Metrics that Matter: Kelp Impact Reporting | Sea to Sale

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Sarah, can you start the recording?

 

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There we go. Um, hi everyone,

 

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and welcome to today’s Cita sale.

 

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Um, we have a really exciting topic today,

 

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kelp Impact Metrics.

 

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Um, and for those of you who don’t know me,

 

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my name’s Grace Collary

 

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and I’m Green Wave’s Senior Market

 

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Development Program manager.

 

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If you’re just tuning in, um, we’re kicking it off

 

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with some introductions in the chat.

 

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We’d love to just hear your name, your role in the industry

 

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and where you’re joining us from.

 

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Um, we have a pretty packed agenda, as I mentioned.

 

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Um, so I’m gonna go ahead

 

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and jump in while you’re finishing up introductions.

 

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Um, after this we’ll close the chat

 

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and we encourage you to post all of your Q

 

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and As using the function on Zoom.

 

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Um, and just a note, this meeting’s being recorded, um,

 

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so we’ll have the opportunity to share it with all

 

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of you following this webinar.

 

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Um, and for our agenda today,

 

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we have four really excellent guest speakers.

 

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Tiffany Waters from the Nature Conservancy.

 

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Um, is gonna kick us off with an overview

 

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of seaweed’s restorative impact

 

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and role in decarbonizing supply chains.

 

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Then Mitch Lynch from Ocean’s Balance will share

 

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how he thinks about impact reporting as a seaweed company.

 

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And finally, Miranda Gorman

 

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and Anjali Boyd from Planet Forward

 

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will talk about product lifecycle assessments

 

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and planet forward’s research into seaweed.

 

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And at the end we’ll have a q

 

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and a panel with all of our speakers.

 

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Um, so feel free to post all of your questions throughout

 

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so we make sure to answer them at the end.

 

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Next slide. All

 

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right, um, let’s chat a little bit about impact reporting.

 

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Um, this is a really hot topic right now in the seaweed

 

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world, which makes a lot of sense.

 

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Um, because increasingly, um, in social impact business,

 

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there’s really this expectation from stakeholders

 

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for in depth, transparent,

 

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and reliable reporting around your organization’s impact.

 

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And for kelp in particular, as an emerging impact industry

 

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reporting is critical to sharing tangible benefits for, um,

 

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impact investors, consumers,

 

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government agencies, and other stakeholders.

 

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Given our nascent industry research

 

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and quantitative data about impact is often limited.

 

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Um, but despite this, we do know

 

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that kelp has many awesome environmental

 

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and social benefits, some of which are quantifiable

 

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with research that is available today.

 

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Um, and scientists

 

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and industry members are also working

 

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to quickly fill in the gaps in data that exist.

 

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Next slide. Um,

 

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and so one example of filling in the gaps

 

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of data is Green Waves Kelp Climate Fund, um,

 

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and the Kelp Climate Fund is a program that pays farmers

 

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for the climate benefits of their crops through a subsidy

 

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of a dollar per foot of cow planted.

 

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The goal of KCF is to compensate farmers

 

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for their environmental contributions, um,

 

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and really help them quantify

 

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and communicate the environmental benefits of their farms.

 

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Um, ultimately this sort of program supports a culture

 

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of data collection in an industry, um, that, as I mentioned,

 

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really requires more data.

 

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So as you start

 

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to think about your impact reporting strategy, um,

 

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just be aware that farmers can be key partners in collecting

 

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your data and telling the story of your business.

 

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And slide. And with that,

 

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I am really excited to introduce Tiffany Waters, um,

 

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who will kick us off and share

 

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what we know about seaweed’s restorative role.

 

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Tiffany is the global Aquaculture program manager

 

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for the Nature Conservancy’s Global Aquaculture Program.

 

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She leads TNCs restorative seaweed initiative that seeks

 

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to create a thriving global seaweed industry, um,

 

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that contributes significantly

 

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to improving ocean health while benefiting local

 

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and indigenous communities.

 

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Next slide. And over to you, Tiffany.

 

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Thank you so much. Um, it’s a real pleasure to be here,

 

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so I’m excited to talk with you more about seaweed.

 

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We’ll go next slide. Um,

 

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so why is TNC interested in seaweed aquaculture?

 

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Um, a lot of people ask us this question, um,

 

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and part of the reason is that, um,

 

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we have a focal area within our global teams

 

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around food production is how do you, um, supply food

 

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and water, um, in a sustainable way to a growing population.

 

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Um, that’s one of our core areas.

 

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In addition to, um, tackling climate change

 

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and protecting ocean, wind, and water

 

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and food production, um, is actually the reason for a lot

 

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of impacts, um, on our environments globally.

 

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Habitat, fresh water use, greenhouse gas emissions.

 

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Um, so when you scroll back

 

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and kind of think about things from a broader perspective,

 

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um, aquaculture becomes something that’s very promising.

 

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Um, if you go to the next slide, um, seaweed,

 

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um, you know, I know that I’m often preaching

 

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to the choir here, um, in terms of the, probably the folks

 

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that are on the call,

 

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but seaweed dog culture requires no feed or fertilizer.

 

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Very little land in fresh water, um, use

 

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and usually just generally in the processing stages.

 

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Um, and also cultivating seaweed,

 

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as I’ll talk about a bit more later,

 

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provide some really key environmental benefits

 

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and services that we are missing due to degradation

 

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that we’ve had globally from missing many of our, um,

 

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kelp forests and reefs.

 

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Um, so there’s a lot

 

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of opportunities here when it comes to seaweed aquaculture.

 

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Uh, next slide. Now, it’s not to say

 

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that there’s not any challenges.

 

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There absolutely are challenges within the

 

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global seaweed industry.

 

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Um, you know, there’s some lack

 

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of research on certain key areas, um, for the

 

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existing global aquaculture industry, um, within Asia

 

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for seaweeds, uh, low

 

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and inconsistent pricing for the current markets.

 

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And then for the areas that, um,

 

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people are really interested in engaging in seaweed in these

 

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newer geographies like North America

 

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and Europe, um, often there’s a lack of new markets

 

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to match, um, the growing demand.

 

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So if you wanna go to the next slide, this is our general

 

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overview of our restorative seaweed initiative and program.

 

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Um, and it really revolves around kind

 

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of these three key areas.

 

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One, we have areas where we’re working directly

 

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with farmers around the world.

 

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Some of the areas we’re working in our Indonesia, Tanzania,

 

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Kenya, Belize, uh, parts of the us, um,

 

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New Zealand and Chile.

 

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Um, and then some of our newer areas of focus have been

 

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how do we catalyze market demand as well.

 

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Um, and as always, TNC, um, really we really identify

 

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as a science-based organization.

 

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So a lot of the work we’ve been doing is

 

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around better management practices and filling science gaps.

 

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Um, so I’m gonna give you guys just a little bit

 

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of an overview of some of the

 

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restorative benefits of seaweed.

 

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Um, if you wanna go to the next slide

 

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before going into some

 

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of the more newer novel work we’ve done around some

 

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of the climate provisioning benefits.

 

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Um, so when we think about CCB aquaculture, um, one

 

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of the ways that we think that it does differ from

 

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traditional ecologically sustainable development is

 

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that it can go into this providing direct environmental

 

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benefits to the environment with the potential

 

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for accruing these net positive ecosystem outcomes.

 

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And we spent actually the first six

 

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or seven years of our program really digging into this issue

 

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and, um, making sure to really, um,

 

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rigor rigorously review the scientific literature as well

 

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as engage in in water research ourselves.

 

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So if you go to the next slide, um,

 

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this is a very simple slide,

 

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but I think it tends to kind of show you in a very kind

 

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of clear way where the scientific literature is strongest

 

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versus kind of the weakest four different benefits

 

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of seaweed aquaculture.

 

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So, um, regardless of the species, regardless generally

 

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of the geography, um, the scientific literature is strongest

 

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for water quality benefits.

 

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Seaweeds are excellent nutrients, scrubs.

 

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Um, then you go into habitat benefits

 

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and there’s been shown to be great habitat benefits

 

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that seaweed can provide, such as reproduction, forage,

 

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shelter for fish and other animals.

 

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But it can vary very much depending on local conditions.

 

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The majority of the data

 

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that is under habitat provisioning comes from tropical

 

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seaweed farms, which makes a lot of sense

 

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because that’s where the majority

 

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of the industry has existed, um, over the last few decades.

 

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And there’s more novel research coming out

 

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around the temperate farms.

 

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Um, and a lot of that’s gonna come down to really, um,

 

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when the seaweed farms are in the water and whether

 

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or not, um, there’s interactions between, um, local species

 

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and when they migrate, whether

 

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or not they’re in the same types of water columns.

 

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There’s a lot of different things involved within habitat.

 

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Um, and I would say that the least, um, you know,

 

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supported within the science of literature at this point,

 

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even though there’s a lot of new novel research coming out,

 

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is around climate benefits.

 

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And so that’s where we think there’s a lot of potential

 

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to be able to do more research in this area.

 

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And we’ve also, as well as many

 

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of our partners have been doing more research here.

 

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Um, if you wanna go to the next slide,

 

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and I’m not gonna go into these too in depth,

 

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but, um, we have these available

 

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and we have a lot of, um, journal articles that we linked

 

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to within the slide deck really to show

 

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that we’ve done quite a bit of synthes of science

 

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around this area to say there is a massive amount of benefit

 

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that sea aquaculture as well as baba aquaculture, um, can,

 

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can be for bio extraction

 

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and to be able to remove nutrients from the water

 

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and actually put a number on that

 

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to say it’s actually worth this amount, um, you know,

 

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of benefit per year.

 

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Um, if you go to the next slide, this is some

 

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of the research that we’ve done around habitat.

 

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So we actually took a look at 65 different global studies

 

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and we compared shellfish

 

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and seaweed aquaculture to nearby reference sites

 

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that didn’t have any seaweed or shellfish

 

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or aquaculture gear.

 

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And we really looked at abundance and diversity.

 

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And as you can see here, within seaweed, we found

 

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that there was a 1.4 times abundance

 

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and a 1.3 times diversity

 

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within these seed aquaculture areas than

 

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there were in reference sites.

 

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And again, small caveat, the majority of those,

 

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those studies were in tropical areas.

 

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So again, we need more information from temperate sites,

 

234

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which is starting to come out in, in the literature.

 

235

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We just completed a study ourselves out of New Zealand

 

236

00:10:49.715 –> 00:10:51.055

and Maine that we just put out.

 

237

00:10:51.205 –> 00:10:53.255

There’s a few that have come out in Europe as well.

 

238

00:10:53.355 –> 00:10:55.935

So exciting to see more research in this area.

 

239

00:10:56.515 –> 00:10:57.695

Um, and then next slide.

 

240

00:10:58.805 –> 00:11:01.215

This is just a bit of an infographic in talking about,

 

241

00:11:01.325 –> 00:11:02.935

there’s a lot of potential

 

242

00:11:02.935 –> 00:11:05.655

that people talk about when it comes to, um,

 

243

00:11:05.735 –> 00:11:07.375

seaweed aquaculture, and there’s a lot

 

244

00:11:07.375 –> 00:11:08.455

of climate excitement,

 

245

00:11:08.695 –> 00:11:10.815

I would say when it comes to seaweed aquaculture.

 

246

00:11:11.155 –> 00:11:13.455

Um, sometimes it can even eclipse some

 

247

00:11:13.455 –> 00:11:15.855

of the more well-known ecosystem services, such

 

248

00:11:15.855 –> 00:11:18.015

as the nutrients, such as the habitat positioning.

 

249

00:11:18.315 –> 00:11:20.615

But we also wanna do more research in this area

 

250

00:11:20.715 –> 00:11:22.535

so we can make sure that it’s well justified.

 

251

00:11:22.915 –> 00:11:25.855

So one of the areas that we recently started

 

252

00:11:25.855 –> 00:11:30.655

to dig into was both from the potential of could there be a,

 

253

00:11:30.995 –> 00:11:33.455

um, carbon crediting solution here?

 

254

00:11:33.745 –> 00:11:35.695

Could there be a nexus to seaweed farming?

 

255

00:11:36.155 –> 00:11:39.055

And then also what do novel markets look like in terms

 

256

00:11:39.055 –> 00:11:40.135

of the product end.

 

257

00:11:40.475 –> 00:11:44.255

So if you go to the next slide, um, this is

 

258

00:11:44.255 –> 00:11:47.615

where we actually put out this analysis with our, uh,

 

259

00:11:47.615 –> 00:11:48.935

partners at Bain and Co.

 

260

00:11:49.285 –> 00:11:51.175

This was came out, um, last year,

 

261

00:11:51.875 –> 00:11:55.125

and we really looked at the potential for, you know,

 

262

00:11:55.265 –> 00:11:57.725

at the current prices with the current understanding

 

263

00:11:57.725 –> 00:12:00.925

of sequestration, is there a carbon credit in play here?

 

264

00:12:01.225 –> 00:12:02.805

And we also looked at, you know,

 

265

00:12:02.805 –> 00:12:04.045

what are the different novel markets

 

266

00:12:04.435 –> 00:12:06.445

that have the most promising growth, um,

 

267

00:12:06.785 –> 00:12:10.125

and also could result in carbon emissions avoided.

 

268

00:12:10.545 –> 00:12:14.685

So if you go to the next slide, um, this is a slide

 

269

00:12:14.685 –> 00:12:17.045

that really talks about all of the different kind

 

270

00:12:17.045 –> 00:12:19.565

of bureaucracy and, you know, intricacy

 

271

00:12:19.565 –> 00:12:22.285

that goes into a model around carbon crediting.

