PROFILE: Swapping the rat race for a snail’s pace

Tuesday 01 June 2021

Lockdown has caused a lot of people to re-think their lives and try something different. That could be taking a staycation for a second year running or starting up a new business.

Thanks to the pandemic, Kimberley and Chris Le Sueur have opted for the latter option and taken the plunge into a new business venture, called The Snail House.

Express went to meet them. 

Firstly, don't try this at home - you can't just eat garden snails, because of the way they 'drink.'

Pictured: Kimberley and Chris are breeding thousands of ‘Helix Aspersa Muller'

They get their moisture out of the wood, and if that wood is treated or painted, they would have picked up some of the nasty toxins used to stop wood from rotting. Hence why the Snail House is made from untreated wood, and kept clean and free from harmful substances.

Kimberley and Chris are breeding thousands of ‘Helix Aspersa Muller,’ a snail variety which are ideal for their rapidly growing snail business, feeding them a diet of salad leaves, vegetables and fruit.

Chris is a serving police officer, and Kimberley had been in banking until their son Elliot was born four years ago. Kimberley was looking for something that would allow her to work and spend time with Elliot as they renovate their farmhouse in St John.

“We were in one afternoon and watching A New Life in the Sun and it was about a young couple who had left the UK to live in the south of France. They had bought a beautiful farmhouse and had decided to farm snails. We were interested because we’ve not seen snail farming before and hadn’t even heard of it. You don’t need much land and when Chris suggested we could do it, I started looking on my phone to see what snail farming was all about. That’s how it started, on a random afternoon during lockdown.”

Pictured: The snails start life indoors in the purpose-built, light and temperature-controlled snail house in one of the farm’s out-buildings

That was earlier this year and it’s been non-stop ever since. They looked up some snail farms in the UK and hit it off with Lynne and Rob from Somerset Escargot who had built up their snail farming business in the Blackdown Hills from scratch, a couple of years ago. They were keen to pass on their knowledge via online sessions and phone calls to Chris and Kimberley.

“It was mid-February we got the idea,” Chris continued. “I had to build the indoor snail house so that we would be able to get our first snails. It was about two weeks of building before they sent our first 500 breeders, which are just adult snails. From there we have been gradually learning more, attending snail school and finding out more and more about the different stages. Some things have worked for them, but didn’t work so well for us. It was always going to be a bit of trial and error.”

The snails they use start life indoors in the purpose-built, light and temperature-controlled snail house in one of the farm’s out-buildings. That was built from scratch by Chris who has also recently finished constructing the outside snail farm where they will live in the warmer months. 

Pictured: there will be about 35,000 snails

“We would have liked to have actually visited Somerset Escargot, but because of covid we couldn’t,” Kimberley explained. “To be honest, if it wasn’t for covid we wouldn’t be here now because we had that afternoon watching a weekday programme.”

The breeding process is coming to an end and once all the eggs are hatched, they will have around 35,000 snails. 

The Snail House is building up a following on social media and several restaurants, pubs and food businesses have been in touch, keen to try out this ‘super food’ that is still popular in France and Italy.

“We want to encourage people to be more adventurous and confident in eating them,” said Kimberley. “We eat whelks, we eat moules and they are so similar. People think they are a pest in the garden and are this slimy slug type creature. But actually, they are as tasty as moules or whelks. And there are so many ways you can cook them. You can have them in the classic garlic and parsley, but there are other sauces.”

Pictured: Kimberley and Chris are planning to export the snails to the UK, France, Dubai, Singapore and even Hong Kong

Snails have several benefits for us and for the planet. They could provide a low impact and nutritious alternative source of protein in our diets. An answer then to questions about producing sustainable food without industrial levels of fertilizer and harmful emissions. They also take up very little space and are easy to feed. Their snail farm is probably no bigger than an average garden.

This year is all about building up the stock. The plan in year one is to provide samples to restaurants, build up the interest and get established in Jersey. Snails reach adulthood after five months and they are put into a kind of semi-hibernation, known as aestivation when they are ready to be eaten. It’s a natural process caused when their food and water sources are removed, and it means they can easily be exported and Kimberley and Chris are planning to export them to the UK, France, Dubai, Singapore and even Hong Kong.

Without aestivation they will simply continue eating and breeding, and much to Kimberley’s relief, the adults are in the state now. When that is happening, they can produce 3,000 eggs in a single day.

“They just do not stop. We just cannot have any more eggs and it’s not a case of telling them to stop. When all of the processes are happening at once, I was spending four hours in the snail house and I could’ve spent longer, but I have my son to collect from school and I’ve got to do our social media.”

Elliot is a willing part of the team but it might be some time before he’s ready to try one himself. 

Pictured: “They just do not stop. We just cannot have any more eggs and it’s not a case of telling them to stop"

“He loves watering, but I don’t think he’s that keen on holding one,” said Chris. “I said he might have to hold one for photos but he’s still a bit unsure.”

Handling the product will no doubt come in time as Elliot was born into a Jersey farming family. Chris’ cousin Charlie Gallichan runs Woodside Farm and Chris says he’s dying to come and see the snail farm for himself. Others react slightly differently when they mention what they are doing.

“Having worked in a bank wearing a suit,” said Kimberley, “that’s what my friends know me for. But because of covid we haven’t seen each other much, so we’ve only just been telling them and their reaction at first is ‘What? Is this an April Fool's joke in May?’ This is what enticed us to do this because this is a unique product in the Channel Islands. We’ve got so many great products here, so we hope to be able to join them in championing Jersey produce.” 

As we discuss how snails would probably have been part of Jersey’s culinary traditions going back hundreds, if not thousands of years, I’m asked whether I would choose escargot on a menu. The Englishman in me might have one view I confess, but as I adore oysters and other shellfish, plus being so close to France, then why not? 

“It’s just like when you order a Fruits de Mer, you’re given the special forks to get a winkle out or a whelk, that’s exactly what you do with a snail. You can do so many things. You can fry them; you can put them on the barbecue. Food really excites me,” said Kimberley and the passion for this venture they share is clear. 

It’s not Kimberley’s first business. She ran a company hiring garden games but covid put that on hold. The Snail House is the business that she will be putting her all her energies into from now on, swapping an office for a dark room in an outbuilding with a few thousand companions.

“I like the life cycle of snails because in the winter they are inside in a nice warm room and I don’t like to be cold. And then we move them out in the summer and I love to be out in the sun. There’s been occasions when I’ve gone to the Snail House at 6 in the morning in my pyjamas with my wellies on. That’s the bonus of having your work on your doorstep.”

This interview first appeared in this month's edition of Connect magazine, which you can read here. 

Pictures: Gary Grimshaw.