Kinkawooka Mussels

The cold, clean waters of the Great Southern Ocean are home to some of the finest Shellfish in the world. Kinkawooka Shellfish grow and harvest premium mussels to the highest standards of environmental sustainability and culinary quality.

Kinkawooka mussels are grown in the mediterranean style - to be small, soft and sweet. Unlike big oceanic mussels from open water farming, the true quality of the mussel lies in its eating quality. This has made them a favourite of many chefs and foodies Australia-wide.​

At the start of the season in June, Kinkawooka mussels are typically “petit” with 60-70 pieces per kilo and a meat to shell ratio of nearly 50%. As the harvest year continues, the mussels grow in size to 30-35 pieces per kilo by March. The quality control system operated by Kinkawooka ensure the meat to shell ratio remains high throughout the season, but importantly, that it is ALWAYS an excellent eating mussel.

Harvested live to order from one of 5 sites around the Bay (which is 4 times the size of Sydney Harbour!), the mussels are graded and cooled prior to heading to Port Lincoln and the Kinkawooka processing facility.

The mussels are grown on suspended ropes, not on the seabed, as rope-cultured mussels produce a cleaner and more consistent product than seabed cultured mussels. The mussel farmers independently manage multiple sites around the bay, including daily monitoring of water temperatures, nutrients, and mussel condition across all growing areas - this ensures that only mussels in premium condition are harvested. At every step, the culinary quality and suitability of the mussels is the focus. Marine and land-based operations are also continually reviewed and, where necessary, modified to improve the final eating quality of the mussels.

The SA Mussel industry is governed by the South Australian Shellfish Quality Assurance Program, established in 1994. This program has become the benchmark for Shellfish quality assurance programs nationally and underpins the guarantee of sustainability, safety and quality of all Mussels produced at the Kinkawooka Mussel Farm.