Research-driven product development
This article was featured in Eurofish Magazine 1 2025.
The uses of algae are becoming ever more varied. Already the base of products for food, feed, fuel, and fertiliser, algae are also used by the food ingredients industry, as well as cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and nutraceutical companies.
New uses for algae are constantly being invented as innovators and entrepreneurs seek to exploit the benefits of algae. And there are several benefits both for consumers and the environment. Algae are rich in amino acids and contain other beneficial compounds including antioxidants which protect cells from oxidative stress and support cardiovascular function. They are a source of omega-3 fatty acids which are associated with enhanced cardiovascular health and reduced risk of cardiac disorders. Moreover, algae fix carbon dioxide, nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, and produce oxygen, characteristics that contribute to mitigating water pollution and ocean acidification and reducing coastal eutrophication. They contribute to coastal ecosystem regeneration thanks to their ability to dissipate wave action and thereby prevent coastal erosion. In addition, algae are deployed to produce biofuels, as plant bio-stimulants, and play a role in bio-packaging.
Europe seeks to bolster its algae industry
Despite this range of uses, European production of algae is miniscule (less than 1% of the global total in 2022, according to the FAO), while countries in East Asia, led by China and Indonesia, produce 97%. The European Union introduced an algae initiative in 2022 to encourage the production of algae and boost consumption in the EU, goals which align with the EU’s bioeconomy strategy of strengthening food security and limiting (and adapting to) climate change. Some products for human consumption based on algae are found in EU markets. Macroalgae or seaweeds are used mainly for food or for ingredients used in food such as thickeners or preservatives, while microalgae are typically used in food supplements and nutraceuticals. Spirulina, a cyanobacteria, goes into food, food supplements, and nutraceuticals.
Interest in the health benefits of algae has spurred companies to innovate. In Spain, a newly founded company, Minimelis, adds algae to wine gums and markets them as vitamin wine gums. These are healthy because of the vitamins from the algae and because they are sugar free, says Jorge Nuñez, the founder and owner of the company. Mr Nuñez, a Spanish national, established the company in 2012 while working in Chile. In Santiago, where he was based together with his wife, he noted the absence of candy stores and decided to open the first one. However, he was keen that the store was stocked with healthful sweets low on calories and sugar and so started studying formulation and worked on developing his own brand. The candy stores were stocked with products imported from Spain and proved to be quite successful. By the time Mr Nuñez returned to Spain the candy store had expanded to 25 units across the country. Although the venture did well commercially, Mr Nuñez knew that ultimately the family would move back to Spain. We wanted our three daughters to be educated in Europe and our ties to relations and friends in Spain were a further reason, he explains. However, the Chilean experience fostered in Mr Nuñez a desire to continue as an entrepreneur in the healthy sweets business, although by training he is an architect who was originally sent to Santiago to put up a hospital.
A steep learning curve
Back in Spain Mr Nuñez studied the potential of vitamin wine gums and also explored building a brand for these products, activities that called for a lot of research. For the first few years, his company owned a laboratory where all the research and development was carried out, while the actual manufacturing of the products was outsourced. This worked for a while but ultimately called for too much coordination between his company, raw material suppliers, the manufacturer, and the client. Mr Nuñez decided instead to put up his own manufacturing facility, the construction of which started in 2022 and was completed in May 2024. The investment amounted to some EUR1.5m and in September the factory crossed a milestone when it manufactured one tonne of the vitamin wine gums in a single shift. Production is slower than with conventional wine gums because the temperature maintained during the process is lower, says Mr Nuñez. Working at the same temperature as ordinary wine gums would allow the company to produce three times as much in one work shift. However, the higher temperature would destroy all the vitamins and minerals with which the wine gums are enriched.
The covid-19 pandemic expanded sales of nutraceuticals and dietary supplements in 2020 as consumers sought protection from viral infections, but across the globe the market for these products has grown steadily over the last decade. While estimates vary, the market is expected to reach USD250bn by 2030 up from USD150bn in 2022 propelled by increasing demand for immune-boosting supplements following the pandemic. Several factors drive this growth including greater health awareness, ageing populations particularly in rich countries, a rise in lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, and obesity, as well as more research and development in the field of nutrition that has led to a greater variety of more specialised products targeting specific conditions; probiotics, for example, for gut health. Mr Nuñez hopes to benefit from these trends. Researchers at Minimelis are always on the lookout for new ingredients, healthful extracts from plants, for example, which can be added to the wine gums. Identifying a new component is only the first stage; thereafter the researchers must find out how it can be safely added to the wine gums without losing any of its health benefits in the process. In general, the company tries to use only natural ingredients in its products, but this is not always possible for technical or economic reasons. However, omega-3 fatty acids derived from algae, and pigments from spirulina are among the natural ingredients that are included in some varieties. Including vitamins, minerals, and botanical extracts in the wine gums has an immediate and dramatic effect on their price. Sugar-free wine gums are already more expensive than conventional wine gums, but with these other ingredients the price difference is roughly 1,000%, says Mr Nuñez. Healthful ingredients have a lot of benefits, but they do come at a price.
Production was initially outsourced, but the coordination between company, raw material suppliers, the manufacturer, and the client became too complex, so Mr Nuñez decided Minimelis should have its own production facility.
Wine gums as dietary supplements, not sweets
But, he adds, a distinction needs to be made between the market for wine gums and that for dietary supplements. We cannot be on the candy market as our products are too expensive. Our job is to market our products as supplements, not wine gums. We sell them in this form because we think it is an easier and nicer way to take them. Among the Minimelis supplements is one that helps the person relax, while another offers high levels of protein. Yet another product is intended to boost the immune system. While plant- or algae-based ingredients are preferred, it is not always feasible to use them due to the risk that the active molecules are denatured in the manufacturing process. As dietary supplements, the wine gums are promoted in the market for nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics, and at fairs and events dedicated to this sector. Currently, the products are sold in Spain and Portugal, where the company has agreements with distributors in different areas in each country who are responsible placing the products in pharmacies and health stores. In addition, a small fraction of the production is sold online directly to retail customers in Spain. This maintains a link with the end consumer and generates some useful feedback about the product and could potentially be developed into a new sales channel if it proves popular. The company also plans to start selling in central European countries in 2025 and moving into the Nordic countries the following year. In terms of other sales points, supermarkets are the next target, Mr Nuñez says. In the US they are a common outlet for this kind of product, but this is not yet the case in Spain
or Portugal.
Greater vertical integration is desirable
In the future Mr Nuñez would like to make the company more vertically integrated, producing both the ingredients and the final product. This would call for a bigger laboratory and more staff to do the necessary research but would allow Minimelis to take on and develop all the projects that come its way. It would also make the company less reliant on ingredient suppliers and better able to ensure consistent quality and stable prices for its raw materials.
This would in turn benefit consumers who, Minimelis has already established, seem to prefer guzzling gummies to popping pills.
