How Snaqs brought seaweed snacks to European supermarkets

2026-03-17

For Florus Zwartbol, the path into the seaweed sector did not begin on the coast or in a laboratory. It began in specialty food shops.

Today Florus is the founder of Floor Foods, the company behind the snack brand Snaqs. The business produces vegetable crisps and seaweed snacks that are now sold across Europe and beyond. But before entering the world of food innovation, Florus spent two decades running fourteen specialty food shops across the Netherlands.

“We sold the best cheeses, nuts, beer, wine and tapas,” he explains. “After twenty years I decided it was time for something new.”

Around 2018 and 2019 he sold the shops and started again from scratch. That new beginning became Floor Foods.

Turning vegetables into snacks

The idea behind the company was simple but ambitious. Florus wanted to create snacks that were both enjoyable and aligned with changing food trends such as plant based eating and healthier alternatives. To do this, Floor Foods invested in a vacuum frying technology that allows fresh vegetables to be processed at low temperatures. The technique preserves flavour and colour while turning vegetables into crisp snacks.

“The concept worked immediately,” Florus says. “Consumers liked the idea of plant-based snacks that are still indulgent and full of flavour.”

The growth that followed was rapid. Floor Foods first entered the shelves of Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo, followed by Albert Heijn and other retailers. From there the business expanded internationally.

Today the company operates from a production facility of around ten thousand square metres in Zeeland and employs roughly forty people. Its products are distributed in more than twenty-five countries, ranging from Scandinavia and the United Kingdom to Israel, Dubai and Canada. Annual growth has consistently reached between fifty and sixty percent.

Discovering seaweed snacks

Seaweed entered the story soon after the vegetable chips were launched.

“When we started with vegetable crisps, I quickly noticed that consumers loved products with an Asian touch,” Florus recalls. “That made me wonder why seaweed snacks were not really present in European supermarkets.”

Curious about the opportunity, he travelled to Asia to explore the category in more detail. There he developed three different types of seaweed snacks including seaweed chips, seaweed sandwiches and other crispy formats with seaweed. These products are now sold in major European retailers including Albert Heijn, Jumbo, Lidl and Aldi.

The key to their success, according to Florus, lies in accessibility. “Seaweed can sometimes have a strong image. What we focused on was making it a delicious and easy snack. Something people simply enjoy eating.” By combining seaweed with a crispy structure and approachable flavours, the product becomes far more familiar for consumers.

“The accessibility surprises people the most. It becomes a snack you can keep eating.”

The ambition for local seaweed

Although the seaweed snacks are currently produced in Asia, Florus is clear about his long term ambition. “My last mission is to produce seaweed snacks with local seaweed from Zeeland (Dutch coastal region),” he says. At the moment Asian production is still more practical due to availability and price of raw materials. But with growing interest in European seaweed cultivation, that situation could change.

Florus is already exploring possibilities for local seaweed farming and working with partners who are interested in developing supply chains in the region.

“In the near future I would love to see seaweed grown locally and processed into snacks here. The link between Zeeland and seaweed simply makes sense.”

Thinking like the consumer

Despite the rapid growth of the company, Florus remains pragmatic about innovation in the food sector. Introducing new products often means carrying the risks and costs yourself.

“If you are the first to bring something new to market, you are the one taking all the investment,” he explains. For him, the most important lesson from years in retail and food production is simple.

“You always have to think and act like the consumer. We can come up with all kinds of interesting ideas, but if the consumer does not understand the product, it will never succeed in the supermarket.”

Understanding price structures, margins and consumer expectations is therefore essential when launching new products.

Looking for partners

Through the European seaweed network, Florus is particularly interested in building new collaborations. Floor Foods is looking for both customers and partners, especially organisations that can contribute to the supply of seaweed or to technological solutions for processing and product development.

With a growing international market for seaweed snacks and the ambition to develop local supply chains, collaboration will play an important role in the next phase of the company.

“If we can combine good ingredients, strong partners and consumer friendly products, there is a lot of potential for seaweed snacks in Europe.”

Learn more about Snaqs through their website or reach out directly to Florus Zwartbol.