Why seaweed is making waves with foodies and entrepreneurs alikeJanuary 30, 2023

Canada’s shoreline is 71,261 kilometres lengthy. It touches the North Pacific, Arctic and North Atlantic oceans. And a rising variety of Canadian corporations wish to capitalize on all that house to develop … seaweed snacks?

It will be extra correct to say they’re seeking to develop an edible seaweed business – one that won’t solely meet rising world curiosity on this aquatic meals merchandise, but additionally develop Canada’s agricultural sector in an environmentally sustainable and socially accountable approach.

Although seaweed has been a staple meals merchandise in Asian cultures and amongst coastal Indigenous nations in Canada for hundreds of years, it’s now receiving growing consideration from North American customers. To this point, that is largely targeted within the wellness sector, main Complete Meals to spotlight farmed kelp as one in all its prime meals tendencies for 2023.

In accordance with the report, merchandisers are “seeing it in noodles, chips, fish-free ‘fish’ sauce and past. As customers search out different substances and experiment with new flavours, kelp-inspired meals are gaining recognition.” In accordance with Pinterest U.Okay.’s 2023 development report, searches for phrases like ‘seaweed snacks recipes’ are up 245 per cent. (Different aquatic crops, together with inexperienced algae, are additionally trending up.)

Savvy Canadian enterprise persons are seeing this curiosity for what it’s: a possibility.

“It’s no secret that the meals we eat have a major impression on the well being of the planet. Shoppers are on the lookout for meals choices which might be more healthy for the planet and for themselves too. Seaweed checks each of those packing containers,” says Desirée Dupuis, VP, gross sales and advertising at Vancouver’s Cascadia Seaweed and founding father of its client meals model, Kove Ocean Meals, which launched in spring 2021 after Cascadia seen there was a rising demand for sustainable plant-based meals.

The well being issue is compelling. “Seaweed is a superfood. Just like its different inexperienced vegetable counterparts like kale and spinach, seaweed is wealthy in very important vitamins comparable to fibre, iron, iodine, folate, magnesium, Vitamin A, Okay and E, comprises wholesome fat and is low in sugar. Seaweed is nice for the center, good for the intestine, and good for the mind,” Dupuis says.

However there are different components at play right here. Better familiarity with seaweed due to the recognition of sushi and different Asian meals traditions helps, as does social media – TikToker Emily Mariko’s salmon bowls, which she tops with crumbled nori, recurrently went tremendous viral in 2022.

However maybe probably the most impactful affect is social consciousness. Shoppers are more and more interested by procuring their values, which implies shopping for merchandise from local weather aware and socially accountable corporations. The farming course of for seaweed gives each.

“Seaweed grows rapidly, permitting harvest to happen inside one rising season. It may be grown alongside different mariculture species comparable to mussels or oysters, contributing to a ‘polyculture’ rising methodology that helps the ocean in some ways, comparable to creating habitat or taking over extra vitamins like phosphorus, nitrogen and carbon that may contribute to dangerous algae blooms,” explains Mark Smith, president and CEO of the Pacific Seaweed Business Affiliation.

“In a time when the way forward for some economically vital fish populations are unsure, incorporation of seaweed into the seafood system can launch strain on different seafoods and assist the livelihoods of coastal communities.”

What’s extra, seaweed is a ‘low-input’ crop; it doesn’t require land, fertilizer and even have to be watered. In reality, in contrast to nearly another crop, its development can scale back greenhouse gasoline emissions. “New seaweed development helps to mitigate ocean acidification and science has proven us that it has the ability to sequester carbon at a price as much as 20 occasions greater than timber and crops,” Kove Ocean Meals’s Dupuis says.

From a social duty perspective, the business is being led by west coast Indigenous communities, who’ve eaten seaweed for hundreds of years. That is offering them with alternatives for financial growth and improved meals safety.

After which there’s the pure financial potential.

“Given the restricted variety of cultivators at the moment, it’s laborious to fulfill demand and distribution wants,” Smith says, mentioning that in North America, 95 to 99 per cent of the seaweed utilized in meals manufacturing is imported.

That’s why, he says, Canada has a major alternative to be a world chief within the business.

“Before everything, having one of many longest coastlines on this planet creates a possibility to scale the business over time. These in aquaculture associated jobs could be cross-trained, usually throughout a down time of their conventional harvesting season, thereby permitting for yr spherical income,” says Smith. “And we’ve got diversified rising areas such because the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic of which every comes with a novel rising alternative of various species, for various purposes.”

Not unhealthy for a weed.