We rebranded!

I have been warned that scaling a business means you need to budget 3 times what you think you might need, takes an average 12 months to launch a product if you are lucky and that the last 10% before you could launch is the hardest…

With all of the above in mind, I took a leap of faith and rebranded my seaweed business in 2020…

It was hard, we did spend more money than we thought, the last 10% was almost unbearable, we took 15 months instead of 6 and it was more lonely than ever before most of the work was done on my dining table during lockdown. However, when the delayed parcels and pallets finally arrived, the website copy got looked at, the announcement being made and orders started coming in, the excitement was indescribable. 

The decision to add a seaweed snack into the product mix was made after we won the Mondelez Pitch Competition at Global Table in September 2019. After spending 18 months navigating through motherhood, I thought it was time to get back to this first baby.

I wanted to address the importance of iodine even more so now since I had a baby, as iodine is a critical nutrient for pregnant women, babies and young children and seaweed is the perfect food for iodine, sustainability and flavour to help me achieve this mission. Compared to the original range, I want the products to be more accessible, more inspiring for people to use everyday so they can meet their iodine requirements. I want to start with a snack because it’s easy, convenient and no cooking is involved. 

With some media attention and momentum after winning the competition, we aimed to launch a product by March 2020 because you know, I thought launching a product only takes a few months, despite being warned. 

2020 turned out to be rather unusual, with the future looking so uncertain, in March we decided to take our sweet time to get it right. I no longer want Alg Seaweed to be a hobby, so we tore apart the brand and started from scratch, sending prototypes to customers for feedback, investigated importing and made it happen, created a whole new range of products using a five seaweed blend which we now trademarked Rainbow Seaweed (a seaweed mix of wakame, sea lettuce, dulse, winged kelp and nori), worked with co-manufacturers, co-packers, taking on interns to help them complete their masters, business planning, and source funding… doing what building a brand SHOULD be doing and everything that I didn’t do when we first launched in 2017. 

From a simple idea of wanting to add a snack to the mix, to having to sit down to work through EVERYTHING and finally launching in late January 2021, it felt like my time during COVID was not wasted. The feedback so far confirmed that all my hard work was paid off.

May I present to you, the brand new Alg Seaweed with Rainbow Seaweed Flakes, Rainbow Seaweed Seasoning and Rainbow Seaweed Seedy Bites, now available online. 

To this date, the business is still a one-man band but I am forever grateful to have the best mentors to help me through this. Thank you Astrid, Emma, Juraj, Pip, Harry, Karyn and Lulu… without you all, this would not have happened. 

Please check out our website algseaweed.com. If you are a wholesaler, cafe owner, or chef interested in knowing more about the products, please get in touch. We hope you like our new look.