Building the Support System Behind BC's Seaweed Innovation

Olivia Alexander: Hi everyone, and welcome to the Seafood Entry Point, a podcast dedicated to helping people discover opportunities in seafood. In each episode, we share practical insights, stories, and conversations with the people building and supporting Canada's seafood sector. Welcome back to our special Pacific Seaweed Summit series, recorded in Campbell River at this year's summit, hosted by North Island College, We Become First Nation. The Pacific Seaweed Industry Association and the Hilts Climate Action Team. In one of our previous episodes, Mark Smith from the Pacific Seaweed Industry Association shared this really broad vision for the future of BC's seaweed sector. We talked a lot about the need for processing infrastructure, collaboration, and building an ecosystem that supports entrepreneurs from the ocean all the way to the consumer. Today's conversation builds on that discussion by looking at how those ideas are actually being put into practice. So we're joined by Nasser Arda from North Island College's Center for Applied Research, Technology and Innovation, also known as Cardi, where he works directly with entrepreneurs to help turn innovative ideas into viable products and businesses. We discuss some of the challenges of developing seaweed based products, why understanding the science and economics is so important, and how applied research organizations like Cardi help. Bridge the gap between innovation and commercialization. So, together, these two conversations paint a picture of what's needed to grow a successful seaweed sector in British Columbia from a sector-wide leadership and infrastructure to the hands-on support that helps entrepreneurs bring new products to the market. So, check out the past conversation and let's jump into this conversation. So introduce yourself. Great. Yeah. My name is Nasser and I work at Center for Applied Research Technology and Innovation at NIC. And my job is to support people who are trying to build seaweed-based products. Very cool. What kind of entrepreneurs do you usually engage with? Are they the very early stage, midway through product development? All the way through. So we have very early. Entrepreneurs, as I mentioned, some of them are here. And we also have, as you will see tomorrow, there is a panel I'm moderating, and they're the three we actually had four. One of them unfortunately apologized today for some emergency. So some of them are in the earlier stage in the product development journey. Others are further ahead. So we work with all business. product we like to call them operators and product developers. So we work with all of them. So for example, there's one group, Nas Foods, if you know them in Tofino. So we work with them right now on extracting from brown seaweed so that it can be used for different product development. So that's a very well established company with customers and market and what have you as you know. And so we also try to help them. So after the extraction, we will be looking at helping them on the economics side of their facilities. So if they're gonna build any types of facilities for their extraction and processing, which you will hear some of the conversations tomorrow about the processing side. So they would need to understand the economics and how it may work. Tomorrow actually I have another workshop. I'm moderating in the evening, and in the workshop we're looking at what does a successful seaweed sector look like and how do we know? And so that's another area for product developers and businesses to really try to work around. So how do we attract investors, right? So for someone like Stevie at NAS Foods, if he wants to attract a million dollar investment, for example, for his facility and it can be used by smaller operators in the region, He needs to make a business case, and that's something we can help with as well. And so and then there are other, as I mentioned, entrepreneurs there are two of them here today. Again, one of them is really, really early stage, and so they're actually encountering challenges in terms of the economics. So they're trying to make economic sense of using seaweed as one of the input. in the material that they are building. So so that's the challenge from again a business economics perspective, because even the government would not be keen to provide a lot of support to the sector if we do not make the business case that there is the potential to make profit, but also create jobs. Yeah, it's very difficult that it ends up being left in the hands of the entrepreneurs to try and figure out what economic sense or financial viability the they're using seaweed in any capacity might be. So it's fantastic that Cardi and NIC is here to provide more support to them. ⁓ because it shouldn't be left to them as their sole responsibility. Exactly. Like it's an entire sector that needs and it's also seaweed is very expensive to invest in for a business. So there's a lot of infrastructure needed. That no one business can actually invest in and it's even if they had the financial resources from an operational perspective, it wouldn't work. So that's why the whole sector, in order for us to support the sector from an ecosystem support perspective, so another I would say the government needs to step in and create that enabling environment for seaweed developers or developers who want to use seaweed. as part of their input to be possible for them to make it work. That makes a lot of sense. So do you have any questions you want to jump in with? Yeah, if there's a ⁓ aspiring entrepreneur who wants to start a business with seaweed, how do they get involved with you? How do they seek NIC's help? Yeah. So at the core of our work actually is responding to clients' needs. And so for us clients would be someone who is trying to Even explore whether this is a sector I want to be involved in. I have a business idea I wanna explore. So they just need to reach out to us and that's what we do. That's part of our job. So we would walk through what their idea is, what the product that they want to build, and then you know what how much do they know, what are the connections they may have within the sector. So we just collect that kind of information. Actually, the wall you see here is part of what we are trying to expand so that we know who is who in the space and we don't have all the data. So as you know, it's an emerging sector. And so we want to build that database. So that's one side. The second part is we can actually connect them to resources they that we may not have ourselves. So it's good if you know individuals or if there are individuals out there that are interested in becoming entrepreneurs in that space to connect with us because again, we can either help them ourselves and we do have resources in which we can actually Help them in the early stage in their product development journey. There's also, as you know, in seaweed, there's a lot of science behind it. So you can't really decide to build a product made from seaweed without understanding the science, the chemistry and biology behind it. And we also have scientists who can help in this area. And we have a lab. I don't know if you have visited our lab. And so in our lab, for example, the alginate extraction work we're doing for NAS foods is being done in Audelaire. Yeah, and we actually just interviewed the students ⁓ in there. They're fantastic. And they described