 

272

00:12:22.345 –> 00:12:24.205

So, um, you don’t just get to start

 

273

00:12:24.205 –> 00:12:27.165

with the sequestration rate if you’re looking going into

 

274

00:12:27.165 –> 00:12:30.085

carbon crediting, you really need to look at, um,

 

275

00:12:30.505 –> 00:12:31.685

all of these different factors.

 

276

00:12:31.825 –> 00:12:34.605

So we started that at two to five tons of carbon

 

277

00:12:35.185 –> 00:12:38.325

per hectare, which is pretty generous given the, um,

 

278

00:12:38.325 –> 00:12:39.965

global data that we currently have.

 

279

00:12:40.465 –> 00:12:41.885

And we ran it through this model.

 

280

00:12:42.625 –> 00:12:43.925

And if you go to the next slide,

 

281

00:12:44.315 –> 00:12:47.845

what we found unfortunately was that at this current time,

 

282

00:12:48.705 –> 00:12:51.125

um, for carbon crediting to be meaningful,

 

283

00:12:51.755 –> 00:12:53.525

voluntary carbon prices would need

 

284

00:12:53.525 –> 00:12:55.565

to be a lot higher than they currently are.

 

285

00:12:55.985 –> 00:12:58.565

You know, they go anywhere between 10, you know, 20

 

286

00:12:59.105 –> 00:13:01.605

and 40, um, dollars, um, per ton.

 

287

00:13:01.825 –> 00:13:04.685

And they really need to be about 300 to 500 per ton.

 

288

00:13:05.145 –> 00:13:07.565

Um, in order for this to be meaningful for farmers

 

289

00:13:08.265 –> 00:13:10.325

or additional scientific data

 

290

00:13:10.705 –> 00:13:13.165

or new foreign practices would need to be identified

 

291

00:13:13.435 –> 00:13:16.205

that significantly increase carbon sequestration rates.

 

292

00:13:17.025 –> 00:13:19.565

Now, that’s not to say, you know, this isn’t something

 

293

00:13:19.565 –> 00:13:22.325

that we think definitely deserves additional research.

 

294

00:13:22.545 –> 00:13:25.165

And also we, the data does show

 

295

00:13:25.165 –> 00:13:27.365

that seaweed farms do sequester some carbon

 

296

00:13:27.955 –> 00:13:30.965

just not potentially enough right now for existing market,

 

297

00:13:31.225 –> 00:13:33.525

um, conditions to go into correcting.

 

298

00:13:34.065 –> 00:13:36.165

Um, and the next slide I think might be my last

 

299

00:13:36.265 –> 00:13:39.765

as I’m wrapping up, um, in terms of time, um, one

 

300

00:13:39.765 –> 00:13:41.485

of the things that we think is really interesting when it

 

301

00:13:41.485 –> 00:13:45.005

comes to seaweed farming is the product angle.

 

302

00:13:45.265 –> 00:13:48.965

To be able to say this is an incredibly low impact product.

 

303

00:13:49.585 –> 00:13:53.165

And when you actually, you see an exchange for products,

 

304

00:13:53.645 –> 00:13:55.725

materials that are much higher resource use,

 

305

00:13:56.265 –> 00:13:59.325

that’s when you get into a lot of benefits for our climate

 

306

00:13:59.325 –> 00:14:02.165

and for the global industry at large to say,

 

307

00:14:02.665 –> 00:14:04.565

we can actually, um, have a lot

 

308

00:14:04.565 –> 00:14:08.525

of carbon emissions avoided in decarbonized supply chains if

 

309

00:14:08.525 –> 00:14:10.965

we’re using seaweed in these different novel ways.

 

310

00:14:11.385 –> 00:14:13.925

And we actually have a blue carbon model that’s up online

 

311

00:14:13.925 –> 00:14:15.525

that we welcome everybody to go through,

 

312

00:14:15.945 –> 00:14:17.645

and you can put in all of your farm information

 

313

00:14:18.065 –> 00:14:21.805

and it will give you, um, sequestration emissions,

 

314

00:14:21.805 –> 00:14:23.925

avoided the different products that you put in.

 

315

00:14:24.345 –> 00:14:27.125

Um, and also, um, a nutrient model as well.

 

316

00:14:27.585 –> 00:14:30.445

So we welcome folks to try this out and then to contact us

 

317

00:14:30.445 –> 00:14:33.445

because we’re always trying to refine the model as well.

 

318

00:14:34.265 –> 00:14:37.125

Um, I think that’s me at the end of time, so thank you guys

 

319

00:14:37.125 –> 00:14:39.125

so much, and I welcome questions later on.

 

320

00:14:41.195 –> 00:14:43.985

Thank you so much, Tiffany. Um, that was great.

 

321

00:14:44.565 –> 00:14:46.545

And yeah, the blue carbon model is so cool.

 

322

00:14:46.625 –> 00:14:48.825

I checked that out. So really encourage everyone

 

323

00:14:48.825 –> 00:14:49.905

else to do so as well.

 

324

00:14:51.145 –> 00:14:56.115

Um, next slide. Alright,

 

325

00:14:56.295 –> 00:14:59.355

um, next up we have Mitch Lynch, who’s the CEO

 

326

00:14:59.355 –> 00:15:02.595

and founder of Ocean’s Balance, um, a main based,

 

327

00:15:03.075 –> 00:15:05.645

vertically integrated seaweed company prior

 

328

00:15:05.645 –> 00:15:08.685

to Ocean’s Balance, Mitch was the CEO of treetops Capital,

 

329

00:15:09.265 –> 00:15:12.165

um, which was one of the early impact investment management

 

330

00:15:12.445 –> 00:15:15.525

firms that invested in microfinance institutions

 

331

00:15:15.625 –> 00:15:16.765

and developing countries.

 

332

00:15:17.345 –> 00:15:20.965

Um, treetops was selected by Impact Assess as one

 

333

00:15:20.965 –> 00:15:23.765

of the top 50 global managers for several years straight.

 

334

00:15:24.505 –> 00:15:27.685

Um, Mitch has also held senior level positions at several

 

335

00:15:27.765 –> 00:15:30.205

institutions including Fit ratings,

 

336

00:15:30.265 –> 00:15:32.165

credit Suisse, and Bank of America.

 

337

00:15:32.985 –> 00:15:34.285

Um, over to you, Mitch.

 

338

00:15:35.765 –> 00:15:37.075

Thank you, grace. Um,

 

339

00:15:37.375 –> 00:15:39.515

and, uh, also for GreenWave

 

340

00:15:39.515 –> 00:15:43.995

for hosting this webinar on a topic that we’ve grappled with

 

341

00:15:44.015 –> 00:15:46.555

and it’s complex and it’s definitely needed.

 

342

00:15:46.675 –> 00:15:49.595

I think, I think if we can move forward on this,

 

343

00:15:49.885 –> 00:15:52.275

it’ll be very helpful from, uh, a couple

 

344

00:15:52.275 –> 00:15:55.395

of perspectives from investors as well as from, um,

 

345

00:15:56.195 –> 00:15:57.195

companies and, and buyers.

 

346

00:15:58.255 –> 00:16:01.475

So just, uh, I won’t go into a lot of our background,

 

347

00:16:01.495 –> 00:16:03.195

but yeah, we’re vertically integrated.

 

348

00:16:03.495 –> 00:16:07.155

Uh, we farm as well as we work with third party farmers.

 

349

00:16:07.335 –> 00:16:10.235

We sustainably harvest several species that are not

 

350

00:16:10.235 –> 00:16:13.275

yet farmable at scale, including in, uh, we have a,

 

351

00:16:13.395 –> 00:16:15.195

a company we purchased last year in Canada.

 

352

00:16:16.215 –> 00:16:20.915

Um, and we also do, uh, we purchased a, a large scale, uh,

 

353

00:16:20.915 –> 00:16:24.835

commercial scale kelp dehydrator, uh, this past year, um,

 

354

00:16:24.895 –> 00:16:26.795

as well as some specialized milling equipment

 

355

00:16:26.795 –> 00:16:29.555

that we’ve opened up to other seaweed companies,

 

356

00:16:30.215 –> 00:16:31.395

uh, as well as farmers.

 

357

00:16:31.735 –> 00:16:34.235

Um, we call this new entity Seaweed Farmer Services,

 

358

00:16:34.415 –> 00:16:36.515

and this was our first, uh,

 

359

00:16:37.345 –> 00:16:39.755

past season was our first year operating with this.

 

360

00:16:40.655 –> 00:16:43.755

So as Grace mentioned, um, a little bit

 

361

00:16:43.755 –> 00:16:47.035

of my perspective comes from what I’ve done

 

362

00:16:47.055 –> 00:16:49.395

before I got into the seaweed industry.

 

363

00:16:50.255 –> 00:16:54.435

And, uh, as, as Grace mentioned, I was, I ran it one

 

364

00:16:54.435 –> 00:16:56.595

of the early impact investment funds in the area

 

365

00:16:56.595 –> 00:16:59.795

of microfinance, which at the time was really the

 

366

00:17:00.235 –> 00:17:02.275

quintessential impact asset class.

 

367

00:17:02.335 –> 00:17:03.515

It was about the only one.

 

368

00:17:04.095 –> 00:17:07.475

Um, so they have had years to kind of evolve

 

369

00:17:07.535 –> 00:17:08.995

and develop their methodology,

 

370

00:17:09.055 –> 00:17:10.795

and I’ll touch on that a little bit on

 

371

00:17:10.795 –> 00:17:12.875

where they are versus maybe

 

372

00:17:12.875 –> 00:17:14.715

where we are in the seaweed industry.

 

373

00:17:15.735 –> 00:17:19.275

Um, also, uh, one, one of the things I did

 

374

00:17:19.575 –> 00:17:23.395

before was that I think is some relevance to

 

375

00:17:23.395 –> 00:17:26.955

what we’re doing here, is I work for Fitch, which is one

 

376

00:17:26.955 –> 00:17:29.235

of the big three bond rating agencies.

 

377

00:17:29.335 –> 00:17:30.635

And for those who are not familiar,

 

378

00:17:30.665 –> 00:17:33.675

what these rating agencies do, they evaluate risk

 

379

00:17:33.735 –> 00:17:35.075

for institutional investors.

 

380

00:17:35.655 –> 00:17:38.115

Um, and for the most part, they rate debt of countries,

 

381

00:17:38.115 –> 00:17:40.275

municipalities, companies, banks,

 

382

00:17:40.895 –> 00:17:42.755

and individual transactions.

 

383

00:17:43.735 –> 00:17:45.755

So the, the rating agencies have a lot

 

384

00:17:45.755 –> 00:17:46.915

of power with investors.

 

385

00:17:47.095 –> 00:17:50.085

And, and one of the reasons they have this, um,

 

386

00:17:50.685 –> 00:17:52.365

I guess authority in a sense,

 

387

00:17:52.585 –> 00:17:55.885

and while trillions of dollars actually flow, a lot

 

388

00:17:55.885 –> 00:17:59.165

of it is based partly, at least on ratings, is

 

389

00:17:59.165 –> 00:18:03.485

because they do a lot of work on criteria development,

 

390

00:18:03.945 –> 00:18:07.165

uh, coming up with a methodology for each asset class

 

391

00:18:07.235 –> 00:18:09.645

that they’re involved with, whether it’s leveraged loans,

 

392

00:18:10.045 –> 00:18:11.125

mortgage backed securities,

 

393

00:18:11.145 –> 00:18:13.085

rating countries, whatever it is.

 

394

00:18:13.865 –> 00:18:17.325

And these discussions go on when you’re developing a new

 

395

00:18:17.645 –> 00:18:19.405

criteria, they go on for a long time.

 

396

00:18:19.405 –> 00:18:21.725

There’s a lot of committee meetings

 

397

00:18:21.725 –> 00:18:24.925

where you have a cross section of people that debate

 

398

00:18:25.265 –> 00:18:27.125

and do a lot of research on.

 

399

00:18:27.265 –> 00:18:31.155

And I feel like in the seaweed industry, we’re kind

 

400

00:18:31.155 –> 00:18:32.435

of at the first inning of this,

 

401

00:18:32.535 –> 00:18:34.035

and there hasn’t been a lot

 

402

00:18:34.035 –> 00:18:36.915

of group discussions on all of this.

 

403

00:18:37.255 –> 00:18:40.475

And these issues are, are, are, are quite complex.

 

404

00:18:41.295 –> 00:18:44.115

Um, so part of what I’m kind of my want

 

405

00:18:44.115 –> 00:18:47.395

to takeaways is like, we need more group input

 

406

00:18:47.415 –> 00:18:49.195

and instead of everyone doing kind

 

407

00:18:49.195 –> 00:18:51.675

of work in a silo, next slide please.

 

408

00:18:53.845 –> 00:18:58.505

So the first, um, question is like, well,

 

409

00:18:58.705 –> 00:19:00.865

I in my mind is who are you trying to communicate to?

 

410

00:19:01.095 –> 00:19:03.945

What are these impact metrics for? Who are they for?

 

411

00:19:04.525 –> 00:19:08.065

Um, I think one of the big constituents is investors.

