About us

Our story
The Farm
Our story
  • Founded by Joe Donaldson in 2025, Shadow Farms is the realisation of a goal since first working on the water over a decade earlier.

  • After gaining experience working on and managing oyster operations all across New Zealand, and Australia we know what makes a good oyster and how to grow one!
  • With a passion for aquaculture and producing exceptional oysters we are excited to grow our buisness and improve every day.
  • Named in honour of Shadow, the best oyster connoisseur you could ever ask for!

Some previous locations worked around NZ/AUS

The Farm

After the privilege of farming thousands of hectares of oyster farms across New Zealand and Australia, a quiet, sheltered inlet in the Bay of Islands was chosen to be the home of Shadow Farms Oysters.
Much like the fine wine oysters can be traced back to their origins through flavour profiles created by the envinronment they were grown in. Try our oyster today and tomorrow to taste the continued effort we invest every day to create the best oysters. Our farm has a hard sandy bottom, high oceanic flow, and is sheltered from the the harsh elements giving our oysters a sweet oceanic flavour, with a seasonal creaminess unique to our little Inlet and how we grow our our oysters. We are proud to be members of the New Zealand Oyster Industry Association and Aquaculture New Zealand. As responsible farmers we are also partake in regular water testing and MPI requirements. Follow our Facebook/Instagram page to see our current oyster condition and specials!