The Cornish Seaweed Co

PRODUCER: The Cornish Seaweed Co, Cornwall
PRODUCT: Organic Sea Salad
REGION: South West, Channel Islands and Isles of Scilly
CATEGORY: From the Sea (Artisan)

WHAT THEY DO 

The founders of The Cornish Seaweed Company, Caroline Warwick-Evans and Tim van Berkel, began pioneering seaweed harvesting in England in 2012, with the aim of encouraging the nation to embrace seaweed as a nutritious food source and exciting ingredient. Their seaweed is now sold through health food stores and delis, as well as supermarkets such as Tesco and Waitrose.

The company’s core philosophy is that a high quality product cannot be produced without attention to sustainability, which is at the centre of their practice. Equipped with a licence to harvest seaweed from the Crown Estate, the Cornish Seaweed Company has helped Natural England, the government’s adviser for the natural environment in England, to develop a code of conduct to safeguard against ecosystem damage when collecting the sea crop. 

These guidelines include the harvesting of seaweed only by hand, the cutting of only one section of individual plants to allow for regrowth, and recommendations for rotating harvest areas to enable recovery. The Cornish Seaweed Company has also developed a monitoring project in partnership with Exeter University to provide scientific data from drone analysis and ground studies to support these rules. 

Unlike other companies who use dehumidifiers, ovens or electric heaters to dry their seaweed, The Cornish Seaweed Company rely predominantly on direct solar and wind energy for this process, creating a more sustainable product with no compromise on quality. 

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

This product, with its great health benefits and sustainable credentials, excited the panel. The company’s website was particularly praised for its advice on seaweed’s uses and recipes.

VISIT THE WEBSITE:  cornishseaweed.co.uk