Four international startups have won the Seaweed Innovation Challenge by presenting their seaweed-based food and packaging innovations. The pitch competition, which took place on Thursday, June 8 in the Oude Kerk in Scheveningen, was part of the first edition of North Sea Seaweed, an event of the seaweed trade organization North Sea Farmers.
The winners are:
- Seaweed Food Solutions from the Netherlands presents a vegetable spare rib made from seaweed and jackfruit. The innovative snack is said to be 'juicy, savory, meaty and even better than the original'.
- BettaF!sh from Germany creates plant-based tuna made from seaweed. Their goal is to develop more seaweed-based alternatives for all food categories.
- Kelpi from the United Kingdom, which makes high-quality bioplastics based on seaweed. Their packaging is suitable for home composting and decomposes in less than a year.Wvdwd
- Seaweed & Co. produces sustainable seaweed ingredients called PureSea in the UK. PureSea can be processed into many different types of food and feedstuffs.
During the Seaweed Innovation Challenge, startups worldwide could submit their pitches on Brave New Food's innovation platform. The organizer North Sea Farmers received 30 entries with a wide range of food and packaging innovations using seaweed. The participants came from 13 different countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, Tanzania and Mexico.
The North Sea Farmers team, together with the jury members from Amazon, Nestlé, Colruyt Group, DS Smith and innovation partner Brave New Food, selected ten finalists. Eating seaweed or processing the fibers into packaging is far from common practice in this part of the Western world. The finalists are all companies that see the potential of seaweed as food or as an alternative in packaging. These other ambitious startups presented their innovative solutions to the jury on June 8, which can open doors to a larger audience, with pitches and a seaweed market where their products could be tasted and viewed.
The other finalists, who were allowed to pitch but did not make it to the finish line, were:
- Dutch Seaweed Group makes the first organic wakame salad from the Netherlands. This local product not only has good nutritional values, but also contributes to a better climate.
- Dutch Weed Burger claims to make the best burger in the world, for the world – from seaweed. 100% plant-based and packed with proteins.
- Olijck Foods is a Dutch food company that offers two unique brands in which seaweed plays the leading role: Meat-You-Halfway (hybrid meat) and Sea Veggies (plant-based food products).
- B'ZEOS, a Norwegian greentech company that develops innovative packaging solutions. Their products are completely seaweed-based and biodegradable.
- FlexSea from the United Kingdom is a startup that creates packaging solutions based on seaweed. It is 100% edible, which opens up many new packaging possibilities.
- Oceanium, also from the UK, produces innovative food ingredients, health products and materials made from sustainably farmed seaweed, including a special ink made from seaweed.
The jury was surprised by the wide variety with which seaweed can be used in our food and packaging. Eef Brouwers, Manager and co-founder of North Sea Farmers, about the event: “Today we have again seen that there are many questions about all innovations in the field of seaweed. Questions such as: how does it work, and how do we get the consumer to be as enthusiastic as we are? There is increasing interest in seaweed. I think we are very close to a breakthrough. In a product line or in another market. I hope that this event will bring seaweed entrepreneurs and market parties one step closer.'
The 10 startups presented to an audience of leading retailers, food companies, investors and other industry experts. Each startup was given 2 minutes to pitch their idea before they could answer questions from the jury panel. Eric Klarenbeek, seaweed artist, designer and entrepreneur at Klarenbeek & Dros and Weedware presented this private event.
(photo credits: Jurriaan Brobbel Photography)
Source: Duurzaam-ondernemen.nl
