady Oyster’s team unmatched in expertise. PROVEN FORMAT: The formal tasting process is unique to Lady Oyster. No other business imparts the format of geography, environment, ecology, process, people, taste, and appreciation like our guided tastings or tours. COMMUNITY: We have a formidable community and existing reputation in Maine’s oyster industry as trusted ambassadors by farmers, restaurants, associations, and customers. BUSINESS MODEL: Lady Oyster currently operates in the following models: 1) Oyster & Wine Tastings, Dinner events (65% of revenue) Working with sea farmers, we host guided tasting events and partner with local farms for fruit and vegetables that are incorporated into our accoutrements and add-on dining experiences. Targeting adults 21+ in the top 10% of U.S. income earners (~13 million individuals). Estimated ~10% of these are food travelers interested in oysters and wine (~1.3 million). Global estimate includes high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) with food travel interest. 2) Farm tours (30% of revenue): We currently partner with a local boat captain for a hands-on oyster farm tour. We are looking to expand this to an onsite destination for agritourism tours. Targeting top 10% income families with children aged 5–18. Estimated ~390k–520k individuals in the U.S. based on household size assumptions. Global market share is expected to be smaller due to regional appeal. 3) Retail (5% of revenue): Lady Oyster has a small online retail shop, and we would like to expand this to an onsite location to boost revenue streams. This would include farm produce, local partner products, oysters, and related cooking wares. BRICK-AND-MORTAR TASTING ROOM (2 YEAR PLAN): Driven by a sense of place and experience. By 2026-2027, Lady Oyster plans to embark on a business plan that locates a brick-and-mortar tasting location, applying Napa Valley’s successful “tasting room” model where guests can gather, experience expert-guided tastings, take a farm tour, and purchase local selections. What is a tasting room? A tasting room is often a designated space where a winery or brewery can directly promote, sell, and share the stories of their production process directly to customers. Led by knowledgeable representatives, a tasting is not just a dining experience, but an activity consumers love. It connects them deeply to the product, provides a sensory and learning experience, and offers them a chance to purchase the product directly – a product they are more likely to buy. We are happy to provide a full version of our business plan if desired.