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Please provide me with a competitive analysis of the top 3 sea vegetable producers in the United States.
As was correctly predicted, the US sea vegetable farming industry is not sufficiently developed to provide a typical competitive analysis as the profitability of the entire industry is still questionable. However, four seaweed farms were identified based on their popularity, ongoing research into the field, or as being owned by renown kelp biologists. These four companies are Monterey Bay Seaweeds, Thimble Island Ocean Farm, Seagreens Farm, and PharmerSea. Write-ups on the companies, as well as their C-Suite contact information can be found below. Considering the request's nature I based most of the information around the owners' characteristics to inform any interview.
monterey bay seaweeds
Run by Mike Graham, with wife Erica and son Josh.
Monterey Bay Seaweeds has been farming since 2012 and is based out of Moss Landing, California. The team was joined early on by Ross Clark, a leading advocate for climate action. The company if focused on aquaculture as food rather than an energy source. Mike is a professor and phycologist (seaweed biologist) while Erica is a chef. Together they make the perfect team to bring fresh, delicious seaweed to the table.
Thimble island ocean farm
Manager: Bren Smith
Phone: none available
email: bren@greenwave.org
address: Indian Pt Rd
Stony Creek, CT
Bren Smith, a veteran seaweed farmer of Connecticut and the founder of the nonprofit GreenWave, has made his 3D ocean farm design available for free. Using this system, farmers are able to grow 10 tons of seaweed and 150,000 shellfish per year on only one acre of ocean.
sea greens farm
General Manager: Todd Jagoutz
Phone: 207.632.0470
Board of directors: Mike Shim, Norman Villarina, Bren Smith
Beyond managing Sea Greens, Todd also owns his own polyculture 3D farm where he grows oysters and kelp. Todd came to kelp farming after 15+ years of corporate sales in pursuit of his passion for the ocean and environment.
pharmersea
Operators: Daniel and Antoinette Marquez.
Phone: 805.722.5627
Based in Goleta, CA. Daniel was a facilities specialist and brings this technical knowledge and a lifetime of experience to the field of aquaculture. The operators are available for speaking engagements, as well as consultation and systems development.
Conclusion
More contacts of interest could be GreenWave itself at team@greenwave.org. The organization helps seaweed farmers get up and running through providing open source information. Bren Smith, as the founder of GreenWave and a successful manager of his own 3D farm in Thimble Island makes him the best contact on this list. He is leading the emerging American seaweed farming industry, and his philanthropic bent also makes it likely that he would take an interview to promote seaweed farming.