Launching first large-scale organic seaweed-to-food cultivation and processing in EU

Project Information

SeaBest

Grant agreement ID: 849793

DOI

10.3030/849793

Project closed

EC signature date 8 February 2019

Start date 1 March 2019

End date 28 February 2021

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 2 372 687,50

EU contribution

€ 1 660 881,25

Coordinated by

SEAWEED SOLUTIONS AS
Norway

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SeaBest (Launching first large-scale organic seaweed-to-food cultivation and processing in EU)

Reporting period: 2020-03-01 to 2021-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Seaweed has great promise as a sustainable and scalable blue bio-resource for food, feed, biochemical, bioplastics and bioenergy. However, today 95 % of seaweed production happens in Asia and in Europe seaweed is produced only at small scale and has had a limited impact in the market. The goal of the SeaBest project is to close the circle from seaweed spore to a high quality organic food product using a large-scale and cost-competitive approach for the first time in Europe. By demonstration of our scaleable seaweed cultivation technology and a range of market activities we will aim to boost the production and market of seaweed in Europe.

The overall objectives are:
1. Advancing our current technology to the level ready for extensive piloting (TRL8);
2. Real environment piloting and validation enabling for a rapid global commercial launch (TRL9);
3. Developing and implementing out business innovation and commercialisation plans

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In the first year of the project we have invested in new modular and scalable harvest and transport vessels solutions and demonstrated these at scale in the sea. Further we have developed and implemented new solutions for handling and processing of the seaweed on the production line. We have engaged with a number of pilot customers in the food market and developed a range of pilot products demonstrating wide use of seaweed as a raw material in everyday European food produce with broad market potential. Our commercial upscaling plan, incl. financing and the elaboration of our partnership model for further upscaling are continuously being updated.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

New dedicated harvest and transport vessels have been developed and are being demonstrated. These are modular and relatively low cost units which allow rapid and flexible upscaling and may be quickly implemented in new farms across Norway and Europe for large volume and low cost farming of seaweed. Our setup for handling and processing of the seaweed into an easy to use raw material format is suited for B2B sales to the European food industry. Our healthy and sustainable raw material is clean, fresh with nutrients preserved and certified organic. By making this raw material widely available we will open up for innovative food companies across Europe to tap into the innovation potential of seaweed in food and provide the population with tasty, healthy and climate friendly food.

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