Winter is a great time to develop new value-added products, particularly those that require fresh kelp — it’s only available for a few short months! You can start doing recipe development with baby kelp as soon as it’s 2-3 feet long, but remember it won’t be exactly the same as mature kelp. Specifically, mature kelp will have a more firm texture, a more robust flavor, a shorter shelf life, and of course will require different processing techniques due to its heftier length and width.

Once you start experimenting, you might ask: How do you decide what products to develop? Refer back to the customer personas you defined or refined in the fall, and hone in on that person’s needs, wants, or pain points. Brainstorm products that directly address those issues, and test your ideas by running them by people whose demographics align with your personas. Below are a few examples of different directions you might go depending on who you’re targeting.