 

412

00:19:08.285 –> 00:19:12.385

So they can one, compare one company to another, um,

 

413

00:19:12.645 –> 00:19:15.665

and figure out what is really impactful versus

 

414

00:19:15.895 –> 00:19:17.785

what is maybe greenwashing or,

 

415

00:19:17.885 –> 00:19:19.825

or just putting in like some very general terms.

 

416

00:19:20.645 –> 00:19:22.465

Um, and companies as well

 

417

00:19:22.605 –> 00:19:26.065

as bigger companies are now looking at seaweed

 

418

00:19:26.085 –> 00:19:29.065

as an ingredient that they can maybe substitute out other

 

419

00:19:29.065 –> 00:19:30.705

carbon intensive ingredients.

 

420

00:19:31.285 –> 00:19:33.945

Um, they need to, you know, they’re, they’re need

 

421

00:19:33.945 –> 00:19:37.865

to know details on what they’re actually substituting for.

 

422

00:19:38.445 –> 00:19:40.945

And then thirdly, I think consumers, depending on

 

423

00:19:41.025 –> 00:19:44.305

what your product range is, um, it’s a little harder

 

424

00:19:44.365 –> 00:19:47.705

to get some of those impact messages to consumers,

 

425

00:19:47.725 –> 00:19:49.345

but they’re also obviously an important,

 

426

00:19:49.565 –> 00:19:50.665

uh, part of the equation.

 

427

00:19:51.685 –> 00:19:55.665

So, um, when I, one of the things that I would say is

 

428

00:19:55.665 –> 00:19:58.585

that in order for the metrics to be useful to people,

 

429

00:19:58.885 –> 00:20:02.265

it should be quantifiable, uh, comparable.

 

430

00:20:03.165 –> 00:20:05.825

And also, it can’t be so complex

 

431

00:20:06.005 –> 00:20:10.025

for small companies like ours to actually calculate that.

 

432

00:20:10.205 –> 00:20:12.745

It just, you know, it, it paralyzes us.

 

433

00:20:12.805 –> 00:20:15.225

We just don’t have the resources. So that’s the other thing.

 

434

00:20:15.225 –> 00:20:18.185

There has to be some level of simplicity in this.

 

435

00:20:18.925 –> 00:20:23.545

The c the C what I outlined is the microfinance metrics.

 

436

00:20:23.855 –> 00:20:27.465

They had, you know, again, decades now to develop these.

 

437

00:20:27.815 –> 00:20:29.905

They’re very clear in, you know, income

 

438

00:20:29.905 –> 00:20:32.385

and economic wellbeing, women’s empowerment,

 

439

00:20:32.605 –> 00:20:36.345

and they have specific methods for measuring each

 

440

00:20:36.505 –> 00:20:38.225

of those impact goals.

 

441

00:20:39.005 –> 00:20:42.305

Um, met methods for measuring and methods for assessing.

 

442

00:20:42.525 –> 00:20:45.905

And there’s kind of clearing house organization in the

 

443

00:20:46.065 –> 00:20:50.445

microfinance space that helps, uh, everybody understand

 

444

00:20:50.445 –> 00:20:53.045

what those standards are, which we don’t have yet in the,

 

445

00:20:53.045 –> 00:20:54.205

uh, in the seaweed area.

 

446

00:20:55.025 –> 00:20:58.645

Um, big, big thing to try to avoid is overstatements

 

447

00:20:58.665 –> 00:20:59.805

and generalizations,

 

448

00:20:59.865 –> 00:21:02.965

but it, it undermines credibility for everybody when, when,

 

449

00:21:02.965 –> 00:21:04.165

when companies do that.

 

450

00:21:04.865 –> 00:21:07.805

Um, and right now, if you look at people’s websites

 

451

00:21:07.905 –> 00:21:11.165

and, uh, in the seaweed industry, there is a lot of that,

 

452

00:21:11.425 –> 00:21:14.605

um, those like big discussion points about, you know,

 

453

00:21:14.605 –> 00:21:16.205

like we’re sequestering tons of carbon,

 

454

00:21:16.425 –> 00:21:18.805

but without a lot of science behind it.

 

455

00:21:18.825 –> 00:21:21.725

And I’m glad, like what Tiffany was talking about,

 

456

00:21:21.725 –> 00:21:23.885

what TNC Nature Conservancy

 

457

00:21:23.885 –> 00:21:26.205

and others are doing around this space will really be

 

458

00:21:26.205 –> 00:21:29.045

helpful to the commercial part of the industry.

 

459

00:21:29.945 –> 00:21:33.245

Um, and then the, the standardization is really important

 

460

00:21:33.345 –> 00:21:35.485

and there already are certain, um,

 

461

00:21:36.545 –> 00:21:38.165

uh, standardization metrics.

 

462

00:21:38.275 –> 00:21:42.205

There’s Iris, which is kind of part of the

 

463

00:21:42.845 –> 00:21:45.845

family global impact investment network, uh,

 

464

00:21:46.055 –> 00:21:49.165

where they catalog metrics and they then investors

 

465

00:21:49.425 –> 00:21:51.485

and, you know, constituents can understand

 

466

00:21:51.485 –> 00:21:52.725

what those metrics mean.

 

467

00:21:52.745 –> 00:21:55.485

And not everybody’s inve inventing new metrics.

 

468

00:21:56.425 –> 00:21:59.415

Uh, next slide please. So,

 

469

00:22:00.245 –> 00:22:02.255

some examples of of metrics.

 

470

00:22:02.675 –> 00:22:05.695

Um, I I generally in my head,

 

471

00:22:05.715 –> 00:22:08.455

and this may be antiquated to where we are now,

 

472

00:22:08.555 –> 00:22:10.575

but generally we used to break them down at least in the

 

473

00:22:10.575 –> 00:22:12.215

microfinance, environmental

 

474

00:22:12.515 –> 00:22:17.455

and social impact, um, in, uh, the one,

 

475

00:22:17.455 –> 00:22:19.575

one of the most important metrics, uh,

 

476

00:22:19.695 –> 00:22:23.775

which Tiffany touched on was the carbon emissions avoided

 

477

00:22:23.795 –> 00:22:26.535

or substitution of carbon intensive ingredients.

 

478

00:22:27.275 –> 00:22:29.055

Uh, it’s one that we know,

 

479

00:22:29.055 –> 00:22:32.895

like if you’re substituting seaweed in for, uh,

 

480

00:22:32.915 –> 00:22:36.135

say a pet food manufacturer that uses a slurry of meat,

 

481

00:22:36.285 –> 00:22:38.935

some kind of meat slurry in their, in their pet food,

 

482

00:22:39.315 –> 00:22:41.575

that’s gonna have a lot of, you know, a lot

 

483

00:22:41.575 –> 00:22:43.255

of carbon impact.

 

484

00:22:43.835 –> 00:22:47.735

It may be less so if they substitute in seaweed for soy.

 

485

00:22:47.995 –> 00:22:50.455

So one of the challenges here, I don’t have an answer,

 

486

00:22:50.615 –> 00:22:52.655

I just have, uh, more questions on how do we

 

487

00:22:53.395 –> 00:22:56.055

methodologically come to a, you know, come to some

 

488

00:22:56.615 –> 00:23:00.735

decisions on this, is how do we look at a, an, uh,

 

489

00:23:00.975 –> 00:23:02.575

a particular metric like that

 

490

00:23:02.745 –> 00:23:05.535

where you could be substituting your ingredient

 

491

00:23:05.675 –> 00:23:07.415

for many different types of ingredients.

 

492

00:23:07.755 –> 00:23:10.055

So there, I’m sure there’s good ways to look at this,

 

493

00:23:10.075 –> 00:23:12.735

but we don’t have a a solution ourselves yet for this.

 

494

00:23:13.475 –> 00:23:17.895

Um, carbon removed, nitrogen removed, uh, uh,

 

495

00:23:17.985 –> 00:23:21.095

grace mentioned the kelp climate fund, which we’re, uh,

 

496

00:23:21.165 –> 00:23:23.695

ocean’s balance is part of which they’re,

 

497

00:23:23.695 –> 00:23:24.975

they’ve been quantifying this.

 

498

00:23:25.195 –> 00:23:29.175

Um, I think it’s still probably fairly tricky to come up

 

499

00:23:29.175 –> 00:23:30.655

with good quantifications,

 

500

00:23:30.675 –> 00:23:34.935

but I think as long as the methodology on how are you making

 

501

00:23:34.935 –> 00:23:38.935

that calculation of carbon removed is transparent, I think

 

502

00:23:38.935 –> 00:23:40.335

that at this point is key.

 

503

00:23:40.335 –> 00:23:41.975

It’s not that we have to have perfect answers

 

504

00:23:42.035 –> 00:23:44.575

for everything, but we just need to let people know

 

505

00:23:44.685 –> 00:23:46.885

what we know, um, as well as

 

506

00:23:46.885 –> 00:23:49.725

what we don’t know, social impact.

 

507

00:23:49.725 –> 00:23:51.805

They just put down a couple of metrics, um,

 

508

00:23:51.915 –> 00:23:54.765

that were, that we look at.

 

509

00:23:55.065 –> 00:23:57.125

One is, uh, jobs created on the water.

 

510

00:23:58.345 –> 00:24:01.445

It may be hard, harder than you think to kind of quantify

 

511

00:24:01.445 –> 00:24:04.285

that because not everybody, not everybody we’re working

 

512

00:24:04.285 –> 00:24:05.765

with, it’s a full-time job.

 

513

00:24:05.825 –> 00:24:07.525

If it’s like a lobster women or,

 

514

00:24:07.585 –> 00:24:09.525

or men, they may be working part-time.

 

515

00:24:09.585 –> 00:24:11.045

Is that actually a job created?

 

516

00:24:11.905 –> 00:24:15.125

Um, so there’s, there’s a, even around those more

 

517

00:24:15.315 –> 00:24:17.645

that sounds more clear cut, there’s still some challenges.

 

518

00:24:18.785 –> 00:24:19.805

Uh, next slide please.

 

519

00:24:21.985 –> 00:24:26.245

So one area that, uh, we could, you know, use

 

520

00:24:26.345 –> 00:24:31.325

as type of framing, uh, to a construct for, for impact, uh,

 

521

00:24:31.715 –> 00:24:35.525

reporting is, is SDGs the un uh,

 

522

00:24:35.675 –> 00:24:37.085

sustainable development goals,

 

523

00:24:37.615 –> 00:24:41.565

which were adopted back in 2015 to

 

524

00:24:42.355 –> 00:24:44.605

help, you know, a universal call to end poverty,

 

525

00:24:44.835 –> 00:24:49.805

protect the planet and, and, uh, uh, achieve, enjoy, peace

 

526

00:24:49.805 –> 00:24:50.885

and pro prosperity.

 

527

00:24:51.365 –> 00:24:55.165

A lot of the SDGs, which each one is different, relate

 

528

00:24:55.185 –> 00:24:58.565

to things that are relevant in the seaweed industry.

 

529

00:24:58.945 –> 00:25:03.925

Um, the, uh, there’s been some research, uh,

 

530

00:25:03.925 –> 00:25:06.725

that, that we’ve, we’ve read from other, uh,

 

531

00:25:06.845 –> 00:25:09.325

institutions including, um, uh,

 

532

00:25:09.985 –> 00:25:12.445

Carlos Duarte I think had a piece who’s,

 

533

00:25:12.445 –> 00:25:14.965

who’s a famous marine scientist on,

 

534

00:25:15.225 –> 00:25:16.685

on doing that kind of linkage.

 

535

00:25:16.685 –> 00:25:17.805

And I think it’s good

 

536

00:25:17.805 –> 00:25:21.325

because a lot of people know these SDGs, not not everyone,

 

537

00:25:21.325 –> 00:25:24.725

and in the US probably less so than in Europe and,

 

538

00:25:24.745 –> 00:25:26.125

and some other parts of the world.

 

539

00:25:26.985 –> 00:25:29.965

Uh, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t still,

 

540

00:25:29.965 –> 00:25:32.165

even though not everyone understands it, a lot of people

 

541

00:25:32.185 –> 00:25:34.565

who are in the impact space

 

542

00:25:34.665 –> 00:25:36.565

or sustainability positions,

 

543

00:25:36.565 –> 00:25:38.245

they’ll have a pretty good idea of it.

 

544

00:25:38.985 –> 00:25:40.085

Uh, next slide please.

 

545

00:25:42.045 –> 00:25:44.585

So in this next one, it’s just an example

 

546

00:25:44.645 –> 00:25:48.865

of we we’re looking at how do we relate different SDGs

 

547

00:25:49.005 –> 00:25:50.665

to our particular business.

 

548

00:25:50.975 –> 00:25:52.545

Some of them are very specific to us,

 

549

00:25:52.545 –> 00:25:54.105

like we talked about in this one.

 

550

00:25:54.365 –> 00:25:58.265

Um, uh, an intern we have this summer was working on this

 

551

00:25:58.285 –> 00:26:00.105

and, and talked about our dehydrator

 

552

00:26:00.105 –> 00:26:01.745

and the low temperature it uses.

 

553

00:26:02.605 –> 00:26:03.625

Um, and then,

 

554

00:26:03.685 –> 00:26:05.705

but then we have to put in the quantifiable

 

555

00:26:05.855 –> 00:26:07.425

metrics next to it.

 

556

00:26:07.565 –> 00:26:10.025

So some of it may be very company specific,

 

557

00:26:10.125 –> 00:26:11.785

but I think the more we have metrics

 

558

00:26:11.785 –> 00:26:15.345

that are compar comparable across companies, um,

 

559

00:26:15.845 –> 00:26:19.355

the better We’ll end up next slide please.

