Ten questions to ask a seaweed supplier

The ten questions

• Which species is it, exactly? A genus is not enough: Ulva ohnoi and Ascophyllum nodosum are different products.
• Is it cultivated or collected? And if it is collected, where and under what authorisation.
• Can you name the production site? A supplier who produces can give you coordinates.
• What does a batch mean to you? A day, a week or a warehouse are very different answers.
• What documentation travels with each shipment, and do I need an account to get it?
• What is the minimum order, and what is the lead time from harvest?
• What happens in a bad season? Everyone has one; what matters is what they do about the schedule.
• Which claims can you back with a published trial, and which are only marketing?
• Can I buy under my own brand, and on what terms?
• Who will answer me after the first order?

The uncomfortable ones, answered for ourselves

The marsh sets the pace. There are tide and weather days when nothing is harvested, and that conditions the schedule of a large shipment. We would rather move a date than promise a truck that would not leave.

And on evidence: Ascophyllum nodosum has decades of published trials behind it and Ulva arrives later. We have SEAWINES, 2021-2025, and we do not publish yield percentages we cannot support.

If a supplier answers all ten questions without hesitating, and one of the answers admits a limit, that is usually a good sign.

What to do with the answers

Ask for a sample with its batch analysis and have your technical team validate it. A conversation about specifications is worth more than any catalogue, and it takes less time than a first order that goes wrong.