The Oyster Master Guild is about creating a world that gives a shuck through education, training, and community.
We are building a network of skilled oyster shuckers, sommeliers, educators, and experts who are passionate about raising the standards of oyster service and oyster appreciation.
Our activities focus on three main areas:
United, inspire, and enable the proliferation of oyster ambassadors and educators
Establish, promote, and uphold standards for exceptional oyster service
Recognize leaders of oyster excellence within the food and hospitality industry
Programs
Oyster Classes & Training
Classes and workshops to build up oyster confidence, level up shucking skills, and grow your oyster service business.
Oyster Product & Service Standards
Guides on oyster varieties and quality grades, product and packaging quality standards, and presentation standards.
Oyster Master Certification
The Oyster Master Certification accredits oyster professionals in order to elevate the oyster experience for consumers.
Community & Professional Networking
Engage with like-minded oyster enthusiasts; advance your career and business through the job board.
Oyster Educators Summit
Bringing the oyster community together to share ideas, best practices, and skills around oyster education and ambassadorship.
Oyster Excellence Awards
Recognizing individuals for outstanding leadership, vision, innovation, and advocacy within the oyster service community.
Membership Statistics
Over 160 individuals from 13 countries are members of the Oyster Master Guild.
More than half of the members work in the food & restaurant industry. Many have their own oyster catering businesses or oyster farms.
A diverse range of professionals, ranging from academia to non-profit, are also part of the Guild. Finally, a highly engaged group of creators, social media influencers, and consumers make up a quarter of the membership.
Data as of: April 2024
Meet the Founders
Julie Qiu
Julie Qiu is an internationally recognized Oyster Sommelier and educator. She is the creator of In A Half Shell, the website and Instagram dedicated to showcasing the world’s most exceptional oysters, producers, and destinations.
Julie leads oyster masterclasses and pairing workshops across the U.S. and internationally. She is the co-author of the 33 Oysters on the Half Shell tasting journal, Oyster Species of North America poster, and hosts the Around the World in 80 Oysters webcast.
With over 17 years of branding and marketing experience, Julie has worked with some of the world’s most iconic brands in food & beverage, hospitality, and luxury. She’s spent the past eight years in the sustainable seafood space as the Marketing Director for Australis Aquaculture, building The Better Fish® brand.
Julie’s work has been featured by Vogue, The Chicago Tribune, Food & Wine, USA Today, NPR, Saveur, The Oyster Farmer on SommTV, and Somebody Feed Phil Season 2 on Netflix.
Patrick McMurray
Patrick McMurray has been shuckin’ around the oyster world since 1992 as a restaurateur, author, educator, competitive shucking world champion, and a Guinness Book record holder for the most oysters opened in one minute (33!)—of which he bested his record to 39 on the Gordon Ramsay FWord Live show in 2017.
Patrick designed and built two restaurants in Toronto from scratch: Starfish Oyster Bed & Grill and The Ceili Cottage, and wrote The Oyster Companion - a Field Guide of Oysters. Patrick conducts Oyster 101 lessons for chefs, schools, festivals, and oyster lovers around the globe. Presently, he teaches culinary & hospitality (with an oyster & shellfish specialty) at Centennial College in Toronto.
Patrick attributes his shucking success to his technique and the pistol grip Shuckerpaddy Oyster Knife he designed, which is now manufactured and distributed globally by Swissmar.