 

560

00:26:23.025 –> 00:26:27.365

So what is needed in this, uh, you know,

 

561

00:26:27.365 –> 00:26:28.925

where we are right now and in the

 

562

00:26:28.925 –> 00:26:30.445

seaweed industry specifically.

 

563

00:26:30.865 –> 00:26:35.005

So I, I do think a working group, uh, of companies,

 

564

00:26:35.235 –> 00:26:40.205

investors, uh, NGOs like consultants

 

565

00:26:40.225 –> 00:26:44.005

who specializes in this area, scientists coming together,

 

566

00:26:44.305 –> 00:26:47.445

coming up with some common metrics for measurement

 

567

00:26:47.445 –> 00:26:49.485

and assessing will go a long way.

 

568

00:26:49.845 –> 00:26:53.655

I do think that, um, uh, that

 

569

00:26:54.245 –> 00:26:56.415

GreenWave could be a good convener of this,

 

570

00:26:56.415 –> 00:27:00.695

potentially maybe working with a specialist, uh, in the area

 

571

00:27:00.715 –> 00:27:02.375

of impact metrics just

 

572

00:27:02.375 –> 00:27:04.455

because of GreenWave kind of sitting in the,

 

573

00:27:04.455 –> 00:27:05.895

in the center of the industry.

 

574

00:27:06.875 –> 00:27:09.975

Um, the other thing which I mentioned is just like trying

 

575

00:27:10.595 –> 00:27:14.455

for not all of us to use each individual standards that are,

 

576

00:27:14.515 –> 00:27:15.535

are not comparable

 

577

00:27:15.535 –> 00:27:19.135

because it, it just loses the importance to the end user,

 

578

00:27:20.235 –> 00:27:24.135

um, focusing on transparency in whatever we come up with,

 

579

00:27:24.135 –> 00:27:27.535

even if we don’t have a perfect solution, just showing

 

580

00:27:27.565 –> 00:27:31.375

what our methodology is as opposed to just making a claim

 

581

00:27:31.525 –> 00:27:33.095

that there’s no way to kind

 

582

00:27:33.095 –> 00:27:35.455

of substantiate it one, one way or another.

 

583

00:27:35.655 –> 00:27:36.935

’cause I think if you’re an investor

 

584

00:27:36.995 –> 00:27:41.375

or a company, you, you may say, all right, this company,

 

585

00:27:41.955 –> 00:27:46.915

um, uh, you know, I guess took up this amount of carbon,

 

586

00:27:47.575 –> 00:27:48.675

but they’re gonna want to know.

 

587

00:27:48.875 –> 00:27:50.595

I think a lot of people want to know what,

 

588

00:27:50.655 –> 00:27:52.235

how are you actually looking at that?

 

589

00:27:52.635 –> 00:27:56.395

I mean, you could also have more generalized, uh, metrics

 

590

00:27:56.445 –> 00:27:59.795

where you say, all right, the, we harvested X pounds

 

591

00:27:59.855 –> 00:28:02.595

of seaweed, and then people can draw their own conclusions.

 

592

00:28:02.595 –> 00:28:04.955

That that’s one possibility if you want like very

 

593

00:28:04.955 –> 00:28:06.155

generic, uh, metrics.

 

594

00:28:07.425 –> 00:28:10.285

Um, and then the other thing I think is important is

 

595

00:28:10.285 –> 00:28:11.645

that the seaweed industry,

 

596

00:28:11.705 –> 00:28:13.165

and this is one of the challenges too, is,

 

597

00:28:13.225 –> 00:28:14.685

is very multifaceted.

 

598

00:28:15.265 –> 00:28:18.445

So metrics for a processing company

 

599

00:28:19.025 –> 00:28:20.565

may be very different metrics

 

600

00:28:20.635 –> 00:28:22.245

that you would use if you’re a producer

 

601

00:28:22.385 –> 00:28:26.325

or metrics for maybe somebody who’s making bioplastics from

 

602

00:28:26.325 –> 00:28:28.565

seaweed, they’re gonna be looking at some different metrics.

 

603

00:28:29.065 –> 00:28:31.565

So it’s not like we’re gonna come up with one set of metrics

 

604

00:28:31.595 –> 00:28:33.805

that can be used for every seaweed company,

 

605

00:28:34.305 –> 00:28:37.565

but I think even within those subcategories,

 

606

00:28:37.625 –> 00:28:40.325

say bioplastic companies, there may be metrics that

 

607

00:28:40.875 –> 00:28:42.885

that subcategory can come up with.

 

608

00:28:42.885 –> 00:28:46.605

And there may be certain metrics that could be, um, overlaps

 

609

00:28:46.605 –> 00:28:49.525

with, with, with other, with producers or processors.

 

610

00:28:50.585 –> 00:28:53.165

Um, and then the, you know, other point I think is to get

 

611

00:28:53.965 –> 00:28:57.245

investor and customer buy-in on, rather than us,

 

612

00:28:57.245 –> 00:28:59.645

like do this in a vacuum in silos

 

613

00:28:59.645 –> 00:29:02.245

and like what metrics are they interested in?

 

614

00:29:02.315 –> 00:29:06.405

What are other, um, impact asset classes

 

615

00:29:07.235 –> 00:29:08.885

looking at and what are, and,

 

616

00:29:08.905 –> 00:29:10.165

and what are they interested in?

 

617

00:29:10.225 –> 00:29:11.925

So we don’t come up with a bunch of metrics

 

618

00:29:12.235 –> 00:29:13.885

that people find irrelevant.

 

619

00:29:15.205 –> 00:29:16.785

And lastly, I would just say this,

 

620

00:29:16.925 –> 00:29:19.385

if we can do this correctly, um,

 

621

00:29:19.785 –> 00:29:22.745

I think this can really be a huge boost for the industry

 

622

00:29:22.745 –> 00:29:25.025

because I think right now there’s a lot

 

623

00:29:25.025 –> 00:29:28.425

of vagueness in the messaging going out about seaweed.

 

624

00:29:28.965 –> 00:29:31.825

Uh, there, it it’s, overall the message is,

 

625

00:29:31.965 –> 00:29:32.985

is very positive,

 

626

00:29:33.045 –> 00:29:35.545

but I think it’s one, one, you know,

 

627

00:29:35.545 –> 00:29:37.665

some feedback we sometimes get is like, you know,

 

628

00:29:37.665 –> 00:29:38.785

have you quantified it?

 

629

00:29:38.845 –> 00:29:41.445

And I think we’re gonna hear from our next speaker who’s

 

630

00:29:41.445 –> 00:29:44.805

gonna talk more about, uh, carbon footprint

 

631

00:29:44.825 –> 00:29:47.885

and the lifecycle assessments, which I think is part of, um,

 

632

00:29:47.885 –> 00:29:49.965

getting into some more specificity.

 

633

00:29:50.945 –> 00:29:53.645

And I’ll leave it at that for now and take questions later.

 

634

00:29:53.775 –> 00:29:54.775

Thank you.

 

635

00:29:56.235 –> 00:29:57.425

Thank you so much, Mitch.

 

636

00:29:57.685 –> 00:30:00.025

Um, so many excellent points that you brought up.

 

637

00:30:00.045 –> 00:30:02.625

And I really, really love the point about the fact

 

638

00:30:02.625 –> 00:30:04.545

that we don’t have to be perfect, um,

 

639

00:30:04.645 –> 00:30:06.385

but focus on transparency

 

640

00:30:06.565 –> 00:30:08.305

and how you arrived at your metrics.

 

641

00:30:09.445 –> 00:30:11.985

Um, and with that, I’m really excited

 

642

00:30:12.005 –> 00:30:14.225

to introduce the Planet Forward team.

 

643

00:30:15.005 –> 00:30:18.225

Um, we have Miranda Gorman and Anjali Boyd.

 

644

00:30:18.605 –> 00:30:20.785

Um, so quick intros for both.

 

645

00:30:21.295 –> 00:30:24.385

Miranda is an environmental engineer whose research focuses

 

646

00:30:24.645 –> 00:30:27.105

on the sustainability of material resources

 

647

00:30:27.645 –> 00:30:29.105

before joining Planet Forward.

 

648

00:30:29.525 –> 00:30:32.305

Um, Miranda was a senior research fellow at Project

 

649

00:30:32.385 –> 00:30:35.745

Drawdown, um, leading research in the industry sector

 

650

00:30:35.745 –> 00:30:36.825

where she identified

 

651

00:30:36.885 –> 00:30:38.705

and quantified the climate impacts

 

652

00:30:38.845 –> 00:30:42.065

of various solution technologies and materials

 

653

00:30:42.485 –> 00:30:45.345

and industry spaces, including Bioplastics,

 

654

00:30:45.355 –> 00:30:46.945

waste management and more.

 

655

00:30:47.725 –> 00:30:49.185

Um, and at Planet Forward,

 

656

00:30:49.565 –> 00:30:51.705

she leans on her background in circularity

 

657

00:30:51.705 –> 00:30:53.545

and lifecycle assessments to contribute

 

658

00:30:53.605 –> 00:30:57.425

to planet forwards scientific methodology and rigor.

 

659

00:30:58.485 –> 00:31:01.385

Um, and we also have an Angelie Boyd, um,

 

660

00:31:01.395 –> 00:31:03.385

who’s a marine scientist educator

 

661

00:31:03.885 –> 00:31:06.865

and entrepreneur, um, at Duke University.

 

662

00:31:06.955 –> 00:31:08.385

She’s a PhD candidate

 

663

00:31:08.385 –> 00:31:10.585

and a dean’s graduate fellow at the Nicholas

 

664

00:31:10.605 –> 00:31:11.825

School of the Environment.

 

665

00:31:12.445 –> 00:31:15.385

And her ongoing research focuses on developing more

 

666

00:31:15.625 –> 00:31:17.705

efficient and cost-effective restoration

 

667

00:31:17.725 –> 00:31:19.785

and management practices to restore

 

668

00:31:19.845 –> 00:31:22.625

and conserve vulnerable marine ecosystems.

 

669

00:31:23.285 –> 00:31:26.385

Her work has been recognized by the Smithsonian noaa,

 

670

00:31:27.145 –> 00:31:29.425

national Academy of Sciences, Aspen Institute,

 

671

00:31:29.425 –> 00:31:31.585

and more she’s fiercely committed

 

672

00:31:31.585 –> 00:31:33.705

to increasing the representation of women

 

673

00:31:33.885 –> 00:31:36.505

and ethnic minorities in ocean science fields.

 

674

00:31:37.365 –> 00:31:40.625

All right, over to you, planet Forward team, next slide.

 

675

00:31:42.285 –> 00:31:43.305

Thanks so much, grace.

 

676

00:31:43.525 –> 00:31:45.225

Um, yeah, I’m really happy to be here with everyone

 

677

00:31:45.285 –> 00:31:46.945

and talk a little bit about what we do

 

678

00:31:47.085 –> 00:31:50.705

and how it intersects with, um, sort of the, for

 

679

00:31:50.735 –> 00:31:53.025

with Ocean ecosystems and seaweed specifically.

 

680

00:31:53.485 –> 00:31:55.825

So, um, quick overview of Planet Forward.

 

681

00:31:55.825 –> 00:31:58.985

Planet Forward is the leading decarbonization platform

 

682

00:31:59.325 –> 00:32:01.185

for the food and consumer industry.

 

683

00:32:01.565 –> 00:32:04.905

So we do three main things for the most part, um,

 

684

00:32:05.095 –> 00:32:06.625

product lifecycle assessments,

 

685

00:32:06.625 –> 00:32:07.865

corporate greenhouse gas inventories,

 

686

00:32:07.865 –> 00:32:09.625

and scope three decarbonization.

 

687

00:32:10.245 –> 00:32:13.145

And so we’re really focused on helping consumer brands set

 

688

00:32:13.145 –> 00:32:14.705

and meet their sustainability needs

 

689

00:32:14.705 –> 00:32:16.145

through these different offerings.

 

690

00:32:16.645 –> 00:32:17.945

We do lifecycle assessments

 

691

00:32:17.945 –> 00:32:20.665

for companies interested in the impact of their products

 

692

00:32:20.885 –> 00:32:22.545

and how they improve the environmental

 

693

00:32:22.565 –> 00:32:23.785

impact of their production.

 

694

00:32:24.045 –> 00:32:26.425

And we do greenhouse gas inventories for companies

 

695

00:32:26.425 –> 00:32:28.785

who are wanting to understand the entirety

 

696

00:32:28.785 –> 00:32:29.825

of their carbon footprint

 

697

00:32:29.825 –> 00:32:31.665

as cross scopes one, two, and three.

 

698

00:32:31.885 –> 00:32:33.465

And we also offer decarbonization

 

699

00:32:33.465 –> 00:32:36.425

and emissions reduction strategies, um, specifically

 

700

00:32:36.425 –> 00:32:37.465

for scope three ’cause

 

701

00:32:37.465 –> 00:32:39.845

that’s typically the largest contributor to, to, um,

 

702

00:32:39.965 –> 00:32:42.725

a greenhouse gas inventory and also the most opaque.

