The nutritional benefits of seaweed products are making waves, and providing access via convenient formats makes them even more accessible to consumers
Here at Seaweed & Co., we know that seaweed is not a new phenomenon. Despite having been a largely forgotten food, seaweed has been used all around the world for nutrition, as well as providing natural umami flavour. However, a boom in health, wellness and plant-based eating has seen seaweed take centre-stage in recent years, becoming a key ingredient for new product development. We’ve seen for ourselves how much awareness and popularity surrounding seaweed has skyrocketed.
Naturally high in minerals like iodine, seaweed offers a healthy and versatile food option. Algae and seaweed broadly contain fibre, omega-3, omega-6 and polyunsaturated fatty acids, and there are more than 221 species gaining traction for their commercial value. This is helping to create a global seaweed industry worth more than US$6 billion each year, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
A growing spotlight as a future sustainable food
The benefits of seaweed are deep, multifaceted and widely researched, so much so that the mere mention of seaweed in products is helping brands promote a natural and healthy image. Research funded by the UK Government’s Innovation Agency demonstrated that 88% of consumer recognise that seaweed is good for them.
Seaweed can be added to a wide range of food, nutrition and drink categories, and its natural green colour allows it to do so while supporting an image of health in a similar way to other ‘green’ ingredients like wheatgrass and kale.
As such, products like smoothies, flavoured waters, algae-based meat alternatives and even spirits are slowly but surely gaining in popularity across Europe.
Meeting vegan diet deficiencies
Coinciding with a desire for plant-based foods is a growing awareness of the downfalls of meat consumption. An increasing number of people are choosing to follow a vegan diet or at least significantly cut down the amount of meat they eat. This leaves consumers searching for sustainable and economical plant-based sources of key nutrients, which seaweed can provide.
Nutrients like protein. In a survey conducted in 2019, Mintel found that 36% of US consumers were either currently eating algae as a protein source or were interested in trying it, while the same went for 40% of Canadian consumers. Similarly, 38% of consumers in France say marine protein and algae as a healthy, non-traditional protein source. This is reflective of the wider, growing interest in seaweed as a source of many key nutrients.
Thanks to this growing awareness, seaweed products like ours have been embraced as a plant-based food which can help to address common vegan diet deficiencies.
Modern formats and hidden tastes
While more and more consumers are interested in seaweed as a pure and standalone vegan food source, there is also a large market for products ‘powered by seaweed’. Introducing seaweed as a component in other healthy food options, or as an addition to already popular meal options, creates a bridge between two extremes and makes the seaweed market far more accessible to casual consumers with an interest in nutrition.
This has resulted in a wide spectrum of products like seaweed-infused popcorn, pasta, wraps, chips, bread and more. Our very own Doctor Seaweed’s Weed & Wonderful® Scottish Seaweed Infused Oils allow our customers to enjoy the benefits of seaweed in a casual and tasty way that can be drizzled over meals or used as a flavoursome dipping sauce, while Doctor Seaweed’s Weed & Wonderful® pure seaweed supplements provide all the nutritional benefits, in an easy-to-use format capsule.
This reflects how the seaweed industry is moving into modernity, as exemplified through our PureSea® range of naturally innovative seaweed ingredients. While the ingredient itself has ancient roots, the thoroughly modern forms it is taking in health stores and on supermarket shelves alike are making seaweed a contemporary marketable element.
An increasing awareness of iodine
The health benefits of seaweed have been widely researched in recent years. At the same time, a growing awareness of the importance of key minerals like iodine is taking place.
Our resident Doctor Seaweed — marine biologist Dr Craig Rose — explains the importance of seaweed as an iodine source:
“The importance of iodine to our overall health has flown under the radar for years, so it’s extremely encouraging to see awareness of it grow. Iodine is an essential nutrient which has a role to play in healthy thyroid function, cognitive function, childhood development and more. And seaweed is the only good natural plant-based source of iodine available, which is important as the UK as a whole experiences worrying levels of iodine deficiency. Just one gram of our PureSea® Scottish organic seaweed contains as much iodine as three whole mackerel.”
Data like this shows the legitimacy of seaweed’s proposed health angle and, as Doctor Seaweed comments, gives weight to the ingredient’s stark rise in popularity:
“To me, the boom in seaweed products comes as no surprise. I’ve worked in seaweed research and commercially for many years, and have always encouraged people to give seaweed a try because of the benefits it offers. Now that the initial ‘weirdness’ of consuming seaweed has all but faded away, the possibilities of this plant in the food and health industries really are endless.
“Seaweed is an incredibly versatile ingredient, and our PureSea® range of naturally innovative seaweed ingredients provide solutions for any food and nutrition product to benefit from seaweeds numerous attributes. With regards plant-based foods, PureSea® seaweed can boost flavour, replace salt, and add essential plant-based nutrition.”
Our PureSea® range delivers high quality organic Hebridean seaweed in natural, well researched and safe formats. Our organic seaweed powder is used in Doctor Seaweed’s Weed & Wonderful® capsules to make it easier than ever for consumers to experience the benefits of seaweed for themselves. Click here to explore PureSea® today.