Frances Kratz
Founder, Frances.Kratz@freshcoastoysters.comFrances is a Florida Girl, retired Naval Officer, and former oyster farmer (shoutout Little Ram!!) who loves to keep people guessing. From rowing for the Naval Academy to standing watch onboard the USS John S McCain to being the first mate on an oyster boat in Gardiners Bay, saltwater has been the through-line in her life. Since living in Chicago, she’s realized the only thing that could possibly make Lake Michigan any better, is a certain type of seasoning—so Frances decided to bring some briny goodness to Midwesterners herself. The naval-officer-to-oyster-connoisseur pipeline isn't well established yet, but Frances is leading the way. Grab your shucking knife and join her!
Favorite Oyster: Little Rams grown in Gardiners Bay on Long Island. Bottom farmed for 2-3 years. Super briny with a clean finish. They taste like vacation as the Little Ram farmers say!
Joe Paloian
Co-Founder, Joe.Paloian@freshcoastoysters.comBorn in Lemont, IL, Joe was raised an avid athlete and sports fan (Go Blackhawks!). After attending Illinois State University, Joe has spent the last 10 years living in Chicago and is currently working in Finance (FP&A) for a growing start-up company. Along the way, his passion for the outdoors grew from backpacking expeditions all over Arizona into the more demanding pursuit of mountaineering having now climbed Mt. Rainier, Hood, Shasta, Shuksan, and Baker with more to come. Joe’s adventures has instilled in him that it’s never too late to acquire a new passion and Oysters have done just that. As the idea of Fresh Coast Oysters began, he knew he wanted to be a part of something that the Midwest hasn’t had nearly enough exposure to and could truly provide a benefit to the environment. With that, the future is certain, give us time to work it out. We’re on a road to nowhere, come along and take that ride!
Favorite Oyster: Jimmy Fund Golds from Mere Point Oyster Co.
Crisp, firm meat is complemented by a pronounced salinity and a clean, bright finish. Most importantly, for each bag sold a donation is made to support patient care and vital pediatric cancer research.
How It Started
When Frances moved to Chicago, she decided to pull a “New Girl” and moved in with 2 guys. One Friday in May, Frances walked in with 2 dozen oysters throwing Joe by surprise seeing her shuck them at the kitchen counter. Upon teaching Joe the tricks of the trade, this quickly turned into a weekly tradition and scaled to 60….80….120 oysters! Before we knew it, all our friends and family wanted to come over to enjoy with us and who are we to turn down a good time. That’s when it became clear that more people in the Midwest need the opportunity to eat oysters and it would be an absolute pleasure if we could be the ones serving them!
Our Mission
At Fresh Coast Oysters, our mission is simple. We want to source oysters from farmers that are telling a story through their product. We want to educate the Midwestern oyster eaters about that story; And we want to inspire more people to pick up an oyster and slurp it down!
The Name
You’re absolutely right! Oysters do not exist in the Great Lakes. We source them from either coast where they truly are Fresh. Our name stems from where we live, the Midwest. Because we’re not from the east or west coast, we’re from the best coast, the Fresh Coast. And just as Sally sold Sea Shells, go ahead and say our name 10x fast.