 

703

00:32:43.355 –> 00:32:48.075

Next slide, please. So

 

704

00:32:48.535 –> 00:32:51.075

one of the things that we’re able to do, um,

 

705

00:32:51.215 –> 00:32:53.755

and I’m gonna, I’m gonna speak primarily about lifecycle

 

706

00:32:53.755 –> 00:32:55.315

assessments today because that’s one

 

707

00:32:55.315 –> 00:32:57.755

of the areas in which there hasn’t been a lot of research

 

708

00:32:57.755 –> 00:33:00.675

and a lot of data specifically about seaweed.

 

709

00:33:00.815 –> 00:33:03.155

And it’s something that feeds into how we also do,

 

710

00:33:03.255 –> 00:33:04.315

um, corporate inventories.

 

711

00:33:04.695 –> 00:33:07.275

But, um, one of the things that we’re able to do

 

712

00:33:07.275 –> 00:33:09.315

with our lifecycle assessment solution is

 

713

00:33:09.315 –> 00:33:10.835

to provide real time results.

 

714

00:33:10.895 –> 00:33:14.995

So you can see live the impact various inputs on the carbon

 

715

00:33:14.995 –> 00:33:16.275

footprint of your products.

 

716

00:33:16.735 –> 00:33:20.045

So final products, process, product,

 

717

00:33:20.045 –> 00:33:23.005

press process products, um, as well

 

718

00:33:23.065 –> 00:33:25.125

as at the farm and production level.

 

719

00:33:25.545 –> 00:33:30.165

So we can build LCAs for, um, a production system

 

720

00:33:30.465 –> 00:33:31.805

for macro algae farming,

 

721

00:33:31.985 –> 00:33:34.965

and then we can use that as an inflow into

 

722

00:33:36.045 –> 00:33:38.685

a food product that uses it as an ingredient

 

723

00:33:38.985 –> 00:33:40.805

or a bioplastic that uses it,

 

724

00:33:40.925 –> 00:33:42.805

a processed version of that as an ingredient.

 

725

00:33:42.985 –> 00:33:46.535

So customers that once had to pay, you know, tens

 

726

00:33:46.535 –> 00:33:49.535

of thousands of dollars for, for single LCAs, um,

 

727

00:33:49.595 –> 00:33:52.255

can use a live software to develop LCAs

 

728

00:33:52.255 –> 00:33:54.415

and see results immediately.

 

729

00:33:55.385 –> 00:33:57.685

And it’s really helpful and critical to be able

 

730

00:33:57.685 –> 00:34:01.085

to think about the impacts of different improvements, um,

 

731

00:34:01.305 –> 00:34:03.685

or practices that you might be able to incorporate.

 

732

00:34:04.035 –> 00:34:07.835

Next slide please. So

 

733

00:34:08.055 –> 00:34:09.715

really quick overview.

 

734

00:34:09.715 –> 00:34:11.595

Again, this is a look at some of the data

 

735

00:34:11.595 –> 00:34:12.995

that we collect in our platform

 

736

00:34:12.995 –> 00:34:15.195

that you can directly upload and manipulate.

 

737

00:34:15.925 –> 00:34:19.185

We take in basic information about product formulations, um,

 

738

00:34:19.185 –> 00:34:22.145

packaging materials, processing steps in energy.

 

739

00:34:22.535 –> 00:34:24.745

This, this is a little different when you’re doing something

 

740

00:34:24.765 –> 00:34:28.105

that’s, um, like a raw material production at farm,

 

741

00:34:28.155 –> 00:34:31.785

we’re more focused on energy, any nutrient inputs

 

742

00:34:31.785 –> 00:34:33.505

that are required, things like that.

 

743

00:34:34.535 –> 00:34:39.395

Um, and we also, um, take into account, um, all the way

 

744

00:34:39.395 –> 00:34:40.915

through to the, to the end of life.

 

745

00:34:41.015 –> 00:34:43.315

So if there is any impact in consumer use

 

746

00:34:43.815 –> 00:34:45.635

or um, end of life, we take

 

747

00:34:45.635 –> 00:34:47.875

that into account when we’re doing cradle to grave LCAs.

 

748

00:34:48.795 –> 00:34:53.755

Next slide, please. So I wanna touch on

 

749

00:34:53.755 –> 00:34:57.835

briefly what some of the outcomes are from doing this type

 

750

00:34:57.835 –> 00:35:01.355

of work and how you can use the results

 

751

00:35:01.575 –> 00:35:02.835

of doing an LCA.

 

752

00:35:03.815 –> 00:35:06.675

So it’s really valuable in a few different ways.

 

753

00:35:07.055 –> 00:35:08.755

One is product innovation.

 

754

00:35:09.375 –> 00:35:11.875

Um, you can use lifecycle assessments

 

755

00:35:12.735 –> 00:35:14.715

in the products development process

 

756

00:35:15.335 –> 00:35:19.235

to create more sustainable offerings that incorporate, um,

 

757

00:35:20.415 –> 00:35:22.035

you know, really detailed information

 

758

00:35:22.035 –> 00:35:23.315

about specific ingredients.

 

759

00:35:23.335 –> 00:35:26.835

For example, you can in, if you’re developing a new meal

 

760

00:35:27.015 –> 00:35:28.475

or food

 

761

00:35:28.495 –> 00:35:30.795

or something like that, you can look at what the impact is

 

762

00:35:30.795 –> 00:35:34.355

of swapping out one of your materials for kelp in some way

 

763

00:35:34.575 –> 00:35:36.755

and see how that might reduce the footprint of this.

 

764

00:35:37.885 –> 00:35:40.465

Um, another end use is for labeling.

 

765

00:35:41.125 –> 00:35:44.145

Um, it’s really important to a lot of our customers

 

766

00:35:44.205 –> 00:35:47.825

to be able to confidently communicate the impact

 

767

00:35:47.845 –> 00:35:50.345

and the value of what they’re doing to their customers.

 

768

00:35:50.605 –> 00:35:52.425

And that’s something that we’re able to help with.

 

769

00:35:52.805 –> 00:35:55.905

So as long as you’ve done a standards aligned, reviewed LCA

 

770

00:35:55.905 –> 00:35:58.425

with Planet Forward, you can communicate really effectively

 

771

00:35:58.425 –> 00:35:59.985

what the outcomes of that work are.

 

772

00:36:00.405 –> 00:36:01.825

Um, there’s a couple examples.

 

773

00:36:01.825 –> 00:36:02.945

They’re a little small here

 

774

00:36:03.125 –> 00:36:05.225

of some products that have been labeled.

 

775

00:36:05.365 –> 00:36:07.625

Um, some of our customers, um,

 

776

00:36:07.685 –> 00:36:10.465

put their labels directly on their websites or menus

 

777

00:36:10.465 –> 00:36:11.865

and share that for everyone to see.

 

778

00:36:12.805 –> 00:36:15.945

And then the last one is impact reporting, which, you know,

 

779

00:36:16.335 –> 00:36:19.905

with, with a lot of new regulations coming out about, um,

 

780

00:36:21.055 –> 00:36:23.025

what what is required in order

 

781

00:36:23.025 –> 00:36:24.665

to make claims about your products

 

782

00:36:24.665 –> 00:36:25.825

and things like that, that’s something

 

783

00:36:25.825 –> 00:36:27.385

that’s really important to people as well.

 

784

00:36:27.725 –> 00:36:32.505

So, um, being able to have scientifically rigorous, um,

 

785

00:36:32.935 –> 00:36:35.425

backing behind what you’re, what you’re able to say

 

786

00:36:35.425 –> 00:36:38.145

and to be able to produce reporting for CDP

 

787

00:36:38.165 –> 00:36:40.905

or any of these other standards, um, are sort of the

 

788

00:36:41.505 –> 00:36:45.345

alphabet soup of various reporting, uh, things

 

789

00:36:45.345 –> 00:36:47.305

that exist in the, in the carbon accounting space is

 

790

00:36:47.305 –> 00:36:48.465

something that’s really important as well.

 

791

00:36:49.345 –> 00:36:53.755

Next slide. So, um, really briefly, I just wanted

 

792

00:36:53.815 –> 00:36:58.695

to also touch on kind of a single example of, um,

 

793

00:36:59.415 –> 00:37:04.175

a case in which, um, some of the, the, the value

 

794

00:37:04.355 –> 00:37:09.215

of using a really high quality, um, LCA

 

795

00:37:09.775 –> 00:37:12.415

software was really valuable for one of our customers.

 

796

00:37:12.415 –> 00:37:13.655

And I wanted to talk about lolly wear

 

797

00:37:13.655 –> 00:37:16.895

because I thought that might be, uh, a name that’s familiar

 

798

00:37:16.915 –> 00:37:18.575

to some of the people in this group.

 

799

00:37:19.235 –> 00:37:22.135

Um, but Lolly wear is a really innovative, um,

 

800

00:37:22.265 –> 00:37:26.375

bioplastic product that uses, um, both, uh,

 

801

00:37:26.735 –> 00:37:31.055

a seaweed based, um, input nan as well as,

 

802

00:37:31.795 –> 00:37:36.375

um, as well as upcycled, um, shrimp cells in the form

 

803

00:37:36.375 –> 00:37:38.895

of CIN to produce a bioplastic

 

804

00:37:39.115 –> 00:37:41.295

and to replace single use petroleum plastics.

 

805

00:37:41.395 –> 00:37:43.415

So what we were able to do for them was help ’em quantify

 

806

00:37:43.415 –> 00:37:46.335

the impacts of their product compared

 

807

00:37:46.335 –> 00:37:47.495

to a conventional product

 

808

00:37:47.675 –> 00:37:49.695

to differentiate themselves in the marketplace.

 

809

00:37:50.075 –> 00:37:52.855

And it also allows them to continually decrease their

 

810

00:37:52.855 –> 00:37:54.415

environmental impact over time.

 

811

00:37:54.475 –> 00:37:57.335

So we’re able to identify opportunities in which they may be

 

812

00:37:57.335 –> 00:38:01.755

able to use renewable energy or save on some emissions

 

813

00:38:01.755 –> 00:38:03.435

or reduce the waste of some aspect so

 

814

00:38:03.435 –> 00:38:06.195

that they can continually decrease their carbon footprint.

 

815

00:38:07.415 –> 00:38:10.145

Um, so I’m gonna pause

 

816

00:38:10.245 –> 00:38:11.585

and hand it over to Angelie

 

817

00:38:11.585 –> 00:38:14.465

to talk a little bit more specifically about, um, some

 

818

00:38:14.485 –> 00:38:17.305

of the work that she did, um, more at the,

 

819

00:38:17.305 –> 00:38:19.025

at the farm level for, for kelp.

 

820

00:38:20.665 –> 00:38:23.605

Thanks, Miranda. Um, next slide please.

 

821

00:38:26.145 –> 00:38:29.085

Um, so like Miranda said earlier this year

 

822

00:38:29.225 –> 00:38:32.565

and at the end of last year, we, we spent some time, um,

 

823

00:38:32.665 –> 00:38:35.685

and some, a lot of effort working in partnership with, uh,

 

824

00:38:35.755 –> 00:38:38.805

GreenWave to build out some LCAs for various seafood

 

825

00:38:39.185 –> 00:38:44.165

and seaweed commodities, both for custom, um, LCAs

 

826

00:38:44.165 –> 00:38:47.045

for our clients, as well as just generic ingredients

 

827

00:38:47.225 –> 00:38:49.405

for our database that can be used

 

828

00:38:49.405 –> 00:38:50.685

by customers like lolly wear

 

829

00:38:50.685 –> 00:38:53.725

and others, um, who want to use seaweed inputs

 

830

00:38:53.945 –> 00:38:57.125

but may not have like, the primary data to, uh, back

 

831

00:38:57.125 –> 00:38:59.085

to like cultivation to, to input into those.

 

832

00:38:59.505 –> 00:39:00.725

And so in doing so, we went

 

833

00:39:00.725 –> 00:39:02.045

through the scientific literature

 

834

00:39:02.265 –> 00:39:05.165

to find seaweed LCA studies, and, um,

 

835

00:39:05.165 –> 00:39:07.645

before we get into like the results of those studies and,

 

836

00:39:07.705 –> 00:39:09.645

and kind of the big takeaway, I, I wanted

 

837

00:39:09.645 –> 00:39:12.365

to spend a little bit of time, um, talking about some

 

838

00:39:12.365 –> 00:39:14.445

of the thing, the challenges I guess, in terms of data

 

839

00:39:14.625 –> 00:39:16.205

and things that we kinda had to overcome to,

 

840

00:39:16.205 –> 00:39:18.045

to build the database that we currently have today.

 

841

00:39:18.675 –> 00:39:22.865

Next slide please. So, um,

 

842

00:39:23.365 –> 00:39:26.225

to begin, I wanna take a kind of a, a global view

 

843

00:39:26.365 –> 00:39:27.825

of seaweed cultivation trends.

 

844

00:39:28.365 –> 00:39:31.225

Um, as many of you probably know, China

 

845

00:39:31.485 –> 00:39:34.865

and Indonesia account for about 85%

 

846

00:39:34.865 –> 00:39:36.465

of seaweed production globally.

 

847

00:39:37.285 –> 00:39:40.225

Um, and in comparison, when we looked at the data

 

848

00:39:40.225 –> 00:39:42.225

that was available through the scientific literature

 

849

00:39:42.645 –> 00:39:47.345

around seaweed cultivation, 80% of the LCAs, um,

 

850

00:39:47.345 –> 00:39:49.985

that we found and use came from countries

 

851

00:39:49.985 –> 00:39:53.105

that produce less than 3% of global seaweed production.

