The latest news, trends, analysis, interviews and podcasts from the global food and beverage industry

The food and beverage industry is riding the wave of algae innovation, harnessing its potential to tackle sustainability challenges. From seaweed that sizzles like bacon to algae oils that outshine olive, these oceanic pioneers are making a splash with eco-friendly food, drink and packaging solutions. FoodBev deep dives into this burgeoning space.

While algae are increasingly being utilised as sustainable ingredients for plant-based food products, they are uniquely distinct from plants, fungi and animals, forming their own category of photosynthetic organisms. Although predominantly found in aquatic ecosystems, algae can also be found in terrestrial environments.

Macroalgae, commonly known as seaweed, are a large multicellular form of marine algae that span thousands of species across red, brown and green varieties. Microalgae, meanwhile, are tiny single-celled organisms that can grow in a variety of environments including water, soil and on rocks.

Thanks to their nutritional and environmental benefits, algae are becoming popular in numerous applications across the food and beverage industry, with innovators eager to unlock their potential and support a ‘blue economy’.

Sustainable sourcing

Greenwave, a non-profit organisation that supports regenerative ocean farming, identified three critical components to a sustainable blue economy: ocean farms that are designed to interact with nature and improve ecosystems, economic and social benefits for coastal communities, and values-aligned supply chains meaning that farmers, processors and buyers work collaboratively to decrease costs and ensure everyone involved makes a living wage and is treated equitably.

Samantha Garwin, director of market development at Greenwave, told FoodBev: “GreenWave envisions a net zero food and beverage industry powered by seaweed. Farmed kelp is a regenerative alternative to high-carbon-footprint terrestrial ingredients, unlocking an entirely new palette of flavours, textures and bioactives. Rather than viewing kelp as a hero ingredient, we see it as more of a stealthy sidekick – hard at work behind the scenes, helping companies hit their function, nutrition and sustainability goals.”

Ocean farming involves seaweed being planted on a tensioned grid of rope, anchors and buoys just below the ocean’s surface. While wild-harvested seaweed is environmentally extractive, Garwin explained, farmed kelp is environmentally beneficial, contributing to the biodiversity and quality of the surrounding water as it grows.

“There’s also a strong business case for regenerative ocean farming: it allows us to be strategic about where, when and how seaweed is produced,” she said. “For food and beverage companies, this means a climate-resilient supply that is close to home, renewable and able to scale quickly to meet customer demand.”

Noble Ocean Farms, a regenerative kelp farm based in Alaska, US, collects kelp seed from the most abundant wild kelp beds within a 50km radius of its farm site, and from at least 50 different ‘parent stock’. Skye Steritz, the company’s president and co-founder, explained that this approach cuts out only the fertile reproductive material called sorus tissue, allowing the rest of the organism to keep growing.

“In areas where kelp abundance has decreased over the years, kelp farming can be especially regenerative and helpful for the other animals that live there,” Steritz commented. For example, in Noble Ocean Farms’ region of Prince William Sound, kelp helps to create a refuge for juvenile herring and salmon.

“Finally, kelp removes carbon from the surrounding seawater, reducing ocean acidification at least locally in that bay where it’s being cultivated,” she added.

Also working with seaweed farms in Alaska is Marine Biologics, a French biotechnology company focusing on macroalgae innovation. The company is collaborating on a project with three farms located off Alaska’s Kodiak Island – Alaska Ocean Farms, Alaska Sea Greens and Spruce Island Farms – to explore the market potential for ingredients made from newly cultivated kelp species that are novel to the industry.

Simone Augyte, director of research at Marine Biologics, said: “The newly cultivated kelp that will be evaluated during this project include Eualaria fistulosa (Dragon kelp), Hedophyllum nigripes (Split kelp) and Nereocystis luetkeana (Bull kelp)”. She highlighted that macroalgae species are composed of diverse compounds including polysaccharides, proteins, oils and bioactives such as fucoidan, laminarin, fucoxanthin and polyphenol.

“The utility and value of each species is highly dependent upon their composition, and how it varies under different growing conditions,” Augyte said. “Academic literature show that these particular kelp have interesting levels of bioactives.”

“Our data analytics platform will identify unique combinations of macroalgal compounds that deliver a superior functionality that solves customer needs such as enhanced flavour and fat delivery, sodium reduction, emulsification or a cleaner label.”

Food and beverage innovation

Benjamin Armenjon, managing director at UK seaweed-based ingredients developer Oceanium, said: “From a nutritional standpoint, seaweed is incredibly versatile and rich in essential nutrients. It contains dietary fibre, minerals such as iodine and iron, amino acids, vitamins and bioactive compounds like antioxidants and polyphenols.”

“With the global population approaching 10 billion, the need for sustainable food sources has never been more urgent as climate change threatens agriculture. Seaweed offers a scalable solution to food security challenges while addressing consumer demand for plant-based and functional ingredients.”

Oceanium uses its green cascade biorefinery technology to extract maximum value from regeneratively farmed European seaweed, enabling the production of ‘superfood’ ingredients for humans and pets, bioactives for health and wellness, and a range of materials including a biodegradable seaweed ink for packaging and textiles.

