'Seaweed pasta' closes in on crowdfunding target

An organic seaweed that looks like pasta is close to meeting its crowdfunding goals on Australia's Pozible platform.

The product, Named I Sea Pasta, has attracted wide interest from health-conscious supermarket chains, and a Paleo Café already features it on its menu.

Like tagliatelle in appearance, the seaweed was promoted through a crowdfunding campaign jumped from 20 to 60 per cent of its target this week.

I Sea Pasta needs $15,000 to launch its product before Thursday, 14 April.

"Because it doesn’t grow here we have to ship it, and crowdfunding a whole container makes it possible to keep the price down and make it widely available," the Adelaide entrepreneur behind the campaign, Sean Heylen, said.

The Amsterdam-based entrepreneur Willem Sodderland discovered the ‘himanthalia’ species when he mistook seaweed for green pasta in a salad, and the idea to use it as pasta was born.

A successful Dutch/German crowdfunding campaign enabled the first harvest in Ireland, and it's now on about 500 Dutch supermarket shelves. There has also been growth in Berlin, London and Copenhagen.

The ‘pasta’ is sustainably harvested in Ireland, one of six countries in which it grows. The species grows on rocks and is handpicked following a sustainable harvesting protocol. It is only rinsed and dried – no other processing takes place.

The seaweed looks like green tagliatelle and can be used in the same way. It is organic, gluten-free, low on carbs and calories, and rich in vitamins, minerals, omega3 and iodine.