 

852

00:39:53.645 –> 00:39:56.745

Um, and of those studies, uh, we only had like two

 

853

00:39:56.745 –> 00:39:58.225

that actually came from China

 

854

00:39:58.285 –> 00:40:01.065

and Indonesia, which are, uh, a, a big part

 

855

00:40:01.065 –> 00:40:03.505

of the global seaweed, um, market.

 

856

00:40:03.965 –> 00:40:05.905

And so why is that important?

 

857

00:40:06.245 –> 00:40:07.745

Um, you can go to the next slide please.

 

858

00:40:09.765 –> 00:40:11.095

Similar to what’s kind

 

859

00:40:11.095 –> 00:40:13.055

of been talked about from Mitch and then Miranda.

 

860

00:40:13.595 –> 00:40:16.455

Um, seaweed cultivation practices can aren’t really

 

861

00:40:16.695 –> 00:40:18.815

standardized at this point, and they can vary drastically

 

862

00:40:18.825 –> 00:40:20.455

based on the region you’re in.

 

863

00:40:20.995 –> 00:40:22.375

And this is something that’s really important

 

864

00:40:22.375 –> 00:40:24.575

for us at planet forward to consider when we’re developing

 

865

00:40:24.695 –> 00:40:26.415

LCA for our customers, um,

 

866

00:40:26.415 –> 00:40:29.175

and helping them identify emission reduction opportunities.

 

867

00:40:30.395 –> 00:40:34.745

Um, next slide please. And then finally,

 

868

00:40:34.805 –> 00:40:36.465

the other thing that we came across was

 

869

00:40:36.465 –> 00:40:39.545

that there was very limited data too on the energy intensity

 

870

00:40:39.765 –> 00:40:41.145

of seaweed processing

 

871

00:40:41.145 –> 00:40:44.985

and various seaweed extracts, um, which is typically, uh,

 

872

00:40:45.105 –> 00:40:48.665

a big in use case for a lot of seaweed, um, that are,

 

873

00:40:48.695 –> 00:40:49.705

that is bought

 

874

00:40:49.705 –> 00:40:52.145

and used commercially for different products and whatnot.

 

875

00:40:53.405 –> 00:40:58.265

Next slide. But with all that in mind,

 

876

00:40:58.485 –> 00:41:00.105

um, we are happy to, to share

 

877

00:41:00.645 –> 00:41:02.145

the results of the work that we did.

 

878

00:41:02.485 –> 00:41:07.345

Um, and this is, as you can see, um, on the y axis,

 

879

00:41:07.345 –> 00:41:09.105

you have, uh, the carbon footprint

 

880

00:41:09.285 –> 00:41:12.785

and then a couple of different ingredients on the X axis.

 

881

00:41:13.285 –> 00:41:14.705

Um, and you can see

 

882

00:41:14.705 –> 00:41:18.265

that seaweed in general is a very sustainable alternative

 

883

00:41:18.325 –> 00:41:20.665

to a lot of commonly used ingredients

 

884

00:41:20.685 –> 00:41:24.305

for everything from corn and soy to salmon, eggs

 

885

00:41:24.365 –> 00:41:25.545

and beef and on.

 

886

00:41:26.045 –> 00:41:29.625

Um, and the macro that you’re seeing on, um, the

 

887

00:41:30.225 –> 00:41:31.985

x axis is an average model

 

888

00:41:32.045 –> 00:41:33.485

of a bunch of different seaweed species.

 

889

00:41:33.485 –> 00:41:34.805

Everything from sugar kelp

 

890

00:41:34.805 –> 00:41:38.365

and giant kelp to gar kobu and more.

 

891

00:41:38.365 –> 00:41:42.845

And so, um, all in all, the carbon footprint of, um,

 

892

00:41:43.055 –> 00:41:45.565

macro algae was extremely low, which is really exciting

 

893

00:41:45.565 –> 00:41:48.285

for us to see, um, and promising in terms of the work

 

894

00:41:48.285 –> 00:41:50.525

that we do with customers who are also interested in using

 

895

00:41:50.555 –> 00:41:53.125

seaweed as its in as sustainable ingredient.

 

896

00:41:54.405 –> 00:41:57.515

Next slide, please. Um,

 

897

00:41:57.735 –> 00:42:00.035

and then when we drove deeper into the database

 

898

00:42:00.215 –> 00:42:02.275

to better understand like what was driving the emissions

 

899

00:42:02.275 –> 00:42:03.915

that do come from seaweed, we found

 

900

00:42:03.915 –> 00:42:06.635

that the number one cause typically was boat fuel.

 

901

00:42:07.135 –> 00:42:09.755

Um, typically that could account for anywhere between 90

 

902

00:42:09.895 –> 00:42:13.515

to 99% of seaweed emissions was just fuel from boats.

 

903

00:42:14.095 –> 00:42:17.395

Um, and so in that, that’s also something that we identified

 

904

00:42:17.415 –> 00:42:20.755

as a potential emission reduction opportunity when we’re

 

905

00:42:20.755 –> 00:42:23.875

thinking about where seaweed farms are placed them being

 

906

00:42:23.945 –> 00:42:25.315

near shore compared to offshore.

 

907

00:42:25.775 –> 00:42:28.315

Um, um, and also the type of boats that are being used

 

908

00:42:28.415 –> 00:42:30.755

and alternative fuels for boats that are being used

 

909

00:42:30.755 –> 00:42:31.755

for seaweed cultivation.

 

910

00:42:32.295 –> 00:42:34.515

Um, and along those lines, the second one was

 

911

00:42:34.515 –> 00:42:37.595

around farm size, but it also has to do with boat fuel

 

912

00:42:37.595 –> 00:42:41.475

because if a farm is further off, um,

 

913

00:42:42.335 –> 00:42:44.955

and larger, that’s kinda where the farm size, uh,

 

914

00:42:45.275 –> 00:42:47.595

variable kind of impacts and can bring down the COTE

 

915

00:42:47.775 –> 00:42:49.555

or the carbon footprint of that, uh,

 

916

00:42:49.565 –> 00:42:50.995

macro ology that’s cultivated.

 

917

00:42:51.255 –> 00:42:54.475

But all in all, boat fuel is kind of the biggest driver

 

918

00:42:54.735 –> 00:42:55.915

of emissions for,

 

919

00:42:55.935 –> 00:42:58.875

for macro biology from the various studies that we looked at.

 

920

00:43:00.465 –> 00:43:04.425

Next slide please. But the big takeaway from all

 

921

00:43:04.425 –> 00:43:06.865

of this work is that seaweed is a very sustainable

 

922

00:43:06.865 –> 00:43:09.265

ingredient and it’s super promising ingredient

 

923

00:43:09.365 –> 00:43:10.665

for reducing the carbon footprint

 

924

00:43:10.665 –> 00:43:12.225

of many consumer good products.

 

925

00:43:12.565 –> 00:43:14.145

Um, and similar to some of the discussion

 

926

00:43:14.145 –> 00:43:17.225

that was talked about earlier, there’s a lot of energy

 

927

00:43:17.365 –> 00:43:20.825

and enthusiasm for using seaweed, um, as an ingredient

 

928

00:43:20.925 –> 00:43:23.705

to replace some of these less sustainable ingredients that,

 

929

00:43:23.885 –> 00:43:25.505

um, we’ve seen, um,

 

930

00:43:26.185 –> 00:43:28.065

historically been used in lots of other products.

 

931

00:43:30.075 –> 00:43:34.375

The next slide and thank you.

 

932

00:43:37.645 –> 00:43:40.735

Yeah, that’s it. Um, uh, there’s a QR code here, uh,

 

933

00:43:40.735 –> 00:43:42.575

in case anyone wants to learn more about what we do

 

934

00:43:42.715 –> 00:43:45.655

or, um, book a call with anyone with with us on our team.

 

935

00:43:46.545 –> 00:43:49.215

Thank you so much for your, um, attention.

 

936

00:43:50.585 –> 00:43:53.715

Amazing. Thank you so much Miranda and Angelie.

 

937

00:43:54.535 –> 00:43:56.275

Um, I’m happy to report

 

938

00:43:56.275 –> 00:43:58.395

that we do have 15 minutes for questions.

 

939

00:43:58.535 –> 00:44:00.995

All of our speakers were incredible and super on time.

 

940

00:44:01.495 –> 00:44:02.675

Um, so thank you all.

 

941

00:44:03.375 –> 00:44:05.395

Um, so let’s just jump right in and,

 

942

00:44:05.455 –> 00:44:08.475

and please post your questions in the chat, um,

 

943

00:44:08.695 –> 00:44:10.795

or in the q and a function on Zoom.

 

944

00:44:12.015 –> 00:44:15.915

So our first question, um, is directed at Miranda.

 

945

00:44:16.655 –> 00:44:18.395

Um, and Athena wants to know

 

946

00:44:18.685 –> 00:44:23.395

after, um, conducting the LCA, do you connect companies, um,

 

947

00:44:23.545 –> 00:44:25.075

with a project developer?

 

948

00:44:25.095 –> 00:44:28.515

So what are the next steps after conducting the LCA?

 

949

00:44:30.095 –> 00:44:33.105

Yeah, um, so there’s a few different things that we do.

 

950

00:44:33.925 –> 00:44:37.775

Um, I I think that, uh,

 

951

00:44:37.775 –> 00:44:39.935

maybe I’m not a hundred percent sure what you mean

 

952

00:44:39.935 –> 00:44:41.215

by a developer, ’cause I think

 

953

00:44:41.215 –> 00:44:42.935

that might be a few different types of things.

 

954

00:44:43.435 –> 00:44:47.695

Um, but often what we do is we work

 

955

00:44:47.695 –> 00:44:50.175

with our customers on supplier engagement.

 

956

00:44:50.475 –> 00:44:54.215

Um, so if there are opportunities that we’ve identified, um,

 

957

00:44:54.515 –> 00:44:56.815

or ways that they might be able to reduce their footprint

 

958

00:44:56.815 –> 00:45:00.015

because, um, you know, maybe one of the ingredients

 

959

00:45:00.015 –> 00:45:02.695

that they’re used or the nutrients used in, um, growing

 

960

00:45:02.875 –> 00:45:05.015

or something like that, or there’s an opportunity

 

961

00:45:05.015 –> 00:45:06.495

to reduce the amount of boat fuel

 

962

00:45:06.495 –> 00:45:08.455

that’s used is Anjali mentioned, things like that.

 

963

00:45:08.675 –> 00:45:10.655

And they need to work directly with their suppliers.

 

964

00:45:10.785 –> 00:45:12.655

Those are things that we help them engage with.

 

965

00:45:13.395 –> 00:45:17.805

Um, we, yeah, so I, maybe I’ll leave it at that.

 

966

00:45:17.805 –> 00:45:20.805

So we, we do a lot of, um, um, engagement

 

967

00:45:20.805 –> 00:45:23.245

with our customers suppliers, um,

 

968

00:45:23.305 –> 00:45:25.845

and we also help them, uh,

 

969

00:45:26.025 –> 00:45:30.005

if they have any communication needs with investors as well,

 

970

00:45:30.005 –> 00:45:31.085

like their own investors.

 

971

00:45:31.385 –> 00:45:34.125

Um, so that might be another developer

 

972

00:45:34.125 –> 00:45:35.325

that you were talking about.

 

973

00:45:36.845 –> 00:45:38.655

Awesome, thanks for that.

 

974

00:45:39.355 –> 00:45:41.535

Um, and, and while I have you, Miranda,

 

975

00:45:41.575 –> 00:45:43.775

I think there’s another question about the lolly

 

976

00:45:43.775 –> 00:45:46.335

where case study, um, and,

 

977

00:45:46.355 –> 00:45:48.695

and I do wanna caveat this by saying, um,

 

978

00:45:48.905 –> 00:45:51.335

lolly wear isn’t using Sugar Kelp,

 

979

00:45:51.335 –> 00:45:52.895

to my knowledge, Miranda, is that correct?

 

980

00:45:53.145 –> 00:45:54.495

Don’t makes sense. Um, so it will be,

 

981

00:45:54.495 –> 00:45:55.895

it will be a little different in terms

 

982

00:45:55.895 –> 00:45:57.535

of calculating their impact.

 

983

00:45:57.795 –> 00:46:02.455

Um, but this attendee was wondering, um, just given the lack

 

984

00:46:02.455 –> 00:46:06.055

of standardized metrics, how did it work for lolly wear

 

985

00:46:06.115 –> 00:46:08.855

to reliably, um, quantify their impact

 

986

00:46:08.955 –> 00:46:10.215

of their seaweed inputs?

 

987

00:46:11.045 –> 00:46:13.655

Yeah, so this was another case in which we did like

 

988

00:46:13.935 –> 00:46:16.495

supplier engagement, but actually during the LCA, um, sort

 

989

00:46:16.495 –> 00:46:18.455

of after, so we were able to work with them

 

990

00:46:18.475 –> 00:46:20.335

to collect primary data on the way

 

991

00:46:20.525 –> 00:46:22.295

that their seaweed was farmed.

 

992

00:46:22.715 –> 00:46:24.415

Um, so we got primary data from,

 

993

00:46:24.525 –> 00:46:27.575

from the actual seaweed producer, um,

 

994

00:46:27.595 –> 00:46:30.255

and then we understood from ware, again, primary data on

 

995

00:46:30.255 –> 00:46:32.535

how it was processed into the final product.

