By Richard Clarke
Managing Director of Ingredient Communications
When Howard Yana-Shapiro speaks, you listen. Currently the chief agriculture officer of food giant Mars, he founded organic brand Seeds of Change, which was bought by Mars in the late 1990s. He’s an astute guy, and isn’t just well known in the food industry for his legendary beard (although it is both extraordinary and enviable in equal measures – Google him if you don’t believe me).
His most recent utterings were reportedly made in an online discussion forum on Reddit*. They related to the prospects for one of the hottest new trends in ingredients, algae, which is currently receiving high levels of attention principally for its exceptional nutritional value and the fact it is so sustainable to produce.
The key thrust of Mr Yana-Shapiro’s argument (or at least the one that was chosen for the story’s headline) was that there isn’t yet enough scale for algae to become a mainstream ingredient. I hesitate to put myself at odds with someone so much cleverer than me but I disagree. On the question of scale, it’s surely a mistake to believe that just producing lots more of something will make it more saleable. The warehouses of the world are full of unsold products nobody wants. Instead, more important is the quest to produce algae in formats that consumers will engage with and enjoy.
Traditionally, companies have sold algae as a green powder – a commodity – and as a result its use has largely been restricted to dietary supplements. But a few innovative companies are taking steps to innovate and develop product concepts that mean this amazing ingredient’s time may come sooner than Mr Yana-Shapiro realises.
One of those companies is Allma Microalgae, which markets highly nutritious Chlorella powder cultivated naturally in the hot Portuguese sun (Chlorella is a type of microalgae known to be safe for human consumption). Perfectly illustrating how Allma is working to make Chlorella popular are ‘Chlorella Crunches’ – shaped pieces of crispy microalgae that are combined with flavourings to be consumed as a bagged snack or used in yoghurts, salads and soups.
Judging by the high level of interest in Allma’s stand at the last Health Ingredients Europe exhibition in Amsterdam, this ‘value added’ approach to supplying microalgae is a winner among food manufacturers. It shows that innovation by companies like Allma will be the key to taking algae mainstream – not the building of more big factories in China pumping out millions of tonnes of green powder.
So, yes, the algae market is still pretty embryonic and far from reaching its potential. But it will reach that potential principally by being smarter – not bigger.
Allma exhibited at Health Ingredients Europe 2014 with support from Ingredient Communications.
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