Harvesting seaweed has been practised along the Irish coast for generations. As the plant now forms the main raw ingredient in many food, cosmetics and medicinal products, the coastal-based vegetation has proven its versatility.

One Donegal company has also made a success from seaweed and now exports its plant-based products globally.

OGT (Oileann Glas Teoranta) is based in Kilcar, Co Donegal, and specialises in the manufacture of plant biostimulants and animal feed from seaweed.

There are numerous species of seaweed found on Irish shores, but one of the most common, which holds many unique properties, is Ascophyllum nodosum – “Asco” for short.

OGT started in 2004 by father-and-son locals Michael and Declan Gallagher and grew from strength to strength. The company initially specialised in producing foliar plant biostimulants for the amenity market using seaweed harvested from along the Donegal coastline.

Within a few years, it was exporting to the US. The company then moved into the agricultural crop market before developing an animal feed from the by-product of the extraction process.

In 2015, the company was bought by Spanish-based Tradecorp, but both Michael and Declan are still board members.

The factory is based in Kilcar, 20 minutes west of Killybegs and is run and managed by locals. Last week, I caught up with Irish sales manager Seamus Cunningham at their processing facility.

Harvesting

Seamus explained that 90% of the seaweed used in the plant comes from Donegal bays. The company has around 20 contracted harvesters or “cutters” who hand-cut the seaweed.

Cutters are independent contractors and most have part-time jobs such as farming. The seaweed is harvested using a knife and the cutters ensure to leave at least six inches of the plant remaining. The crop can be harvested again within three to five years.

Seamus explains how seaweed harvesting is entirely tidal-dependent. Cutters favour the spring tide, which is really low when out and really high when in. The spring tide lasts for seven days before the “neap” tide comes in for the next seven. The neap tide generally features less extreme tides from high to low.

Cutters are paid on a per tonne of fresh weight harvested basis and on an average day, a good cutter could harvest 2.5t of seaweed.

The seaweed is collected from the cutters and delivered to the factory fresh.

Extraction

Extraction takes place at the factory in Kilcar, the premise of which is leased from Údarás na Gaeltachta. The factory has the capacity to process 110t of seaweed per week but it is averaging between 70t and 90t at the minute.

There are numerous seaweed-based companies around the western seaboard, but OGT claims that the key difference with them is their low temperature extraction process. Mark Sweeney, Operations Manager explains that when the seaweed is delivered, stones, debris and non-target species of seaweed are first removed through the screening process.

The seaweed is triple-washed before being chopped into 10cm lengths. It is mixed with water and then shredded forming a paste. The paste is sent through a decanting machine where the solid and liquid fractions are separated.

The seaweed is grinded into a paste.

The solid fraction is dried and bagged as an animal feed additive, PhylFeed. The liquid is sent through an evaporator to bring the solution up to either 8% concentration and 15% concentration depending on the product.

The end product, Phylgreen, is either canned and sold directly to customers, or shipped to Tradecorp’s factory for further processing in Spain.

The entire process takes around 30 hours. Mark explains that 90t of seaweed would make around 40,000l of liquid product and 13t of feed.

Asco is abundant along western seashores. As it thrives in the tidal zone and spends half of its time in salt water and the other half in direct sunlight, the plant has developed a broad range of characteristics to help protect itself against extreme climatic conditions.

These properties make the seaweed rich in things such as polyphenols, mannitol, sugars, vitamins, antioxidants, pigments, macro and micronutrients alginates among others. When the liquid extract is applied on to a growing crop, it can act as a stress reliever particularly when the crop is under drought stress. Many growers also add it into the tank when applying a tank mix which may be particularly stressful to the growing plant.

Business stats

“America was always a big market for our amenity products, especially in the states which would be under stress for water,” explains Seamus. Initial growth in the US began in 2005 and, today, over 4,000 golf courses in the country are using Phylgreen.

OGT began to break into the agricultural market in 2010 when the use of biostimulants by potato and cereal farmers began to grow. As a results, exports to the EU and sales in Ireland increased substantially. Today, 85% of the product is exported. In the Republic of Ireland, the product is supplied through Precision Nutrition, while Holden Agri supplies Northern Ireland.

Seamus explains that the market for seaweed continues to grow. OGT has been growing by 15% year on year since its acquisition by Tradecorp. While the company aims to continue this growth, it is also striving to improve efficiencies in the processing plant.

Challenges

The company employs 28 full-time people. Running a business of this nature in west Donegal isn’t without its challenges. Broadband and phone coverage continue to be significant issues for the company. The company pays for internet speeds of up to 100Mbps but when I visited the office, it was achieving just 9Mbps. There were 10 people in the office using this internet connection at the time of my visit.

Mark also explains the challenges of logistics. The factory is located one and a half hours west of Letterkenny, making next-day delivery in Ireland a challenge. It also increases costs significantly when exporting.

“When we ship containers of product to the US or Asia, we go through Dublin Port. Twenty-five per cent of the transport costs come from getting it from the factory to Dublin Port,” Seamus explains.

Did you know?

The amount of bubbles on a strand of Asco equates to the age of that seaweed.