Building a product bridge: Cost-effective primary stabilization for transportation of Alaska kelp to market

Alaska has enormous potential to support the US’s growing seaweed farming industry thanks to its expansive coastline, support from the state government, and diversity of native, marketable species. However, a massive barrier remains: an economic means of transporting the harvested product to market. There are currently only two primary stabilization methods for processing Alaskan kelp: freezing and drying. Both of these options are very expensive; cold-chain transport of frozen kelp is the most expensive shipping option, and dried product is extremely energy-intensive, requires expensive drying equipment, and constrains options for end-products. Without other preparation methods, Alaska’s kelp industry is at an economic disadvantage to other kelp growing regions. This project will explore primary stabilization of kelp using USDA approved ingredients to produce a bulk product which does not require any refrigeration. Success for this project will result in an orders-of-magnitude cheaper primary stabilization method, a reduction in shipping cost of > 40% over frozen product, and an immediate buyer of Alaska-grown kelp in Atlantic Sea Farms (ASF), interested in purchasing over 200,000 pounds annually.

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