 

996

00:46:33.195 –> 00:46:37.305

Um, so while the specific metrics

 

997

00:46:37.375 –> 00:46:40.865

that people use may not be incredibly standardized, the way

 

998

00:46:40.865 –> 00:46:43.945

that you arrive at some certain metrics can be

 

999

00:46:44.985 –> 00:46:46.985

re reproduced pretty, um, reasonably

 

1000

00:46:47.045 –> 00:46:49.145

and in accordance with a few different standards.

 

1001

00:46:49.325 –> 00:46:53.305

So, um, greenhouse Gas Protocol is probably the biggest one

 

1002

00:46:53.415 –> 00:46:56.905

that we, um, make sure that we adhere to as well as ISO

 

1003

00:46:56.905 –> 00:46:58.065

for lifecycle assessments.

 

1004

00:46:58.065 –> 00:47:00.905

And those are ways that you can have really rigorous

 

1005

00:47:00.965 –> 00:47:03.505

and um, standards aligned results for metrics

 

1006

00:47:04.305 –> 00:47:07.905

specifically like, um, carbon impact.

 

1007

00:47:08.045 –> 00:47:11.665

So, um, the carbon footprint of a product kgs of CO2 E,

 

1008

00:47:12.925 –> 00:47:14.265

um, yeah,

 

1009

00:47:14.885 –> 00:47:17.585

and if there are additional like follow up questions

 

1010

00:47:17.585 –> 00:47:20.945

or anything, you can always, um, reach out, uh, to us.

 

1011

00:47:20.945 –> 00:47:22.265

Like I said, there was the QR code,

 

1012

00:47:22.265 –> 00:47:23.985

but also just hello at Planet Forward.

 

1013

00:47:25.405 –> 00:47:27.935

Awesome. Yeah, that’s a really great point about, um,

 

1014

00:47:28.285 –> 00:47:29.285

primary data

 

1015

00:47:29.305 –> 00:47:31.645

and goes back to what I was saying about the Kelp Climate

 

1016

00:47:31.715 –> 00:47:34.365

Fund and really just working directly with your supplier

 

1017

00:47:34.465 –> 00:47:36.765

or your farmer, um, to work to get

 

1018

00:47:36.765 –> 00:47:38.765

that specific data for your inputs.

 

1019

00:47:40.315 –> 00:47:43.015

All right, so, um, Jennifer asks,

 

1020

00:47:43.015 –> 00:47:45.415

and I think Mitch, this will be a question for you.

 

1021

00:47:46.515 –> 00:47:48.295

Um, is there any data

 

1022

00:47:48.355 –> 00:47:51.375

or studies regarding what impact investors are looking

 

1023

00:47:51.475 –> 00:47:52.815

for prior to an investment?

 

1024

00:47:53.555 –> 00:47:56.935

Um, and do they depend on the industry, um,

 

1025

00:47:56.995 –> 00:47:58.015

to provide those metrics?

 

1026

00:48:00.245 –> 00:48:03.225

Um, I, I, I know there are studies on

 

1027

00:48:03.225 –> 00:48:05.345

what impact investors are looking for,

 

1028

00:48:05.525 –> 00:48:08.065

and I think the, as I mentioned

 

1029

00:48:08.065 –> 00:48:12.305

before, I’ll give a plug to, uh, gin GII n.org

 

1030

00:48:13.065 –> 00:48:15.065

’cause they are kind of the clearing house

 

1031

00:48:15.165 –> 00:48:18.905

for impact investors and there’s a lot of, um, studies

 

1032

00:48:19.205 –> 00:48:22.185

and interviews with investors on their platform.

 

1033

00:48:22.765 –> 00:48:26.665

Um, I th the thing that I think is tricky is they’re not a,

 

1034

00:48:26.785 –> 00:48:27.985

a homogeneous group.

 

1035

00:48:28.165 –> 00:48:32.145

So what may be relevant for one group of impact investors

 

1036

00:48:32.215 –> 00:48:34.265

that maybe they’re very climate change focused

 

1037

00:48:34.325 –> 00:48:37.425

and another group is just, you know, is very ocean,

 

1038

00:48:37.535 –> 00:48:38.945

they may have different criteria

 

1039

00:48:39.165 –> 00:48:41.105

or different metrics that are more important to them.

 

1040

00:48:41.645 –> 00:48:45.105

So I, one of the points I was making when I was talking was

 

1041

00:48:45.105 –> 00:48:48.665

that the, yeah, the industry needs to come up

 

1042

00:48:48.665 –> 00:48:52.065

with some metrics, but the metrics need to be informed by

 

1043

00:48:52.815 –> 00:48:54.905

what the end users like investors

 

1044

00:48:55.125 –> 00:48:56.945

and big companies are looking for.

 

1045

00:48:57.045 –> 00:48:59.225

So I think it’s a, it’s a a little bit

 

1046

00:48:59.225 –> 00:49:00.505

of an iterative process.

 

1047

00:49:02.565 –> 00:49:05.325

I can, if I could add also, Yeah,

 

1048

00:49:05.855 –> 00:49:06.855

Sorry. I was just gonna say that

 

1049

00:49:06.855 –> 00:49:09.685

anecdotally, um, a lot of, a lot

 

1050

00:49:09.685 –> 00:49:11.325

of our customers that position themselves

 

1051

00:49:11.345 –> 00:49:13.925

as more sustainable, um, do get asked a lot

 

1052

00:49:13.925 –> 00:49:15.565

of questions from their investors and,

 

1053

00:49:15.625 –> 00:49:17.005

and they expect annual reports.

 

1054

00:49:17.065 –> 00:49:18.525

And one way to meet that need is

 

1055

00:49:18.525 –> 00:49:21.245

through doing something like a corporate greenhouse gas

 

1056

00:49:21.245 –> 00:49:23.365

inventory and show reductions year over year,

 

1057

00:49:23.815 –> 00:49:27.285

which is something that we, yeah, sorry Tiffany, go ahead.

 

1058

00:49:28.165 –> 00:49:29.805

I know, I appreciate you writing that.

 

1059

00:49:30.065 –> 00:49:32.565

Um, I just wanted to say that I can, I can’t speak for the,

 

1060

00:49:32.625 –> 00:49:34.285

the entire industry, but, um,

 

1061

00:49:34.305 –> 00:49:36.285

the Nature Conservancy actually has a partnership

 

1062

00:49:36.285 –> 00:49:39.885

with Hatch, um, where we have, uh, the Blue Revolution Fund.

 

1063

00:49:40.065 –> 00:49:43.085

So we actually do have a set of metrics.

 

1064

00:49:43.255 –> 00:49:44.885

We’re the conservation manager for

 

1065

00:49:44.885 –> 00:49:46.205

that impact investment fund,

 

1066

00:49:46.705 –> 00:49:49.565

and we have a whole set of ESG metrics that we go through

 

1067

00:49:49.905 –> 00:49:52.125

and we assess companies for.

 

1068

00:49:52.305 –> 00:49:55.645

So Hatch does all of the financial information, we do all

 

1069

00:49:55.645 –> 00:49:59.405

of the environmental, and I can ask Lisa, who’s our,

 

1070

00:49:59.425 –> 00:50:01.725

our conservation fund manager, whether

 

1071

00:50:01.725 –> 00:50:03.445

or not she can provide that information out,

 

1072

00:50:03.525 –> 00:50:04.525

I think she should be able to.

 

1073

00:50:04.665 –> 00:50:08.845

But some of the things that we analyze, um, are, you know,

 

1074

00:50:08.845 –> 00:50:13.245

genetic interactions, um, feed use, you know, seed, um,

 

1075

00:50:13.505 –> 00:50:16.725

you know, um, you know, um, habitat impacts,

 

1076

00:50:17.215 –> 00:50:18.565

water quality impacts

 

1077

00:50:18.705 –> 00:50:22.685

or benefits, uh, disease, biosecurity, freshwater use,

 

1078

00:50:23.395 –> 00:50:24.925

land use, energy use.

 

1079

00:50:25.105 –> 00:50:27.045

So those are some of the things that we work

 

1080

00:50:27.085 –> 00:50:28.965

with the company to assess those things.

 

1081

00:50:29.225 –> 00:50:31.645

And then we can come up kind of with, um,

 

1082

00:50:31.705 –> 00:50:34.445

if they are selected for the fund, then we come up

 

1083

00:50:34.445 –> 00:50:37.405

with a bit of a sustainability plan for, for them, so

 

1084

00:50:37.405 –> 00:50:39.085

that way we have a baseline as well as

 

1085

00:50:39.085 –> 00:50:40.405

what they might wanna be shooting for.

 

1086

00:50:43.355 –> 00:50:44.545

Super helpful, thank you.

 

1087

00:50:47.315 –> 00:50:50.455

Um, and Tiffany, another question for you.

 

1088

00:50:51.195 –> 00:50:53.175

So, um, Evie wants

 

1089

00:50:53.175 –> 00:50:56.135

to know if the Nature Conservancy is considering, um,

 

1090

00:50:56.415 –> 00:50:58.335

a more active engagement in seaweed,

 

1091

00:50:58.335 –> 00:51:02.695

mariculture in the Alaska or British Columbia regions, um,

 

1092

00:51:02.795 –> 00:51:04.975

or other temperate or northern regions?

 

1093

00:51:05.955 –> 00:51:07.375

That’s a great question. Um,

 

1094

00:51:08.095 –> 00:51:12.815

actually our Alaska chapter just hired a mariculture, um,

 

1095

00:51:12.915 –> 00:51:16.175

policy analyst, so really exciting for our Alaska chapter,

 

1096

00:51:16.835 –> 00:51:20.415

um, to be staffing a mariculture, um, position,

 

1097

00:51:20.415 –> 00:51:22.015

which is the first time this has happened.

 

1098

00:51:22.315 –> 00:51:23.855

So really excited to have her on.

 

1099

00:51:23.995 –> 00:51:25.455

She just came on about a month ago.

 

1100

00:51:25.715 –> 00:51:28.055

Um, so we’re gonna be definitely more, I think,

 

1101

00:51:28.055 –> 00:51:29.415

active in that space in Alaska.

 

1102

00:51:30.275 –> 00:51:33.255

And um, we have a couple people in British Columbia

 

1103

00:51:33.915 –> 00:51:37.815

who are very active in kelp space overall more from the

 

1104

00:51:37.815 –> 00:51:40.535

restoration side than from the aquaculture side.

 

1105

00:51:40.595 –> 00:51:42.655

Jen Burt does really great work in that area.

 

1106

00:51:43.475 –> 00:51:47.935

Um, and also we have funded, um, co-funded some work

 

1107

00:51:47.935 –> 00:51:50.335

with the house it First Nation in Cascadia.

 

1108

00:51:50.435 –> 00:51:52.975

So for aha, it’s for seaweed farm.

 

1109

00:51:53.195 –> 00:51:56.815

We helped, um, with some funding there with um, WWF

 

1110

00:51:56.875 –> 00:51:59.975

and we just provide some additional funding to them to do,

 

1111

00:52:00.355 –> 00:52:03.175

um, some additional site analysis to see if they wanted

 

1112

00:52:03.335 –> 00:52:05.815

to expand into another seaweed farm.

 

1113

00:52:05.995 –> 00:52:07.815

So that’s a little bit of the work that we’ve been doing.

 

1114

00:52:07.915 –> 00:52:12.095

The Pacific Northwest in general is a new focal area for us

 

1115

00:52:12.195 –> 00:52:15.055

for TNC, so we’ve been doing quite a bit

 

1116

00:52:15.055 –> 00:52:17.215

of work in the Washington, Oregon areas,

 

1117

00:52:17.755 –> 00:52:19.415

and then we’re starting to do a bit more work

 

1118

00:52:19.415 –> 00:52:20.495

in BC and Alaska.

 

1119

00:52:23.545 –> 00:52:26.895

That’s great to hear. Um,

 

1120

00:52:28.325 –> 00:52:32.945

all right, so we have a question about, um, sort of consumer

 

1121

00:52:33.515 –> 00:52:36.745

acceptance and demand for farm seaweed products.

 

1122

00:52:36.765 –> 00:52:39.145

And I think really anyone could jump in here.

 

1123

00:52:39.685 –> 00:52:44.625

Um, but panelists, why do you think, um, consumer demands

 

1124

00:52:44.625 –> 00:52:46.425

for farm seaweed products, um,

 

1125

00:52:46.845 –> 00:52:49.865

are potentially lower than we expected, um,

 

1126

00:52:50.125 –> 00:52:53.265

and specifically for domestic farm seaweed?

 

1127

00:52:53.405 –> 00:52:56.425

And, um, does it come down to product familiarity?

 

1128

00:53:01.195 –> 00:53:03.955

I can take a, uh, a stab at it.

 

1129

00:53:03.995 –> 00:53:05.475

I mean, there’s, there’s multiple reasons.

 

1130

00:53:05.615 –> 00:53:07.795

And actually Grace and Sam who are on this call,

 

1131

00:53:07.855 –> 00:53:11.275

I’m sure you have very, uh, a lot of views on this

 

1132

00:53:11.475 –> 00:53:12.835

’cause you do a lot of work in this area,

 

1133

00:53:13.015 –> 00:53:15.315

but, um, I, I think

 

1134

00:53:15.315 –> 00:53:18.275

that farm seaweed is actually making

 

1135

00:53:18.835 –> 00:53:21.115

a pretty good headway into the market.

 

1136

00:53:21.215 –> 00:53:24.875

But the challenges are is, is consumer education.

