Welcome aboard: Seaweed Food Solutions
2025-05-26
From left to right: Berend Tillema, Ivar de Bruin, Foppe Wiersma and Christa Hut, the team behind Seaweed Food Solutions.
Seaweed Food Solutions is a Dutch supplier of frozen fresh seaweed blends, specifically developed for diverse applications in the food industry. The team combines culinary, scientific and commercial expertise, with members such as Berend Tillema (Seaweed Scientist), Foppe Wiersma (Creative Chef), Ivar de Bruin (Chief Commercial Officer) and Christa Hut (Sales & Marketing). Since 2021, Seaweed Food Solutions operates as a joint venture with family-owned company Royal Smilde — a partnership rooted in a shared belief in seaweed as a sustainable, future-proof ingredient.
Can you tell us about Seaweed Food Solutions and how it started?
The mission of Seaweed Food Solutions is to make seaweed accessible and applicable to the entire food industry. We do this by providing GSFI certified fresh frozen seaweed blends that are easy to integrate into existing production processes. Our story started with a shared belief in the untapped potential of seaweed - not only as a sustainable ingredient, but also as one packed with flavour and nutritional benefits. With a strong foundation in culinary and scientific creativity, we combine our expertise to explore new, innovative food applications for seaweed.
What kind of products and services have you developed?
Through both our processing method and application expertise, we can add seaweed and enrich products in terms of taste and texture. Especially interesting is its application in products with a high CO2 footprint, such as meat, where we can reduce meat content without compromising quality. This results in hybrid meat products, combining animal protein with seaweed to offer a more sustainable alternative without sacrificing flavor or texture. We don’t see it as replacing meat, but as a complement that adds value. Our approach ensures that, for example, a meatball remains a meatball, with all the taste and experience intact, while benefiting from the sustainability of seaweed.
A selection of products co-developed with Seaweed Food Solutions.
What are the main challenges you face?
One of the main challenges is awareness. Many in the food industry still underestimate the versatility and benefits of seaweed. There is also a knowledge gap when it comes to working with seaweed - from processing methods to application development. We want to bridge this gap by showing that seaweed is not just a raw material, but a truly functional ingredient that helps improve and maintain quality, while simultaneously enabling the offering of a more sustainable product to your consumers.
What are you looking for in the North Sea Farmers network?
We're looking forward to joining a community that shares our passion for seaweed. We're looking to connect with like-minded partners - from growers and processors to innovators and storytellers - to accelerate the adoption of seaweed into mainstream food products. We also hope to contribute to shared knowledge, new collaborations and inspiring use cases.
Foppe Wiersma at the stage of North Sea Seaweed 24
What do you bring to the network?
We bring a unique combination of culinary creativity, scientific expertise and commercial experience. Berend Tillema, our seaweed scientist, ensures the quality, safety and evidence-based benefits of our products. Foppe Wiersma, our creative chef, translates the potential of seaweed into real, tasty applications. Christa Hut, our sales and communications specialist, bridges the gap between product development and market demand. Together with Ivar de Bruin, our Chief Commercial Officer and key link to our joint venture partner Royal Smilde, we offer practical solutions and in-depth knowledge to help others unlock the power of seaweed in food.
🌊 Want to meet more seaweed innovators like Seaweed Food Solutions?
Join us on 28 October 2025 aboard the iconic SS Rotterdam (The Netherlands) at North Sea Seaweed 2025, where pioneers from across the European seaweed value chain come together to share ideas, showcase solutions, and shape the future of seaweed in Europe. Whether you're in food, feed, farming, biomaterials, cosmetics research or retail—this is the place to connect, collaborate and get inspired.
