In Maine, wild oysters grow in the cold, nutrient-rich waters of the Gulf of Maine estuaries au natural. Known as “wilds,” these bivalves flourish on the bottom of the seafloor, and their fluted edges are etched by the natural ebb and flow of the tides.

Orchard Point Oyster Co. founder Scott Budden left his corporate financial analyst position in Washington D.C. to start a career on the Chesapeake as an oyster farmer. Budden and his team persevered through new statutory enactments and competing private interests to become a Chesapeake oyster farm giant with a massive distribution platform.