Personalities
Brad Buckley
Sales & Marketing Manager, The Abalone Farm
Brad Buckley is the Sales and Marketing Manager at The Abalone Farm, Inc. located in Cayucos, California. He was born in 1961 and raised on a small farm in Mississippi helping his family grow vegetables and cotton. He received a Masters degree in Public Policy and Administration at Mississippi State University and planned to pursue a career in the public sector.
After visiting California and falling in love with the scenery, weather, and lifestyle, he relocated to San Luis Obispo in 1987. While waiting for a government job opening, he took a production laborer position at The Abalone Farm. Brad thought he would keep the interesting and unique job at the farm for a limited time, but he took great interest in what the farm was working to accomplish; to preserve a part of California’s food culture, the Red Abalone.
Brad has held various positions in both production and administration. He has worked as a crew supervisor and manager in two divisions of production, managed the farm’s distribution and processing divisions and served as administrative assistant and personnel director.
The Abalone Farm has grown to become the largest producer of cultured Red Abalone in the country and is recognized world wide as a leader in the industry. The farm’s production was exported primarily to Asia in the ‘80’s while only a small percentage was sold into the domestic market. Brad has seen a dramatic reversal of this trend as restrictions were imposed on wild catch and public awareness of sustainability and ocean-friendly choices has increased. The Abalone Farm sells 100% of its abalone production in the U.S. under the brand name ‘Ocean Rose’.
The Abalone Farm has been covered in numerous local and national publications such as the New York and Los Angeles Times, Saveur, Sunset and Food & Wine magazine. The Abalone Farm has also been featured on KCET’s ‘Visiting with Huell Howser’ and Food Network’s’ BBQ with Bobby Flay’ and ‘Will Work For Food’.
