The Seaweed Company, a Dutch seaweed farming and product platform, announced on Tuesday that it has secured growth capital from Colruyt Group to scale its company. The financial terms were not disclosed.
The funding will enable the Schiedam-based company to expand its seaweed farms and bring more seaweed products to the European market. Additionally, The Seaweed Company and minority shareholder Colruyt Group will continue to join forces.
Joost Wouters, CEO of The Seawood company, says, “We are extremely proud that Colruyt Group is further expanding its minority interest to 21% and that we can continue to work on expanding our platform together with this commercial partner with thorough market knowledge. Our products and concepts have already proven themselves and we are therefore ready to further scale up our company in all aspects and to further increase our execution power. Connecting our seaweed knowledge and expertise with the strengths of others, such as those of Colruyt Group, enables us to take major steps in the field of sustainable agriculture and food applications.”
The Seaweed Company: What you need to know
Founded in 2018, The Seaweed Company specialises in the development of high-quality seaweed products, including animal feed supplements, food products, and biostimulants. The company has its own seaweed farms in Ireland, Morocco, India, and the Netherlands.
The Dutch company aims to cement its position in the sector to get seaweed as an ingredient on the menu of farmers, consumers and companies in Europe
The company says that after several successful tests, their seaweed products have been marketed under the Blue Farming and Blue Health concepts since last year.
In the Blue Health concept, products developed contribute to the health and well-being of people and support the transition to a sustainable diet.
Examples include health supplements and hybrid meat products with better Nutri and Eco scores.
In the Blue Farming concept, the company offers concrete solutions to take steps toward making agricultural chains more sustainable.
Examples include seaweed-based TopHealth animal feed supplements for chickens, pigs, cows, pets, horses, and organic seaweed biostimulant TopHealth Plants that strengthen the soils and crops.
In the upcoming years, the company will focus on sustainable seaweed cultivation via its own farms or partners and the accelerated roll-out and marketing of Blue Farming and Blue Health products.
The company is active in various aspects of the seaweed value chain – collaboration in the field of making agricultural chains more sustainable, contributing to the sustainability of the food supply, and more.
Investor
Colruyt Group is a Belgian family business that attaches great importance to sustainable entrepreneurship. It is active in the distribution of food and non-food products in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg, with more than 600 own stores and approximately 580 affiliated stores.
The Belgian company has been a shareholder of The Seaweed Company since 2019.
Stefan Goethaert, director of Fine Food, Retail Services and Private Label, and responsible for Colruyt Group’s agricultural policy, says, “From Colruyt Group, we see a lot of potential in seaweed. It is extremely versatile and can be used in food, animal feed, fertilizers, and even as an alternative to plastic in packaging. As a group, we want to take responsibility to produce meat in a more environmentally friendly way, and making the animal feed more sustainable plays an important role in this. At the same time, we are constantly looking for ways to make our packaging more sustainable. We are therefore investing in The Seaweed Company because we are convinced that they can provide sustainable solutions in various sectors, from agriculture to packaging, thanks to their expertise in developing innovative products based on seaweed.”