However, with the oyster season all but finished for the winter, their crammed schedule is not about the harvest.

The Rodelys will soon find out if they are the winners of the Royal Agricultural Society’s $10,000 President’s Medal, Australia’s highest produce accolade.

That announcement will be made on July 26, but overnight the Rodelys were in Brisbane as finalists in another prestigious competition - the ABC Delicious magazine produce awards (see Related Coverage below for details on their win).

The President’s Medal is being judged by ABC Radio presenter Simon Marnie and Department of Primary Industries chief economist Scott Davenport.

“They are both really learned guys with a broad knowledge base and a phenomenal memory for detail,” Mr Rodely said.

The judges spent an entire day with the Rodelys recently, but they weren’t interested solely in the undeniable quality of their product.

“It’s not just about the product or how you’ve gone economically,” Mr Rodely said.

“They also look at how you’ve done environmentally and socially.

“It’s a modern award recognising modern values.”

Mr Rodely said the judges were keen to see what Tathra Oysters had done in the years since winning the inaugural President’s Medal in 2006.

“We have a pretty light footprint, producing food in a truly sustainable way and using all long-life materials,” he said.

“That fits in nicely with what this award is all about.”

Mr Rodely said it was hard to read the judges during the day, but “they smiled lot and were pretty chuffed with the product”.

“We also got to talk to them about our son Sam and his university studies.

“We’ve been able to use his snail discovery to develop infrastructure helping us battle against the invasion of Pacific oysters.”

The President’s Medal is in its seventh year and Tathra Oysters finds itself competing against the likes of industry giants Casella Wines and King Island Dairy.

Mr Rodely said Tathra Oysters’ gold medal performances at this year’s Royal Sydney Fine Food Show were the catalyst for them again being considered among the finalists for the President’s Medal.

Mr Rodely said it was an exciting, but humbling position in which to be.

“Casella’s Yellowtail wine is the biggest-selling Australian wine in the US,” he said.

“We had to laugh when we saw Casella had more people employed at its stall at the Fine Food Show than we have total.

“It’s a really interesting award in that sense, putting us in the same field as these multi-million dollar businesses.

“It’s a bit of a wrap for the whole Sydney rock oyster industry.”