Est. 2022Yanmah, Southern ForestsWestern Australia
I'm Victoria Howe, founder of South West Snails. I'm the only person in Australia mentoring people to farm snails commercially. I'll help you decide whether it's right for you, then build it properly.
Sessions & prices
Every session is a private one-hour Zoom call, so it works wherever you are in Australia. Send your questions two days before and I'll come prepared.
South West Snails · Mentoring
To begin
For anyone curious, before you spend a cent
Real setup costs and how long before any income. Whether your location and climate suit snails. The rules on breeding and selling. Who buys snails and what they pay. You leave with an honest yes, not yet, or no.
For farmers with a specific problem
Already farming and stuck on something? Send me your questions two days before and we'll work through them together.
Packs
For getting started
Three calls to use within six months, booked when you're ready. Bring your list of questions each time. Works out at $200 an hour, and the Playbook is included.
For building a commercial farm
Six calls across twelve months, from planning right through to your first sales. About $167 an hour, with the Playbook included.
At your own pace
Everything I learned, step by step
Setup, climate, breeding, feeding, rules and approvals, selling to chefs, the numbers, and what I'd do differently. With checklists and planning worksheets.
Le grand
I come to you
Two days on your property assessing land, climate and buildings, planning your pens and indoor facility, and walking you through breeding, feeding and purging. A written setup plan follows, and the six-call Mentoring Pack is included.
Packs are invoiced and paid upfront. Prices in AUD.
About
My husband Nick and I started South West Snails in October 2022 on our 40-acre property in Yanmah, in WA's Southern Forests. We farmed Cornu aspersum, the same snail eaten across France, in outdoor pens and a purpose-built indoor facility, so we could supply year-round through Manjimup's cold winters.
We purged, chilled and sent snails live to restaurants in WA and on the east coast, where a large restaurant might order 9 to 10 kg a week. Demand outgrew supply, and a State Government grant helped us build a new facility with controlled light, temperature and humidity.
I made plenty of mistakes along the way, and that's the point. You can learn from them without paying for them yourself.
Our family moved to Perth at the end of 2025 and the farm is paused, but people still contact me every week wanting to start their own. These sessions are how I help them properly.
Grading, purging and timing orders around them all affect what you can sell and what you're paid. Details like these make or break a snail farm.
Cornu aspersum · le petit-gris
Australia's garden pest is France's delicacy.
Why I share what I know
More snail farmers means a bigger market for all of us.
When I started, almost nobody would share what they knew. That made it slower and harder than it needed to be. I don't want the next farmer to go through the same thing.
Snail farming in Australia isn't a real industry yet. Every new farm means more chefs putting fresh snails on the menu, more people trying them, and more people asking for them.
One farm can't supply a country. Lots of small farms, each supplying their local restaurants, can. That's how this industry grows, and why I'd rather help you succeed.
Lessons from the farm
Walking the dogs one morning, I Googled small farming ideas for our 40 acres. About 26th on the list was snail farming. I found a couple of academic studies and almost no real-world guidance for Australia, so we learned it the hard way.
Underestimating scale. One restaurant can use around 10 kg of snails a week. That's roughly 1,000 good-sized snails, every week.
Start small. Find a local restaurant happy to run snails as a special, and grow your market as your production grows.
How easy snails are to care for once you understand their environment, and how few farmers anywhere are willing to share what they know.
Free guide
Why we started, what surprised us, our biggest mistake, why we stopped, and what to think about before you begin.
How it works
Choose a time that suits you. Packs are booked one call at a time.
Send them at least two days before, so I come prepared and we use every minute.
I'll send an invoice to confirm your booking. Packs are paid upfront.
One hour, focused on your farm and your plans. Unused pack sessions expire at the end of the pack.
As featured in
It has been a hit with chefs from Albany all the way up to Broome, over east and in Singapore.
So for us to be able to turn that pest into a resource is, I think, a great thing.
There's still heaps of interest. I'm still getting messages daily, and I'm having to turn people away.
No. The Explore Session is for people who haven't started yet. It helps you decide before you spend money on land, sheds or stock.
I'm in Perth, WA. All sessions are on Zoom, so you can be anywhere in Australia.
Each pack has a time limit: six months for the Support Pack and twelve months for the Mentoring Pack. Unused sessions expire after that.
Keep a list as you go and bring it to your next call. If something can't wait, book your next session sooner.
Contact
Book a session online, or email me if you'd like a pack, a farm visit, or aren't sure which option suits you.