Shrimp from North Las Vegas farm available soon
Las Vegans will soon be able to buy homegrown shrimp at their neighborhood markets.
Yes, homegrown — North Las Vegas, to be exact.
Blue Oasis Shrimp Farm, owned by Ganix Bio-Technologies, in July celebrated the grand opening of its 30,000-square-foot, $5 million operation miles north of the Strip. The shrimp in the farm’s zero-discharge, closed-containment ponds were pint-sized then, nowhere close to consumption. The facility is expected to produce 462,177 pounds of shrimp annually at full production.
The first batch was harvested in early November, and over the last month the company has been reaching out to restaurants and grocery stores to get the product in front of consumers.
Larry’s Great Western Meats was the first market to sign on two weeks ago. Eight local Albertsons stores are expected to begin selling the fresh shrimp within the next two weeks, Ganix Chief Executive Officer Shere Andersen said.
Prices will vary by market. At Larry’s, a pound of Blue Oasis shrimp goes for $12.99. Butcher shop owner Larry Hughes said he has sold only a small portion of the 20 pounds he received from Blue Oasis last weekend, but he expects sales to grow.
“There’s a lot of people looking for fresh seafood,” Hughes said. “If you put it in conjunction with other meats (at the market), it would be a natural.”
Ganix brought Andersen aboard Nov. 1 to begin branding and marketing the company to consumers. Andersen worked for Hallmark for more than 20 years before joining Ganix.
Former CEO Scott McManus will focus on development, while Andersen will position the company as a consumer brand. Once Blue Oasis shrimp are available in stores and restaurants, Andersen will focus on online distribution, which she expects will be up and running in six months.
Her first project as CEO is a consumer education campaign about the head-on shrimp Blue Oasis produces , which people aren’t accustomed to buying or eating regularly.
The awareness campaign will include online components and digital frames for display atop each market’s seafood case that will play informational videos about Blue Oasis.
Larry Hughes said he’s “not crazy” about the appearance of head-on shrimp.
“It looks a little gross,” he added.
But Andersen said the shrimp tastes sweeter and has a firmer texture than frozen headless shrimp.
“The shrimp are much more flavorful with the head on,” Andersen said.
Heads are also easier to remove after cooking, she added.
Eric Klein, executive chef at Spago in the Forum Shops at Caesars, last week added Blue Oasis shrimp to some of his dishes, including an off-menu tangerine and fennel dish with roasted prawns that he created to feature the shrimp.
“The taste is very sweet, buttery,” Klein said. “It costs a bit more, but the customer can taste the difference.”
Other restaurants serving Blue Oasis shrimp include B&B Ristorante at Palazzo, Delmonico Steakhouse at The Venetian, 35 Steaks + Martinis at the Hard Rock Hotel and the off-Strip Lotus of Siam.
Andersen said she hopes to sell Blue Oasis shrimp at the Bet on the Farm farmer’s market Thursdays at Springs Preserve beginning in January.
Contact reporter Caitlin McGarry at
cmcgarry@reviewjournal.com
or 702-387-5273.