In 2005 Raewynne Achten (Ngāi Tahu) started farming snails on her Hawke’s Bay property in Raukawa Valley to sell the delicacies to high-end New Zealand restaurants.

Her business Silver Trail Gourmet Snails is believed to be the first commercial snail farm in New Zealand and it has taken off.

Last year Raewynn’s business was a finalist in the 2008 Massey University Food Awards. And another farm was established in Onga Onga, Central Hawke’s Bay, to meet the growing demand from restaurants.

Raewynn contacted Te Puni Kōkiri’s Business Facilitation Service. “I approached Te Puni Kōkiri for business support and they hooked me up with some valuable mentoring and business planning,” says Raewynn.

“Through Te Puni Kōkiri we also picked up a high-end Hawke’s Bay restaurant, Pasifika Restaurant, as a new customer who is also a Te Puni Kōkiri client,” she says.

Silver Trail Gourmet Snails does not use any pesticides for its free range snails, which are the common garden snails or Cantareus asperses, formally helix aspersa and sometimes known as petit-gris.

“We are looking to the future and currently have a fourth- year Massey University student working on a project to investigate making a pâté,” says Raewynn.

“We don’t only sell our gourmet snails to the restaurants – we have a big market who just call us up and would like to purchase a jar of the delicacies,” she says.

When ready for harvest, Silver Trail Gourmet Snails are hand-picked, blanched and finished in spring water, ready for use in any recipe.

A jar containing about 30 snails in wine and vinegar with a shelf life of five months would set you back about $45.

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