The Story of The Seaweed Company
TSC was formed by three individuals who had a shared passion for seaweed and a vision of creating a company that would generate positive, long-term impact. Today we operate in The Netherlands, Morocco, India, and Ireland, and are growing by the day.
While we enjoy much success today, the journey taken to reach this point was long and full of challenges. Here, we dive into the story of TSC and discover what it took for it to become the pioneering business that it is today.
The vision that started it all
When The Seaweed Company was established, our founders — Joost, Edwin, and Stefan — saw a unique opportunity to start a business that was ready for the 22nd century. One that was not only focused on generating economic benefits but rather a company that would create a real, positive impact.
“I want to use my skills, my passion, and my experience to work on something that makes sense and has impact and leaves the world a little bit better for [our] children and future generations.” — Joost Wouters
From our early founding days through to today, we have kept our mission in mind in every decision made. This means that everything we do is measured by our positive ecological, social, and financial impact. We always have and continue to work with local communities and with nature, all the while operating in a financially viable manner in order to ensure the company’s long-term, sustainable success.
As an impact-driven company, there are several other important factors that we always consider, such as how many hectares of soil we want to regenerate, the amount of animals’ health and well-being we want to improve, the number of Blue Farmers who are working with our seaweed products, and the amount of CO2 we have mitigated. We have several impact goals based on our strong set of values which help to guide us and ensure we achieve our mission.
The obstacles that had to be overcome
As a company, our mission and values have always kept us on track, moving us forward in the right direction. However, as with any start-up, TSC faced numerous challenges in its early days.
Securing financing was a significant hurdle for us. However, this problem is faced by most new companies, but when Joost, Edwin, and Stefan founded TSC, they were entering a very new industry and faced the challenge of convincing people and investors of the potential of seaweed.
More than that, our founders wanted to do things differently in their business — they were looking to create a company fit for the 22nd century. They wanted to establish a business that was vertically integrated, where the focus would be on both production and product development. This decision was heavily contested by institutions and individuals stuck in conventional ways of thinking.
“I still remember that [almost] every person we spoke to said ‘no this is stupid, you need to focus and you cannot do everything by yourself’ ” — Joost Wouters
However, our founders believed that if they didn’t create a vertically integrated business, TSC would end up like so many other seaweed companies — where they grow seaweed but don’t have a market, or they have tremendous products but lack access to seaweed supplies. Luckily, our founders stuck to their guns, convincing those who doubted them that their way of thinking was the right way forward. Their persistence certainly paid off, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic. As one of our founders, Joost, said: “if you look at the last two years of the worldwide effects of Covid, if we had only focused on one of the two areas [production or product development], then we wouldn’t be here anymore.”
While TSC sees huge successes in its cultivation and seaweed farming operations today, it wasn’t always so easy. During the early days, we had the opportunity to begin growing seaweed in a hatchery in the South of the Netherlands. During this time, we made plenty of mistakes — we scaled up too quickly without having fine-tuned the basics yet. That was a big learning curve for us at TSC. However, as with all things in life, the greatest lessons often come from failures or mistakes. It taught us what we needed to know in order to become the successful seaweed farmers we are today.
“We couldn’t do everything ourselves. We needed to create momentum in order to scale up, and this momentum required human resources” — Stefan Kraan
In addition to these struggles, there was also the hurdle of scaling up the company’s operations. Resources in the form of people and equipment were required in order to farm seaweed and manage operations. Luckily, we met the right people, and many others with a passion for seaweed approached us, asking us to become a part of our operations. These amazing people are a huge reason why we have been able to expand and enjoy the success and growth we have today.
How did we expand?
Our founders, each coming from their respective fields, brought a unique set of skills to the table that allowed them to develop TSC. However, they needed the skills and expertise of like-minded people to help them grow and develop.
“I believe our strength has been that Joost, Stefan, and I have different skillsets which we bring to the table, next to our personal bond, which creates a dynamic and proactive can-do mentality; we really work as a team.” — Edwin Sneekes
TSC began with a seaweed farm in Ireland where we farmed brown seaweed with the aim of using it in food applications. However, Stefan — our chief scientist — had extensive experience with seaweed, and he also knew of the endless possibilities there were for seaweed. In order to test out the numerous potential applications, TSC needed to expand and grow several different strains of seaweed that weren’t able to grow in Ireland.
When it comes to TSC’s expansion, it seems that luck has often been on our side. With our operations in Morocco and India, we were fortunate enough to be introduced to the right projects as well as have passionate individuals — like Amine and Hari — approach us and ask if we wanted to collaborate with them. Now we have numerous sites in each location and are looking to expand further.
Apart from luck, we can attribute our success as a company to all the people we work with. From our long-time employees working across our international offices to our local farmers and seaweed club ambassadors, the people who work with us at The Seaweed Company are the reason we have grown as much as we have.
“[I] still feel so lucky that we have encountered so many beautiful people who share our passion for seaweed. Also, a lot of respect for the people who believed in us from the start and have supported us in many different ways.” — Edwin Sneekes
What started as a trio in 2018 has quickly turned into a 20-people strong team of individuals from various backgrounds who are extremely qualified, experienced, and have a passion for seaweed. Each person who has worked with us has helped us to grow at an immense speed and work innovatively. We believe our people are our most valuable assets and our employees are what makes us a truly great company.
“We wanted to do it differently, by really looking at the potential of seaweed and how to capture its value, and creating a different type of organization, in which the whole team is involved and committed to impact.” — Edwin Sneekes
Besides our incredible team, we believe that the company culture we’ve created as well as the idea of what our company is, has been important to our growth and success. We maintain a high level of innovation and product development, and also are led by our three cornerstones — social inclusivity, ecological responsibility, and economical viability. However, we also have a creative and playful element too — we believe work shouldn’t always be serious.
Of course, our partnerships have also been a strong driving force to our success. When our founders started TSC, they knew that without speed and scale, creating impact would be difficult. This is why we have always chosen to collaborate with like-minded, ambitious, and impact-driven partners. Their help has also been paramount to our success.
From our founding through to our success today, this is the journey that led to the creation of our company, one that is all about people and committed to creating a better world.
Today, we are able to collaborate and be a part of incredible and exciting projects, such as Wind&Wier in The Netherlands. However, we are always looking ahead, and there are many more opportunities (and challenges) to come. Our hope, as The Seaweed Company, is to seek cooperation and ideation within the seaweed industry and act as more of a platform or network organization where people in the seaweed industry can come together and collaborate.
If you’d like to learn more or get involved with The Seaweed Company, send us an email at contact@theseaweedcompany.com. We’re always excited to meet like-minded, passionate individuals. And be sure to keep an eye out on our social media channels to stay up-to-date with our progress.
About The Seaweed Company
The Seaweed Company was founded in 2018 and specializes in the development of high-value products for humans, animals, soils, and plants and in the cultivation of traceable seaweed species on a commercial scale. The Seaweed Company has its own seaweed production locations in Ireland, Morocco, India and The Netherlands and has developed products that contribute to sustainable agriculture. The Seaweed Company is actively involved with innovative research around applications in the medical field (Alzheimer’s and diabetes), functional food (alternative proteins), sustainable materials (natural composites) and sustainable seaweed cultivation methodologies. The Seaweed Company has a strong focus on Blue Farming, where we use the blue strength of the sea to support our land. Our TopHealth Plants product is an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuel-based fertilizers and pesticides.
Follow The Seaweed Company on Medium and never miss an article! Stay connected with TSC on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
