May 31, 2024
Hello from Ketchikan, Alaska! We have some great updates to share with you this month, but, first, make sure you're signed up for our emails by clicking here!
GreenWave kelp processing workshop:
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As we get ready to set-up our own kelp processing facilities in Ketchikan, we've been doing as much work as we can learning from those who are already processing large quantities of kelp. In May, we were invited to attend a kelp processing workshop hosted by GreenWave in Kodiak, Alaska.
The kelp processing workshop brought together farmers, equipment manufacturers, processors, and industry leaders under one roof. Most of the workshop was spent on collaboration, problem solving, and getting our hands dirty processing kelp.
Presenters covered a wide range of topics including pre-processing handling, quality control, processing best practices, current challenges, and more, providing a lot of great knowledge to the participants.
We are grateful to not only have been invited to this selective event, but also to have had a chance to spend quality time with other Alaskans in beautiful Kodiak!
We look forward to applying some of the best learnings from this processing workshop to our own processing facilities!
Farm Visits:
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After the workshop ended we were invited to tour a local kelp farm in Kodiak. We got a chance to get out on the water, ask a ton of questions, pull buoys and ropes, inspect growth, and learn from some experienced kelp farmers!
Thank you to Lexa Meyer and Alf Pryor for giving us a tour of your farm! Lexa and Alf have been growing kelp for several seasons now and focus on sugar, ribbon, bull, and dragon kelp. We wish them the best for their harvest this year!
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Looking ahead:
We expect our processing facility to be up and running by the end of 2024, with plenty of time to perfect our processes before we harvest our own kelp in early 2025. We look forward to not only processing our own kelp, but also to offering processing services to other kelp farmers in Alaska. More processing infrastructure has been sorely needed for several seasons now in Alaska, serving as a major barrier to market for many farmers.
Also... we're still looking for boat names... so send us an email with your ideas to info@pacifickelp.co!
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Best,
Pacific Kelp Co. Team
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