What does it mean to be an ‘icon’ of the Australian food industry? When it comes to the delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards, it has nothing to do with bright lights and fame. Instead, the Icon Award recognises a producer that has had a significant and ongoing impact on the quality, reputation and advancement of Australian food and food culture, setting a national benchmark for excellence. So, in other words, it’s a pretty big deal. 

This is the first year that the Icon Award has been presented, and our National Judges could not have chosen a more worthy winner for the inaugural year than Gary and Jo Rodely of Tathra Oysters. To be the very first recipients of this award cements their legacy not just as farmers, but as pioneers of the Australian seafood landscape.

Related story: “Safe, delicious and as good as they’ve ever been”: How South Australia’s fishers are bouncing back

As any bivalve-lover would know, oysters are very much a product of their environment – a concept known as ‘merroir’. You probably couldn’t find a more perfect location for growing Sydney rock oysters than pristine Nelson Lake in Mimosa Rocks National Park, near Bega on the NSW South Coast. Filtered by the surrounding untouched wilderness, these waters boast a naturally low salinity and dense beds of native seagrass. Together, these elements yield a delectably creamy oyster where natural sweetness meets rich umami, offering a remarkably complex and lingering flavour profile that simply cannot be replicated anywhere else.

No other oysters are commercially produced in this area, which makes Tathra’s oysters entirely unique… and utterly divine. Chef Neil Perry calls them “without doubt one of the greatest oysters in the world”.

Related story: Seeds of change: the boutique wheat revolution that’s bringing flavour back to flour

“Year after year, they keep setting the benchmark higher and higher,” says Produce Awards National Judge Alex Prichard, who has just opened Sara Dining after more than a decade leading Icebergs Dining Room and Bar in Bondi. “Every judge loves it when the tray of Tathra oysters comes out, because you know they’re going to be exceptional. We all go back for seconds – and even thirds – and if you realise how much we need to sample over the day, you’ll understand how impressive that is.”

Gary and Jo have produced award-winning oysters for more than 35 years, and are entrusting this legacy to their son Sam, a qualified marine biologist. This injection of scientific expertise has helped the Rodelys introduce methods to ensure the long-term viability not only of their farm, but of the oyster farming industry.

Credit: Lucas Jarvis, Eventive Photography

Like most modern oyster farms, Tathra Oysters has completely transitioned away from traditional tar-coated timber racks in favour of eco-friendly floating longlines, a move that drastically reduces their footprint and allows the lake’s vital seagrass meadows to flourish beneath the surface, while also allowing for more optimised shell cultivation, with a deeper cup and sweeter meat.

In 2017, Tathra Oysters was awarded the inaugural NSW Department of Primary Industries Innovation Award for developing bespoke technology that gently bubbles seawater through juvenile oysters to naturally speed up growth and ensure greater consistency in size.

The estuary on which the Rodelys run their solar-powered operation also produces wild spat for future harvests. With the family now supplying up to 10 million juvenile oysters to other farms annually, they aren’t just sustaining their own business – they have effectively become a vital lifeline for the broader NSW oyster industry, ensuring its survival for generations to come.

If that’s not iconic, we’re not sure what is.

Related story: The AIM game: what Australia’s new seafood labelling laws actually mean for your meal