Escargot-Getter, 13, Setting Pace in Snails

Thomas Albin is spending his spare time tending a herd of 100,000 California Brown snails, a slow-moving task that nonetheless has made him the envy of many a 4-H’er.

The 13-year-old’s entrepreneurship--Thomas sells them to be served as escargot--has won him recognition from the Fresno-based Snail Club of America as the youngest major “snailer” in the nation.

“There was a 9-year-old girl who started, but all her snails died and she quit,” said Thomas as he stood in front of one of his 27-foot by 31-foot snail pens on his family’s 45-acre grape ranch about 10 miles south of Fresno.

Fresno Snail Center

“That’s not going to happen to me,” he said, peering from beneath his thick glasses with a smirk.

Albin’s distinction is just the latest of myriad accomplishments made by local members of America’s new and not-so-sluggish escargot industry. Some claim that because of their achievements the Fresno area is now recognized as the nation’s leading production and research center for edible snails.

“No doubt about it, as far as research, production, invention of related products and exchange of ideas goes, Fresno is now the snail capital of the country,” boasted Ralph Tucker, president of the 800-member Snail Club.

Tucker, who last summer announced plans to transform the club into an incorporated fresh snail brokerage firm, already has bought some of Thomas’ creatures.

Later this year, several club founders plan to open a “Snail Distribution Center,” which, besides being the first major fresh snail outlet in America, also will offer them barbecued, smoked and even pickled.

Until then, Snail Club members are being asked to build up stocks enough to sustain what they hope will become a national craving. In canned form, snails last year accounted for $300 million in sales, largely imports from France and Taiwan.

The nation’s only escargot cannery opened 18 months ago in Petaluma. With the first of what they hope will become a string of snail distribution centers, Tucker and others hope the domestic industry will wipe out the imports.

Award-Winning Project

Thomas’ contribution to the escargot industry is more than just setting an example. His science project this year won awards from throughout the state for the discovery that lettuce makes snails grow fastest and biggest.

“We use his research on the different food types to make our official recommendation that lettuce is the best food for the snails, which after all have to be a certain size to be edible,” said Tucker. “The bigger and juicier the better, and lettuce does it.”

Thomas’ parents are enthusiastic about his new-found passion.

“It used to be his pigs,” said his mother, Karen. “This keeps him off the street, he doesn’t watch too much TV, he’s using his mind.

“And with the snails being what they are, he’s learning what they have to teach most--patience.”