what Alginate is. And part of what we're doing with this podcast is creating a hub where people can come to find the resources that are dispersed across organizations. So we will definitely be putting direction to Carti's website there for anyone who's interested in engaging with NIC for business development or any of their projects. And I thought the value chain Poster that you have out there just commenting on that is fantastic from like an educational perspective, looking at the value chain of seaweed, but also for that data collection to figure out who is here. That's a fantastic idea. I love it. Yeah, and knowing the operators in each stage of the value chain. So they don't know. Like, for example, there are people or operators in the processing stage, they don't know each other. So there's a lot of fragmentation in the sector. And then there's also you know, across from one value chain stage to the other. They need to know each other because that's how we build value and that's how they can build their products by leveraging the existing resources. So for example, you would invest in processing seaweed if you know there are entrepreneurs under the value added stage that would be interested in using the output of processing as an input in their product, but also the value added product developers, they also need to understand the market and where the market is. And so that's why they need they need that connection with the ecosystem support, that those that are in the ecosystem. So right now this doesn't exist. It's much needed. That is definitely. ⁓ even in ⁓ projects I've done previously that are like this is development training, ⁓ bringing together a network of people that go, ⁓ okay, well, like you need help with this. I have this fish species and it's just so much connection, like having that network and ⁓ conversation between entrepreneurs who are just excited to do the work that they're doing. ⁓ like they build off each other as well. I was wondering ⁓ if someone aspiring entrepreneur comes to you. What kind of timeline is it from here I've got this idea to all right, now we have a product that we can now go into building that business plan. Yeah. It depends on the product. So some products would require more complex compliance with the regulatory system in BC, but also federally. So for example, if you're doing health products, it's so complicated, it takes a long time for a product developers to move from the concept to even the lab. And so in Seaweed, as you know, so there is the concept and then there is also pre lab, which is where you need to do the testing and then in the lab and then after the lab and in the market. So it's a long process. So for an aspiring entrepreneur, so they need to first, once they know what the product is, Sometimes we may actually suggest to them to even if it's health, maybe like we try to find ways to put it under the category of food because it's less complicated from a regulatory perspective than health. And again, we have a panelist tomorrow that will talk about this. She's gone through this herself. Yeah, so it will depend on the on the product. So sometimes it may take months and it may take actually more than a year to even get to the beginning of the product development line. All right. ⁓ what would you say are the biggest challenges that someone might face when they're trying to start a kelp business? In the early stage. Again, it depends. So if they're a scientist, so that, you know, they're overcoming one of the big challenges, which is the science. So they know the science. If they're not scientists, now they need the science support and that can be expensive. Right. So this is where NIC can cover part of that within our capacity. So that's one piece. The second piece is really sourcing. So once you figure out what the product is and understand the regulations and licenses and there's also the government licenses and there's also the social licenses. So again it depends what they want to do. Once they overcome these early stages and understanding what requires from them to start building the product. So then they will need to figure out where to source the seaweed from. And that's a big challenge in BC. Sourcing means you know finding the the the source, making sure that you're getting the source shipped in like certain conditions to your location, figuring out the pricing model. That's a very complicated because it's wet and dry. And if you get it wet, so how do you actually figure out the price? And then where do you dry the seaweed versus if you get it dried? So that's where the the whole issue of processing comes in. And then once you figure that sourcing out, which I I can tell you, the entrepreneurs I work with right now, they're stuck in that stage. But once you figure that out, so then there is again the science. So what do you need in terms of the the science? What kind of lab capacity you would need in order for you to get to the point beyond the lab testing. And then of course the market and it's it's a very complex process. But we don't wanna discourage people from exploring it. It's you have to have a lot of love for the ocean and seaweed in order for you to take that endeavor because it is really complicated. It is ⁓ it's very difficult ⁓ with the the number of challenges, but we are like we're enjoying flipping the script a little bit to say, well, challenge, there's opportunity there. ⁓ so that's where opportunity lives. And one last ⁓ quick question since we're talking about you have to really love seaweed or you love the ocean to get into it, what gets you most excited about seaweed? I actually didn't know much about seaweed before May twenty twenty five. So I joined the Cardi team in May twenty twenty five as the business development person. Innovation is the area where I worked in in post secondary institutions for the last decade. I have been in other universities where the ecosystem was being built to support transformation from an economics and business perspective. So this is where when I came to this space, that was where I was coming from, just like as an outsider who understands the business side, economics, development, product development. But then when I got involved in it, it's like it's crazy. It's fascinating. And what really excites me the most about it is the applications. I'm a product development guy. I'm a business economics guy. So I'm really excited about the product application of so many different extractions that we can work through in Seaweed, but again, it will require the government support or investors who would love it and say, like, hey, I'm gonna throw some money, go figure it out, and I don't care about the outcomes. I want to see you enjoy the journey. Fantastic. Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Seafood Entry Point. For more resources and episodes, visit our website and follow along as we continue exploring the people, businesses, and innovations driving the future of seafood. The Seafood Entry Point is brought to you by Vancouver Island University through the Sustainable Food Systems for Canada Network, also known as SF4C. This work contributes to a broader national network of universities that are working to strengthen Canada's agri-food sector through innovation, training, and collaboration. VIU acknowledges and thanks the Cisnaimic, Kwatson, Slamen, Sa'anaz Qualicum First Nation, whose traditional lands we teach, learn, research, live, and share knowledge.