Peter Monaghan had always wanted to be a farmer, but ran into a common Irish problem: the lack of land. With only 25 acres (10 hectares) in Maghera, County Cavan, his small beef operation couldn’t support his family. He knew he had to think outside of the box, looking for an unconventional market that required little land and low investment.
So he went into snails.
Monaghan became one of the first escargot (edible land snail) farmers in Ireland, a group that presently includes about 30 people. He now raises 3 million snails a year and has recently opened the first snail processing plant in Ireland. How does it compare to other types of farming? “It's almost like milking,” he says. “You have to be there every evening to feed your snails, manage your snails, pick your snails.” And it turns out, that’s not the only similarity with cattle: They often get out. The adults are kept in a padded netting surrounded by an electric fence, but at night, wild slugs can short out the fence, allowing the farmed snails to escape. Monaghan spends some mornings re-collecting thousands of snails around his property.
While not yet frequently consumed in places like North America or Ireland, snails are a common delicacy in other parts of the world, especially in some Mediterranean, African and Asian countries. They are often described as tasting similar to squid once they are cooked. There is evidence of humans eating snails over 10,000 years ago, and some researchers believe they were one of the first “domesticated” animals. They were said to first become popular in France in the early 19th century when a chef was told to make a meal that a visiting czar had never eaten. Since then, they have become a popular luxury appetizer in the country, supported by over 400 snail farms. In other countries, on the other hand, they are considered a working-class food. Some of the older generation of southern Italians still go outside when it rains to pick snails and stew them in tomato sauce. Whether eaten for indulgence or sustenance, snails are nonetheless healthy, being high in protein, iron and vitamin B12 while low in fat.
Known as heliciculture, snail farming has begun to slowly gain traction across the world. Some, like Monaghan, view it as an attractive low-investment business venture, while others believe it will be an important protein source in the future due to environmental concerns. Monaghan, along with other Irish snail farmers, sees escargot production shifting to cooler climates like that of Ireland, especially as countries like Spain and Italy become increasingly hotter due to global warming.
In his first decade of heliciculture, Monaghan mostly exported his snails to Greece, where they fetched €4.50 a kilo ($2 per pound). However, in opening a processing plant on his farm, he can collect the feces and mucous from the snails, which appear in soaps, conditioners and anti-aging products. Processed snail can demand a price of anything from €35 to €100 a kilo ($20 to $60 a pound). Monaghan is also seeking to expand into snail caviar. While he never plans to sell many snails to the Irish market, he does give away free samples of escargot in garlic and butter at certain events to help convince the locals of their taste.
While snail farming emerged as one of the many pandemic-related hobbies people found themselves taking up, there are currently only two USDA-certified snail farms in the U.S. One reason for this is that anyone looking to raise non-native snails must do so under strict regulations so as to not introduce invasive species to the environment. However, there may still be room for more growth in the North American markets. In 2021, the U.S. imported 285 tons of snails, mostly from France and Vietnam. If local snail farmers can connect locally with these markets, they will be able to offer fresher snail meat with less transport time. The two American companies in the heliciculture business express-ship snails to high-end restaurants and at-home chefs. One company also offers everything from ready-to-bake tins of snails to a children’s book called Let’s Eat Snails as a way to promote their consumption.
As the world becomes more globalized and culinary preferences are exchanged between cultures, it may not be surprising if snail consumption continues to show at least a modest increase in places where it was not previously common. And with the reach of social media, who knows if it will become a TikTok trend that introduces the idea to new people? Although I haven’t eaten it yet, I don’t imagine ever preferring it to red meat. However, I’m sure there are plenty of cattle farmers who, when trying to get a group of heifers on the right side of the fence again, wish they were snail farmers in that particular moment.
