Celebrating Sea Health Products' 5th Birthday and 50 Years of Golden Kelp
Jo Lane
Marine Biologist and Owner of Sea Health Products.
What an incredible and life changing experience it has been, taking over Sea Health Products, the humble Golden Kelp business that Betty Long started, some 50 years ago!
(See below short clip to see Jo Lane at Glasshouse Rocks, NSW, where it all began!)
Since taking over the Kelp collection permit, every month of the warmer seasons we have woken in the early hours, to hand harvest the freshly washed up Golden Kelp from the beaches of the South coast. We’ve designed a sustainable lifestyle around our duties of collection, the washing, drying sorting and refining and packaging the best Golden Kelp we can find.
The product has also developed sustainably through our considerate collaborations with local businesses such as Mr Bold Catering for our FURIKAKE Golden Kelp and The Australian Superfood Co. for our newest addition, Golden Kelp and (Finger) Lime.
Our packaging is now reusable cardboard or glass jars with bamboo lids and many of our Stockists allow refills in store. Our range has extended to bath soaks and cold pressed soaps, both locally made with organic ingredients. We proved our innovation through a thoughtful collaboration with Saarenin Organics, to produce a Nourishing and Antibacterial hand cream, during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Good for you, good for the planet.
With little time to spare we have still been a part of many community events such as regularly attending the Lions local Tourism Markets, Moruya Markets (Tuesdays from 3pm) and the Bermagui Growers Markets (Thursdays from 2:30pm, seasonally.)
In addition to these regular markets we have dedicated time towards innovating new products with the assistance of an awarded FIAL (Food Innovation Australia Limited) grant, in collaboration with the CSIRO (The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation). We have tremendous gratitude towards local councils, Bega Valley and Eurobodalla, the Australian Federal Government and UTS (University of Technology Sydney) for supporting small business and our efforts for a sustainable future.
Along the way, we have had the opportunity to meet some incredible inspiring people such as Damon Gameau (2040) and Professor Charles Yarish of the University of Connecticut who is the leading expert on marine macro algae, coastal management and commercial uses for seaweed for food, cosmetics and biofuels.
Many of these opportunities came about with the Yulgilbar Churchill Fellowship, which we took us on a 3 month tour of Kelp farms, scientific research and research organisations around the world. From Asian to Europe and to Canada and the United Sates of America, we were blown away by what we learnt about the ancient and world wide love for seaweed growth and consuming.
Read Jo lane’s full report here: The Yulgilbar Foundation Churchill Fellowship Report.
With so many projects developing, we’d like to take you with us on this exciting journey to sustainability.