Its range includes the bioactive ingredient Ocean Actives H+, designed to support digestive and immune health by increasing the bacterial biomass and species richness of the microbiome. Armenjon revealed that preliminary ex vivo studies have shown promising potential for the ingredient to support gut health, with clinical testing currently underway to validate claims.

Additionally, Oceanium’s Ocean Health Nutra was developed to address the global dietary fibre gap, offering a prebiotic ingredient that can enhance nutrition in beverages, supplements and foods including baked goods, soups and sauces.

While Oceanium is focusing on seaweed, other companies in the F&B space are exploring other types of algae. Brevel, an alternative protein company based in Israel, has opened a commercial plant dedicated to the production of a microalgae-based protein powder.

Brevel’s versatile protein ingredient is extracted from microalgae of the chlorella family. Cultivated through the fermentation of sugars in indoor bioreactors, the start-up’s unique process combines light and fermentation, producing a white powdered concentrate with 60-70% microalgae protein. This concentrate can be used in meat and dairy alternative applications.

Meanwhile, Algae Cooking Club, headquartered in the US, is demonstrating the strength of algae in cooking oil products, made with fermented microalgae cultivated in controlled environments.

“As awareness grows around the harmful fats in seed oils and the rising cost of traditional options like olive oil, more consumers are seeking healthier and more sustainable alternatives,” said Kasra Saidi, co founder of Algae Cooking Club.

Monounsaturated fats make up 93% of the algae cooking oil’s composition, compared to around 70% in olive or avocado oils. “These fats support heart health by lowering LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, and provide exceptional oxidative stability, ensuring the oil remains noninflammatory, even when exposed to heat, oxygen or light,” Saidi continued.

“Additionally, with just 3% polyunsaturated fats, our oil caters to consumers aiming to reduce their intake of Omega-6 fats, which are often linked to inflammation.”

The oil’s high smoke point of 535°F makes it well-suited to high-heat cooking methods like frying, baking and sautéing. It offers a neutral yet slightly buttery flavour profile that can enhance dishes without overpowering their natural taste, Saidi enthused, adding that its production requires a fraction of the water, land and time needed for olive, canola or avocado oils.

Also based in the US, Umaro is another advocate of algae, aiming to provide more sustainable food alternatives with its meat alternative products. Designed to mimic bacon, these products are made from the company’s red seaweed protein, which imparts a savoury, umami flavour, crispy texture and ‘meaty’ colour. The bacon alternatives also contain other plant-based ingredients, including chickpeas, coconut and sunflower oil.

A sustainable future for packaging

Umaro has recently developed an innovative process for separating protein from kelp. It is now investigating sustainable uses for the alginate – the kelp-derived polysaccharide that is left over from the protein production process.

Supported by a $1.5 million grant from the US Department of Energy, it is collaborating on a project with seaweed packaging specialist Sway – also based in the US – to upgrade these alginate-rich polysaccharides into Sway’s compostable bioplastic materials.

Alginate can provide various functional benefits when incorporated into bioplastic formulations. It can work as a thickening, gelling and stabilising agent, thanks to its gel-forming properties and high viscosity. These qualities can improve the strength and flexibility of bioplastic packaging solutions, films and coatings.

Alyssa Pace, communications lead at Sway, told FoodBev: “Scaling next-generation materials made from seaweed creates opportunities to evolve entire supply chains, drive down demand for harmful petrochemicals and actively heal natural systems from sea to soil”.

The California-based start-up sources seaweed cultivated in ocean farms, which has been sold to biorefineries that treat the seaweed and extract the natural polymers – agar, alginate or carrageenan, commonly used as gelling agents.

“Sway sources the seaweed polymers in powder form to create our proprietary formulations,” Pace explained. “We blend these polymers with plant-based plasticisers using traditional plastic machinery.” This process results in Sways ‘TPSea’ (Thermoplastic Seaweed) pellets, which can melt and flow through global manufacturing systems, including blown film extrusion. Afterwards, these rolls of

film – named TPSea Flex – are converted into packaging, such as the Sway Polybag.

While the Polybag is currently used in the fashion industry, its potential for food and beverage packaging is also being explored. TPSea Flex is made with FDA-approved components for food contact, and Sway is in the process of validating compliance through safety, barrier and mitigation testing, Pace confirmed.

Sway joins a number of innovators working in the seaweed packaging space for food and beverages – including UK-based Kelpi and Notpla, both of which have recently closed multimillion-pound funding rounds to scale their algae-derived solutions. The interest in capturing seaweed’s potential as a sustainable material has been on the rise in recent years as the single-use plastic waste problem continues to loom over the industry.

“Plastics have seeped into our deepest sea floors, highest mountain peaks and the very air we breathe,” Sway’s Pace concluded. “Imagine if every polybag, pouch and wrapper had the power to rejuvenate ocean ecosystems while simultaneously contributing to the sequestration of tons of carbon, supporting coastal livelihoods through lasting employment and creating healthy soil in your own backyard after use. That’s what we’re building here at Sway – materials that can help replenish the planet.”