Kelp Noodles
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Hi everyone,
I have experience in ecommerce and would love to dip my toe into the kelp market after learning about many of the positives associated.
My goal is to source domestically, ideally from a farmer interested in forming a longterm relationship, and start small and simple with a product that has demand already online.
Kelp noodles, like the ones sold by sea tangle for example, seem to fit the bill.
My question - do most kelp farms also do the processing themselves, or would I need to find a separate kelp processing facility?
If its the latter, does anybody have processing facility recommendations?
Thanks, and excited to be here!
Eli
@eli_pearlman44 Hey Eli! I'm Morgan - co founder of Nautical Farms. We are sea farm & kelp store providing kelp products and bulk kelp options.
To answer your question, most farmers do not have processing facility as the infrastructure is expensive. The majority of farms grow seaweed and offload wet kelp to a company that then makes products out of it whether its blanched or frozen, sold fresh or dried and powdered or flaked!
I am not familiar with the process of making clear kelp noodles like sea tangle does, so I am not sure what processors to recommend. But doing that research (if you haven't already) might help.
Good luck!
Thanks so much for sharing your insights @morganlea_fogg. I was reading Sea Tangle's website and they stated this about their kelp noodles: "We use the inner flesh of kelp, which is white in color, after the green, outer skin is removed. The white flesh is then sun-dried and made into a powder, which is what our noodles are made of." Interesting to understand a bit more about their processing!
Thanks @morganlea_fogg!
@morganlea_fogg Hi Morgan! I took a look at your website and love what you are doing! I am doing a research paper for a college class and would love to hear about your experience with kelp farming. Have you used Green Wave in your journey?
@eli_pearlman44
Whoa, Eli, I think you're onto something here. What a great idea. I see an online kelp farm, where others can go to order kelp/algae of all kinds. An outlet for actual farms to sell to the public without having to become an internet guru themselves.
But while you're developing this algae outlet, you might want to keep this in mind. Algae, like all plant life needs manure. Fish farms produce manure in plenty which fouls the water in the area. By raising both the farms produce a second profit area but also both farms, side by side, helps each other. The cycle of life works beautifully, if we can keep government out of the way. However, someday, American farmers will produce seaweed and fish of some type. You might want to pick up on that market as well.
The Marinea project was conceived as a farming village at sea with a co-op to help out with marketing. When we get this project up and operational, we will be very much interested in talking with you. You can check out the project proposal at www.marinea.org Feed back is always welcome.
Thanks so much for sharing your insights @morganlea_fogg. I was reading Sea Tangle's website and they stated this about their kelp noodles: "We use the inner flesh of kelp, which is white in color, after the green, outer skin is removed. The white flesh is then sun-dried and made into a powder, which is what our noodles are made of." Interesting to understand a bit more about their processing!
Hi @eli_pearlman44, glad to hear you're interested in sourcing kelp from farmers! I'll echo what @morganlea_fogg said - many farmers do not currently have processing capacity, but there are exceptions. You could think about working with a processor or co-packer to produce kelp noodles. Check out this post about finding a co-packer to get you started. You could even consider purchasing a small scale noodle machine and producing yourself in a commercial kitchen, or finding a facility that already has one.
@grace_collery @eli_pearlman44 Also happy to connect if you'd like to further discuss this. jeremy@thecropproject.com
Looking forward to hearing from you!
@jeremy_edelson I would love to connect. I'll send you an email.
@grace_collery @eli_pearlman44 Also happy to connect if you'd like to further discuss this. jeremy@thecropproject.com
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Thanks @morganlea_fogg!
@jeremy_edelson I would love to connect. I'll send you an email.
@morganlea_fogg Hi Morgan! I took a look at your website and love what you are doing! I am doing a research paper for a college class and would love to hear about your experience with kelp farming. Have you used Green Wave in your journey?