Interview: Algama plans to boost microalgae-based product range

Algama, the French firm that uses microalgae to make food and drinks, is expanding its product portfolio into new categories.

The company is adding to its Springwave drink, which is made from spirulina, and egg-free mayonnaise alternative, which is sold under The Good Spoon brand.

Speaking at the Food & Beverage Innovation Forum 2019 in China, Alvyn Severien, founder and CEO of Algama, said the firm is “developing a lot of exciting products” and detailed the challenges it has faced when manufacturing microalgae-based foods.

“We tried to decide what would be the most interesting product we could bring to the market as soon as possible but also how we could use the technology that we had already developed,” he said. “We saw that mayonnaise was an interesting market, a growing market, where there’s a not a lot of innovation.”

Speaking of the egg-free mayonnaise, he added: “You need to have something that will have a very nice mouthfeel and that was pretty difficult to obtain. Once we managed to do it, we also saw how we can develop many more products that would be similar.”

Algama believes the low environmental impact from microalgae production combined with its nutritional value will make the ingredient key for the global food supply chain in the future.

While the company is looking to benefit from the growth in vegan and flexitarian lifestyles, it is aiming to offer products that are suitable for a range of tastes.

“If you look at what we have on-shelf, we don’t say that it’s an algae mayo – that’s something that you can see if you really want to see it – because that’s not the main selling point,” Severien said. “We just wanted to have a very good plant-based mayo.”