Seaweed is the future

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Seaweed is the future

Full of vitamins, fiber, minerals and proteins, CO2 negative, super fast growing and available in enormous quantities. The opportunities for seaweed are great. Especially if it is grown on land. Seaweedland is busy optimizing the process, with support from NOM.

Everyone eats seaweed regularly. Seaweed is used as an additive or thickener in ice cream, chocolate milk, sausage rolls, sushi, sauces, puddings and many more products. Seaweed is also found in toothpaste, cosmetics, nutritional supplements and even medicines. But much more is possible with the plants. For example, seaweed is a promising meat substitute.

Sexbierum

Sven Rusticus has known that for a few years. The entrepreneur was so fascinated by the benefits of seaweed that he decided to get serious about its production, but in a clean, responsible way where the quality is constant and consistent. Together with friend and pharmaceutical entrepreneur Anko Kuil, Rusticus made a plan that should lead to sustainable seaweed production in greenhouses in Sexbierum.

Growing seaweed on land. That sounds quite contradictory. And yet that is the best way to fully realize the promise of the plant, says Rusticus. “In many places in the world, seaweed is 'normally' grown and harvested at sea. This is an excellent method for various purposes, but not for what we want: using seaweed for human food.”

A few years ago, Rusticus was captivated by the special properties of seaweed. His first idea was to start farming in the sea, until he saw the disadvantages. "You can never ensure a constant and consistent supply because you have to deal with different seasons, weather conditions, temperatures and more. But the biggest hurdle is that seaweed from the sea always contains shellfish. And they contain allergens that some people cannot tolerate.”

You can solve that problem by growing the seaweed under controlled, constant conditions. So on land. In a greenhouse, if Seaweedland has its way. There you can build basins in which optimal conditions are created for the growth of seaweed. Rusticus and Kuil are already experimenting with this in Heerhugowaard. They want to expand to a greenhouse complex in Sexbierum in the foreseeable future.

There is a large empty greenhouse complex. Rusticus: "Some of the greenhouses will be used to generate solar energy from which we can get sustainable electricity." The location is ideal. Deep underground there is a source with very pure, salty water. That is the perfect basis for the water that the startup wants to use for cultivation, supplemented with nutrients.

Seaweedland's ambition extends that far. The inventors think that is logical. In their view, seaweed is an indispensable link in the transition to a more sustainable world and thus saving the planet. Count it in: seaweed cultivation is CO2 negative. You can harvest 22 times as much protein from one hectare of seaweed as from one hectare of soy. Moreover, you only need salt water and not fresh water, as with other crops and especially for animal proteins. And there are many more favorable conditions.

12,000 species of seaweed

“Seaweed research is progressing rapidly, but there is still a long way to go,” says Rusticus. "There are about 12,000 species in the world, we only use a few of them and new benefits are being discovered all the time. For example, the Asparagopsis species has been proven to be an effective means of reducing methane gases from cows. You add a little to their feed and the cows belch significantly less methane.”

Seaweedland believes that the Netherlands has the opportunity to play a leading role in the world in sustainable seaweed production. Rusticus: “We can have a serious impact. Seaweed is a means to feed the world in a sustainable way.”

That is why the company mainly focuses on nutrition, initially with three types of seaweed. Seaweedland does this to make the world more sustainable, but also to promote the health of humanity. Seaweed contains large amounts of minerals, fiber, proteins and vitamins. Particularly interesting is the presence of vitamin B12, which the human body needs when it eats less meat. As a salt substitute, seaweed also works for your health, because seaweed contains less sodium and more magnesium and potassium. And as a natural thickener, it is also more sustainable than animal-derived gelatin.

“That is what we are about, to feed the world sustainably. But we also work on other products with seaweed, such as cosmetics and nutritional supplements. Seaweed has antibacterial and antiviral properties. It is anti-inflammatory, contains antioxidants and has an anti-aging effect on the skin. We can achieve a higher margin on specific products with those properties and improve our operations. Did you know that seaweed is also the basis of ocean and coral-friendly sunscreen? Another opportunity."

NOM for initial phase

Seaweedland has only been on the road for two years and is working hard to discover and map all the possibilities and properties. The test setup in Heerhugowaard is an important step in this regard. The company's location is: Leeuwarden. And that is not without reason. Rusticus: “Leeuwarden is the epicenter of water technology. We want to be in the middle of that. Apart from that, agriculture is big in the Northern Netherlands and the networks are good. We need that.”

NOM helps with this, says investment manager Ruud van Dijk. “Seaweedland is a company that is at the beginning of what can become something very beautiful. Everyone sees the great opportunities, but in such an initial phase it is difficult to attract investment money. That's what we are for. We are now investing money in the test setup that precedes scaling up to a location such as Sexbierum. This will require a next round of financing. And if the tests are positive, we will certainly be open to that again."

Rusticus hopes so too. His biggest challenge now - apart from finding out which seaweeds thrive best in different conditions - is to open up the market. “The benefits of seaweed are obvious. It also tastes good, and that is what we now have to convince people of. We do this, among other things, by employing chefs who create delicious dishes with our products. The first tests are promising in that regard. Seaweed is the future. We already know that, now it's time for more people to see it."