Snails are often pests gardeners and farmers try to get rid of, but a south-west entrepreneur is turning that on its head and is set to farm hundreds-of-thousands of the slimy molluscs in WA for the first time.

Snails, or escargot as it is more commonly referred to in the culinary world, have long been featured on French menus worldwide.

Difficultly in securing supply in Australia, however, has meant many chefs only bring the French delicacy to their menu on rare occasions.

Boutique farmer Nick Power hopes to change all that.

With limited local supply, many restaurants buy in snails from France. ( ABC Rural: Kit Mochan )

With planning approvals in and market research done he has just started preparing a small area of land at his property in Margaret River, south of Perth, ready to house hundreds-of-thousand of snails.

"It all goes back to what goes well with a glass of wine when we have friends around," he said.

"I'm a great believer in wine and food as a pairing and getting people around the table to enjoy it and the idea came from there."

If successful, Mr Power will join just a handful of snail producers across the country.

The snails are farmed in what Mr Power refers to as 'pods' — purpose-built snail beds with herbs for snails to eat and a cover over the top to stop birds snacking.

The species of snail he will be farming is the helix aspersa, commonly found in the garden, and it should not cost much to buy the stock.

"I've got a number of friends with vineyards and I'm more than welcome to pick up as much as I'd like," he said.

He said farming snails was the same as any other livestock situation.

"You have got to feed them, water them, and provide the right conditions," he said.

"And then they'll hopefully breed, do their thing and have lots of little baby snails that we'll gather around and eat."

Mr Power said the first stage of the snail farm, which would prove the "viability of the concept", would likely be up and running in a year's time.

From there he will assess whether or not to take the venture further.

Are Aussies ready to eat snails?

Meat wholesalers, like Rob Gareffa, say there is demand in WA for local-grown snails. ( ABC Rural: Tyne Logan )

Mr Power is certainly not new to marketing, having previously worked in the wine industry and also recently starting up one of Western Australia's only commercial-scale butter factories.

But he admitted he would have his work cut out for him this time.

"Can Australians expand their horizons to consider and partake in other foods?" he said.

"With all the travel Australians are doing it's great because they come back and are willing to try different things."

Chief executive of Mondo Meats wholesalers Robert Gareffa, who supplies more than 300 restaurants across the country, said while it was a tough market in Australia the timing was right.

Mondo Meats used to wholesale snails bought from a farm in the eastern states but stopped about four years ago when Western Australians started tightening their belts following the mining boom.

"It priced itself out of the market, but we have noticed an increase lately," Mr Gareffa said.

"I think we're becoming an international destination again, the casino scene is seeing an increase in some of their international gamblers coming back to Perth and they have an appetite for these types of products."

Mr Gareffa said he believed snails could sell for between $12 and $18 a dozen.

"Much more than that and you're starting to get into oyster territory and that tends to be a bit more palatable to the wider public," he said.

French chefs excited about local supply

Chef Xavier Poupel, who runs a small French delicatessen in Albany on the south coast of the state, is exited about the news.

Xavier Poupel still holds on to escargot recipes his mother wrote almost 50 years ago. ( ABC Rural: Kit Mochan )

He loves cooking with escargot, holding on to recipes passed down from his mother.

"In France we are brought up with snails and we often eat the snail with a riesling or a very dry white wine," he said.

"They're really a delicacy and every time we did it here we sold them."

But Mr Poupel said access to supply had limited him in the past.

This was because the snails he imported from France were sold in large quantities which he had to use all at once, making it difficult to serve them consistently.

He said the prospect of a local supply was exciting.

"Bring the me the snails and I will certainly do it again," he said.

"I would rather get it locally than from France, which are fabulously good but you still have to import them."

He said price was a big factor though, and he would like to see snails available for cheaper prices.