The seaweed of Scotland is one of the great success stories of this sustainability-focused age
The Western Isles are often overlooked when it comes to assessing the UK economy, but with marine life and plant life galore, the northern-most section of Great Britain has always had a huge amount of potential.
And in an age when sustainability, plant-based solutions, and healthy eating are firmly in the spotlight, attention is being placed on the wealth of seaweed farming potential located in the Outer Hebrides.
The move towards a healthier food landscape
Over the past decade, big food manufacturers have been growing wiser to the need and desire for healthier, plant-based food alternatives. In 2020, The Vegan Society announced that a record-breaking half a million people had taken part in their annual Veganuary campaign for that year, doubling the number of participants from 2019.[1]
This coincided with a growing awareness regarding the sheer amount of salt present in UK processed foods. Healthy foods initiatives, such as Action on Salt, have made it their mission to raise awareness regarding the dangers of heavy salt consumption, even hosting an annual Salt Awareness Week every March.[2] Seaweed has been widely hailed in recent years for its effectiveness as a healthy and flavour boosting salt replacement.
Hebridean seaweed is present around the world
Seaweed is widely hailed as a ‘superfood’, thanks to the rich collection of vitamins, minerals and nutrients it contains – including iodine, potassium, calcium and iron.[1] However, the nutritional properties of seaweed change depending on the species, harvest location and processing. At Seaweed & Co., we have been wild harvesting our seaweed sustainably from the pristine waters of the Outer Hebrides for many years. This ensures a gold standard of quality and traceability.
Other seaweed harvesters have followed suit, taking advantage of the unrivalled quantity and quality of Hebridean seaweed. Arnish on Stornoway is the home of the plant for popular seaweed company Hebridean Seaweed, whose farming plant trebled in size in 2020 alone. Two tonnes of powdered seaweed from Arnish go into 40 million packets of Batchelor’s pasta sauce every year.[2]
Ishga is another well-known example. The company creates skincare using organic seaweed harvested from the Outer Hebrides.[3]
There are no clearer waters or higher quality seaweed than in the Outer Hebrides. The Scottish Highlands have long been heralded for their pristine water quality, thanks to the efforts of communities, SEPA and the Scottish government.[4] In fact, the coastal waters surrounding the Outer Hebrides have been granted the highest quality classification available by SEPA (Scottish Environmental Protection Agency).[5]
Seaweed farming and the rise of sustainability
The purity of this part of the UK landscape makes the Outer Hebrides one of the leading areas for seaweed farming, at a time when the importance of seaweed farming is becoming increasingly apparent.
A report by CGS found that 70% of the public consider sustainability to be at least “somewhat important” to them, while almost half (47%) would pay more for a sustainable product. Sustainable business practices were also the second most popular reason for staying loyal to a brand.[1]
And seaweed has a huge part to play in the sustainability movement. Seaweed works in the same way as land plants – ingesting carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen – but on a much greater scale. Because of its rapid growth rate, seaweed can ingest huge quantities of carbon. It’s estimated that kelp soaks up as much as 600 million tonnes of carbon every year,[2] and a kelp forest can absorb as much as 20 times more carbon from the atmosphere than the same area of forest on land.[3]
Sustainable seaweed growth and farming has the potential to support the fight against climate change significantly, and alongside the health benefits provided by seaweed as a plant-bases food source, it’s no wonder the marine plant life of the Outer Hebrides is proving increasingly popular. Now is the time for brands to invest in this movement.
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[1] https://plantbasednews.org/culture/ethics/vegans-in-britain-skyrocketed/
[2] http://www.actiononsalt.org.uk/
[3] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/features/seaweed-superfood-2021-good-us/
[4] https://www.stornowaygazette.co.uk/business/seaweed-a-story-of-growing-ingenuity-3219124
[5] https://uk.ishga.com/pages/seaweed-benefits
[9] https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2019/how-kelp-naturally-combats-global-climate-change/