OFFER OF EDIBLE SNAIL FARMING SOCIETY

   The farming of edible Helix pomatia species snails, which have adapted themselves well to the Latvian nature conditions, possesses considerble perspectives in this country.

As one of non-traditional ways of farming, the edible snail breeding in Latvia started to develop already in the middle of the 1990-ies. At the end of 2009 there was founded the Edible Snail Farming Society in Latvia. The aim of the society is to find the way how to obtain products with excellent taste qualities from the snails bred in Latvia, to achieve the possibilities of processing and further production of the snail meat, as well as to promote both the growth of Latvian edible snail farmers and the efficiency of this farming branch. At present more than 140 edible snail farms are registered in Latvia.

It is known that the meat of edible snails is rich in protein and valuable w-3 polyunsaturated fatty acidand w-6 amino acid, mineral substances and vitamins, on the other hand the snail meat contains comparatively little fat and cholesterol.

Today in Latvia there have been reached the pre-conditions for a successful production development of edible snails, hence the demand for a qualitative edible snail product in Europe is growing fast and the Latvian snail farmers face a real opportunity to export their product.

We would like to offer European consumers the following edible snail products:

• meat fillet, frozen in briquettes, very soft in consistence and with excellent organoleptic features. The snail meat obtained from the Latvian snail farms contains a 1.2 % more w-3 polyunsaturated fatty acidand w-6 amino acid, and a 0.3 % less undesirable myristic acid than in the wild snail meat.
• Empty shells, that basically are calcium carbonate and a horny substance – aragonite - can be used as a supplement to the food of different animal species.
• Snail mucus and blood  – hemolymph – has wide application inmedicine and pharmacy.
• Fresh  snails with shells (closed)

In the autumn of 2010 seven tons of edible snail were collected from the snail farmers of Latvia. . There has been created the edible snail processing enterprise in Latvia where it is planned to process snails to their final products for export and simultaneously satisfy the demand of Latvian restaurant network. We will introduce the products made by the edible snail farmers of Latvia at international exhibitions and fairs.

In 2011 it is planned to collect from the farmers about 30 tons of edible snail and process in Latvia into meat fillet briquettes. The  approx. price of the edible snail meat fillet is 15.00 LVL per kg.