Seaweed flavouring has certainly been making waves in the food and drink market recently, with Mintel’s latest research revealing food and drink product launches with seaweed flavours, including kombu, nori/laver, and wakame seaweed flavours, have increased by 147% in Europe between 2011 and 2015.
While the majority of seaweed-flavoured food and drink products are currently launched in the Asia Pacific region, seaweed-flavoured products have been recently appearing in other waters including the US and Latin America, as well as Europe.
From caviar to soup, we’ve selected 7 innovative products recently launched showcasing their using seaweed flavouring credentials…
Germany: Grilled Seaweed Burger
Remis Algen’s Grilled Seaweed Burger is a vegetarian product said to contain pure natural ingredients. It is a source of iodine and selenium, contains no flavour enhancers and is soya and lactose free.
UK: Seaweed Caviar
The Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company Welshman’s Caviar Dried & Toasted Laver Seaweed is free from artificial ingredients and preservatives.
Poland: Rice Wafers
Good Food Zloty Smok Wafle Ryzowe z Algami Morskimi (Rice Wafers with Seaweed) contain algae powder and are described as a source of fibre.
France: Instant Seaweed Soup
Natali Potabio Potage Instantané aux Algues (Instant Seaweed Soup) is a certified organic instant soup and claims to be a natural source of fibre and minerals.
Austria: Helga
Evasis Edibles’ Helga, whose name is derived from “healthy algae”, is a carbonated soft drink based on freshwater microalgae chlorella.
Brazil: Slimming Flour Mix with Goji Berry and Seaweed
Kodilar Natural Life Mix Seca Barriga com Goji Berry e Algas Marinhas (Slimming Flour Mix with Goji Berry and Seaweed) is a combination of flours with seaweed and hydrolyzed collagen that helps increase satiety, reducing the absorption of fats and carbohydrates and regulate bowel function. It can be added to water, milk or natural fruit juice.
US: Sea Veggies
YangBan Sea Veggies Sea Salt Flavored Healthy Seaweed Snack is a 100% all natural snack that claims to be a great source of vitamins and minerals and is considered a dietary food.
Stephanie Mattucci is a Global Food Science Analyst at Mintel. Prior to Mintel, Stephanie worked as a Food Scientist in R&D for an ingredients company in Chicago, where she specialized in seasoning product development and provided technical expertise to customers in the food industry.