 

1137

00:53:25.705 –> 00:53:30.165

Um, it’s very difficult for most seaweed companies,

 

1138

00:53:30.825 –> 00:53:34.045

uh, who don’t have, you know, unlimited marketing budgets

 

1139

00:53:34.105 –> 00:53:38.325

to educate consumers on the shelf about new products.

 

1140

00:53:38.505 –> 00:53:39.685

We, I’ll give you an example.

 

1141

00:53:39.785 –> 00:53:44.285

We came out the, a very good tasting pasta sauce

 

1142

00:53:44.355 –> 00:53:46.845

with kelp in it, which Whole Foods and,

 

1143

00:53:46.845 –> 00:53:49.525

and Hannaford’s other big supermarkets carried

 

1144

00:53:50.625 –> 00:53:53.685

The problem was, it was, it tasted delicious,

 

1145

00:53:53.685 –> 00:53:55.845

people loved it, but educating

 

1146

00:53:55.845 –> 00:53:58.005

that consumer on the shelf is really tricky.

 

1147

00:53:58.385 –> 00:53:59.805

And we didn’t really have the budget to,

 

1148

00:53:59.805 –> 00:54:01.365

to really put the money behind it.

 

1149

00:54:02.145 –> 00:54:05.045

Um, this is one of the reasons why, why I think

 

1150

00:54:05.045 –> 00:54:07.685

that in the ingredients market, like if you sell to,

 

1151

00:54:07.835 –> 00:54:12.205

I’ll use Unilever as an example, uh, some, you know, kelp

 

1152

00:54:12.205 –> 00:54:14.925

to Unilever and they put it in their products

 

1153

00:54:15.595 –> 00:54:19.005

that they have a lot more budget to kind of really educate

 

1154

00:54:19.025 –> 00:54:21.165

and, and roll out some new products with.

 

1155

00:54:21.625 –> 00:54:24.165

Um, so that’s one, one way of looking at it.

 

1156

00:54:26.235 –> 00:54:30.755

I, I would also add, again, anecdotally, um, that, uh,

 

1157

00:54:30.855 –> 00:54:35.555

so at, at Planet Forward, we had, um, uh, a brand

 

1158

00:54:35.575 –> 00:54:38.315

of crackers that we developed in house as sort

 

1159

00:54:38.315 –> 00:54:41.275

of like a case study for, for how we could

 

1160

00:54:41.915 –> 00:54:45.435

actually sustainably build, um, a food brand, um,

 

1161

00:54:45.435 –> 00:54:48.115

which is now, um, with Patagonia provisions.

 

1162

00:54:48.895 –> 00:54:52.955

But, um, I think one of the things that we found is

 

1163

00:54:52.955 –> 00:54:55.355

that like marketing and positioning, um,

 

1164

00:54:57.445 –> 00:54:58.955

might be a little counterintuitive

 

1165

00:54:58.955 –> 00:55:02.115

because I think we see a lot of studies these days that, um,

 

1166

00:55:02.635 –> 00:55:04.595

consumers are really sustainability driven

 

1167

00:55:04.775 –> 00:55:06.915

and maybe there’s a lot of data that indicates

 

1168

00:55:06.915 –> 00:55:09.155

that they are willing to pay more for something

 

1169

00:55:09.155 –> 00:55:10.235

that’s sustainably made.

 

1170

00:55:10.495 –> 00:55:12.995

But when it really comes down to it, especially in food,

 

1171

00:55:13.335 –> 00:55:15.275

the thing that matters the most to people is just

 

1172

00:55:15.275 –> 00:55:16.275

that it tastes good.

 

1173

00:55:16.815 –> 00:55:21.065

And so splashing up a lot of data about, um,

 

1174

00:55:21.325 –> 00:55:22.545

sustainability metrics

 

1175

00:55:22.645 –> 00:55:25.105

and stuff for CPG companies may not actually be

 

1176

00:55:25.105 –> 00:55:28.185

as effective in moving those products as some other things.

 

1177

00:55:28.445 –> 00:55:32.025

So, um, I don’t know, it’s just, I think, I think that the,

 

1178

00:55:32.245 –> 00:55:36.575

the, the positioning sometimes can be, um, kind

 

1179

00:55:36.655 –> 00:55:39.175

of a challenge because you want to educate your customers

 

1180

00:55:39.175 –> 00:55:40.815

and make sure that they understand the impact

 

1181

00:55:40.835 –> 00:55:42.455

and why they should be buying your product

 

1182

00:55:42.515 –> 00:55:43.535

and why it’s so much better.

 

1183

00:55:43.875 –> 00:55:46.375

But when it comes down to it, people just wanna eat things

 

1184

00:55:46.375 –> 00:55:47.935

that taste good and bring them joy.

 

1185

00:55:48.395 –> 00:55:50.255

So I think that that’s like kind of one

 

1186

00:55:50.255 –> 00:55:51.415

of the things that’s the most important.

 

1187

00:55:54.315 –> 00:55:57.555

I would just add in briefly as well that I think that, um,

 

1188

00:55:58.045 –> 00:56:01.715

folks maybe underestimated a little bit of the mismatch of

 

1189

00:56:01.715 –> 00:56:05.275

where the current global seaweed market is versus

 

1190

00:56:05.975 –> 00:56:08.955

the price points at which, you know, the US markets and

 

1191

00:56:08.955 –> 00:56:10.955

and European markets can be competitive.

 

1192

00:56:11.335 –> 00:56:14.195

So a lot of seaweed that gets grown globally,

 

1193

00:56:14.735 –> 00:56:17.555

people are making $5,000 a year, you know,

 

1194

00:56:17.615 –> 00:56:19.395

and it’s going into Carine

 

1195

00:56:19.395 –> 00:56:22.035

and auger markets, so global Thickeners

 

1196

00:56:22.615 –> 00:56:26.005

and, um, so I don’t know if it’s necessarily that, um,

 

1197

00:56:26.525 –> 00:56:29.365

consumer demands are lower than expected.

 

1198

00:56:29.835 –> 00:56:32.645

It’s more that, um, we can’t currently compete

 

1199

00:56:32.745 –> 00:56:35.445

or we even necessarily wanna compete within those markets.

 

1200

00:56:35.945 –> 00:56:38.965

We have to actually create kind of new markets for, um,

 

1201

00:56:39.175 –> 00:56:40.525

north American for Europe.

 

1202

00:56:40.945 –> 00:56:43.405

And I completely agree with what Mitch was saying as well,

 

1203

00:56:43.405 –> 00:56:46.645

is that we’re just, we don’t have the same familiarity

 

1204

00:56:46.795 –> 00:56:48.565

with these, um, type with kelp

 

1205

00:56:48.565 –> 00:56:50.845

and with seaweeds as many Asian countries do.

 

1206

00:56:50.875 –> 00:56:53.165

It’s, it’s so entrenched as part

 

1207

00:56:53.165 –> 00:56:55.485

of their kind of daily foods.

 

1208

00:56:55.985 –> 00:56:58.445

And, um, I, I, you know, so it’s, it’s, it’s tricky.

 

1209

00:56:58.445 –> 00:57:01.205

You’ll hear lots of different opinions here.

 

1210

00:57:01.325 –> 00:57:03.885

I I do think there’s a, a component of education

 

1211

00:57:03.885 –> 00:57:06.405

that maybe is needed, but um, yeah,

 

1212

00:57:06.555 –> 00:57:07.805

it’s, it’s, it’s a tough one.

 

1213

00:57:11.405 –> 00:57:14.225

Really excellent points everyone. Thank you so much.

 

1214

00:57:14.885 –> 00:57:17.825

Um, we have just a few minutes, so I’ll,

 

1215

00:57:18.215 –> 00:57:20.505

I’ll pose one final question from Ashley.

 

1216

00:57:21.365 –> 00:57:24.305

Um, and I have some resources that I’ll mention after this,

 

1217

00:57:24.405 –> 00:57:27.185

but if any of you have additional resources

 

1218

00:57:27.245 –> 00:57:30.865

or contacts, um, for people working in consumer education,

 

1219

00:57:30.965 –> 00:57:33.705

so the consumer education piece of seaweed, um,

 

1220

00:57:33.765 –> 00:57:36.105

are there any organizations that you would point people to

 

1221

00:57:46.225 –> 00:57:50.475

When, when you’re, I I’m not sure if I’ve exactly got it.

 

1222

00:57:50.475 –> 00:57:54.915

Is it consumer education about, um, food, uh,

 

1223

00:57:55.185 –> 00:57:56.675

related to food products,

 

1224

00:57:56.675 –> 00:57:58.595

or is it just related to seaweed in general?

 

1225

00:58:01.135 –> 00:58:02.875

Um, I, maybe seaweed in general.

 

1226

00:58:04.975 –> 00:58:07.905

Okay. Well we have, Sorry, go ahead Mitch.

 

1227

00:58:08.845 –> 00:58:11.865

No, I was just gonna say, I mean there’s, I guess

 

1228

00:58:12.575 –> 00:58:16.785

GreenWave is one, one resource for, uh, con, you know,

 

1229

00:58:16.785 –> 00:58:20.465

just education and getting that out to the market.

 

1230

00:58:20.765 –> 00:58:24.505

Um, I’m just trying to think of others that are educating

 

1231

00:58:25.215 –> 00:58:26.505

like food consumers.

 

1232

00:58:26.585 –> 00:58:27.545

I don’t know if there’s like one

 

1233

00:58:27.545 –> 00:58:28.785

organization I can think of.

 

1234

00:58:29.235 –> 00:58:30.825

Sorry. Uh, Miranda, you had something?

 

1235

00:58:31.685 –> 00:58:32.745

Oh yeah, I was just gonna say,

 

1236

00:58:32.765 –> 00:58:34.905

we were just chatting about this right before actually,

 

1237

00:58:34.905 –> 00:58:37.025

but the one that comes to mind is Food for Climate Leak.

 

1238

00:58:37.025 –> 00:58:39.505

They do a lot of work in communications, um,

 

1239

00:58:39.965 –> 00:58:42.585

and educating people, um, both on the consumer end

 

1240

00:58:42.585 –> 00:58:43.865

but also who work in food,

 

1241

00:58:43.885 –> 00:58:45.545

so like people in food service and things like that.

 

1242

00:58:45.545 –> 00:58:46.825

So they’re doing really interesting things.

 

1243

00:58:47.125 –> 00:58:49.905

Um, and then I was also just gonna, you know,

 

1244

00:58:50.525 –> 00:58:54.905

do a little plug we have on our website a blog post, um,

 

1245

00:58:55.075 –> 00:58:58.785

about the impacts of seaweed as a sustainable food option,

 

1246

00:58:59.085 –> 00:59:01.625

um, that and Angelie contributed to.

 

1247

00:59:01.965 –> 00:59:05.145

So, um, I can drop the link in if anyone would like to,

 

1248

00:59:05.165 –> 00:59:06.265

to use it and reference it

 

1249

00:59:06.265 –> 00:59:07.945

and you’re more than welcome to share it

 

1250

00:59:07.945 –> 00:59:09.545

and talk a little bit about seaweed.

 

1251

00:59:11.645 –> 00:59:14.185

Um, awesome. And that’s actually a perfect segue.

 

1252

00:59:14.645 –> 00:59:16.225

So next slide please.

 

1253

00:59:19.015 –> 00:59:22.325

Um, next month we, we actually will be,

 

1254

00:59:22.545 –> 00:59:24.165

um, food for Climate League.

 

1255

00:59:24.165 –> 00:59:25.525

We’ll be speaking on our webinar

 

1256

00:59:25.705 –> 00:59:28.085

and we’ll be actually talking about, um,

 

1257

00:59:28.085 –> 00:59:30.805

marketing your products, whether that’s to consumers

 

1258

00:59:30.905 –> 00:59:32.125

or other businesses.

 

1259

00:59:32.745 –> 00:59:35.045

Um, and we’ll have Food for Climate League as well

 

1260

00:59:35.045 –> 00:59:38.125

as a B2B brand and a B2C seaweed brand.

 

1261

00:59:38.745 –> 00:59:41.525

Um, so that should be a really relevant next topic.

 

1262

00:59:41.865 –> 00:59:44.845

Um, and hopefully all of you can join us in July.

 

1263

00:59:45.825 –> 00:59:47.565

Um, next slide please.

 

1264

00:59:50.125 –> 00:59:53.705

And that’s all for today. Um, just a quick request.

 

1265

00:59:53.755 –> 00:59:56.065

We’re gonna send out a feedback survey, um,

 

1266

00:59:56.175 –> 00:59:58.185

both live right now and via email.

 

1267

00:59:58.605 –> 01:00:00.145

Um, so please fill that out.

 

1268

01:00:00.445 –> 01:00:03.305

And if you have any additional questions, um, you’re welcome

 

1269

01:00:03.365 –> 01:00:05.985

to email us at Market Development, um,

 

1270

01:00:06.085 –> 01:00:07.945

or post them on our hub.

 

1271

01:00:08.565 –> 01:00:12.105

Um, and if this webinar has you convinced about seaweed, um,

 

1272

01:00:12.235 –> 01:00:15.225

apply to seaweed source to get your hands on some kelp

 

1273

01:00:15.325 –> 01:00:17.105

and accelerate your company’s impact.

 

1274

01:00:17.755 –> 01:00:19.785

Thank you all again for joining us, um,

 

1275

01:00:19.885 –> 01:00:21.105

and hope to see you next month.