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New Oyster Shucking Glove Reduces Waste & Maintains Safety

Industry: Shellfish / Oysters
Problem: Shucking gloves are traditionally sold in pairs, but only a single glove is worn on the non-dominant hand when shucking oysters. The Company disposed of 90% of their right-handed gloves.
Focus: Assess & improve food safety programs, reduce waste & explore potential cost savings

Background:

A business with unique needs, a fellow B Corp certified company, required a glove specific to their industry - a glove designed for working with sharp and abrasive shellfish. Shucking oysters requires workers to securely hold an oyster in the non-dominant hand while using a tool in the dominant hand to open the oyster - therefore only the non-dominant hand wears the specifically designed glove. The problem was current suppliers only sold these gloves in pairs, no supplier sold single gloves. This created a considerable amount of waste and cost as around 50% of gloves were unused and disposed of.

Both B Corp companies worked together to source a better glove while upholding the B Corp values of environmental responsibility and transparency.

Challenges Identified:

  1. Maintain Worker Safety
    The Company required a non-dominant hand glove that allowed the worker to securely grip the oyster while safely opening the shellfish with a sharp tool.

    Oyster Shucking nitrile Glove
  2. Reduce Cost
    One of the product development goals was to develop a glove that performed as well or better than the current glove, therefore saving cost as only one glove hand (right or left) could be purchased at a time.

  3. Eliminate Glove & Packaging Waste
    There was an obvious differentiation in the quantity of each glove hand, right vs left, the Company utilized. The unused glove in the pair was discarded as it was never needed. In an effort to reduce waste and shipping costs the bulky glove packaging was also to be analyzed.

Shucking gloves, previously bought in pairs, resulted in the company discarding almost 50% of the gloves.

Solutions:

Eagle Protect addressed the oyster processor’s challenges in the following ways:

  • Developed Triple-Dipped Nitrile Shuckers at Reduced Cost
    Eagle worked with one of their factories to develop a high-quality triple-dipped nitrile glove. Manufactured at the quality standards required in Eagle’s Supplier Code of Conduct, the new gloves also brought cost savings since they could be purchased individually to meet the users requirements.
  • New Glove Functionality Ensured Worker Safety & Production Efficiency
    This durable glove ensured it would withstand the demanding oyster shucking process while maintaining a secure grip on the wet shellfish, ensuring worker and customer safety.
  • Sourced Gloves 9 Left : 1 Right
    Due to the unique nature of the oyster processing business, Eagle Protect supplied the Company the new glove 9:1 (left:right), eliminating unused gloves that were previously discarded.
  • Shipped in Bulk
    Eagle supplied the Company the new triple-dipped nitrile shucking glove in bulk, eliminating unnecessary retail packaging and reducing waste and associated costs.

Results:

The product developed by Eagle Protect resulted in the following six months savings:

  1. Estimated gloves saved = 3,840
  2. Reduced waste: 1,056 lbs
  3. Reduced quantity of purchased gloves: 50%
  4. Maintained production and oyster processing levels during new product implementation

Conclusion:

Suppliers in the disposable glove and clothing industry are historically driven by price and aren’t known for their transparency. Eagle provides a better way of doing business and will work with your company to develop products needed to solve food safety and sustainability concerns.

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Oyster Shucking Gloves

Notable Findings

  • Supplying individual gloves reduced the Company's waste by approx. 50%.
  • Eliminating unused gloves reduced shipping costs and carbon emissions.
  • The Company & Eagle worked together to develop a shucking glove that exceeded performance and safety standards.
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