Doing just 10% of its usual business, Hog Island Oyster Co. ponders uncertain future

Hog Island Oyster Company, one of the most beloved shellfish companies in the world and a pioneer of the farm to table movement in San Francisco, is reckoning with its future.

On March 9, Saul Ranella, Hog Island’s Cocktail and Spirits Manager, saw the Princess Cruise Ship sail into the Port of Oakland from the windows of the San Francisco Ferry Building. “There was something ominous about seeing that ship come into the bay,” Ranella said.

One week later, Hog Island temporarily closed its San Francisco, Napa, and Marshall locations, furloughed 250 of its 300 employees and reduced management salaries, saving a skeleton crew to operate the recently opened Larkspur restaurant and its oyster farm.