Ocean’s Halo came about when Robert Mock had an abrupt career shift, leaving his job selling financial derivatives. In a conversation with the other four founders of Ocean’s Halo, Mock recalls that they realised all their children loved eating seaweed sheets. To make the offering more attractive to American consumers, they decided to make seaweed into a chip – which was more akin to what Americans were used to consuming. Drawing on his finance background, Mock and the other founders have created a detailed business plan, and raised an initial investment amount of US$1.7m.
The company’s approach is concerned with environmental sustainability – producing seaweed is much more sustainable than producing vegetables traditionally used in a chip due to the lower cost of inputs required for growth. Additionally, seaweed farming requires no fresh water and no fertiliser, so are much less harmful to the environment. Seaweed is one of the world’s fastest growing crops, which means that it is a great product to grow for human consumption. Ocean’s Halo have also recently expanded their product line into seaweed broth, which is a healthy lower-cost version of bone broth. Using a superfood like seaweed means the broth is high in protein and vitamins – and is beneficial for vegetarians and vegans.
Ocean’s Halo is about to expand into New Zealand. Internationally, they are stocked in the US, Europe and Asia in Walmarts, Starbucks, Wholefood and more.
