Seaweed has been used as an animal feed supplement and for soil improvement since ancient times. Farmers collected seaweed from the shore, gave it to the animals and put it on the soil as they experienced positive effects of the use. In Norway this was commonly known and used by farmers. However, there was no interest in the commercial utilization of seaweed in Norway until Mr. Haakon Torgersen became interested and started Algea Produkter AS in 1937.
From then on, the seaweed was cut by hand and dried on the rocks close to the harvesting area. Only milling took place in the factory where around 30 people were engaged in the production – around 600 tons during the last parts of 1937. The following year, the production was tripled and in 1939 it reached 6,000 tons.
The first part of 1940 was a difficult time for Algea. Many ideas for alternative products were tried, some good and some mediocre, and in 1941 a small production of alginate took place. As it was difficult to get sufficient supply of raw material for the alginate production, alternative types of seaweed were tested. They ended up with Carragenan as a suitable raw material and a method of production was developed with support from the Norwegian Technical University. Gelatan - as the alginate was named - was the main product besides seaweed meal throughout 1950, until Algea’s involvement in the production of seaweed extract in the beginning of 1960. During this period, the sales of seaweed meal increased and Algea established three more seaweed meal production units in the northern part of Norway.
The years between 1960 and 1970 were characterized by good and stable sales of seaweed meal mainly as raw material for the alginate industry in Norway and UK, and the sales of seaweed extract were growing, slowly but steadily. The harvesting technique was improved through construction of mechanical harvesting machines which secured a steady and year-round supply of raw seaweed. During those years, Algea saw the necessity for initiating research work in order to increase knowledge about the effect of seaweed extract. Before that, many trials and tests with seaweed meal for animal feed supplement were executed, but a down trend in the sales of seaweed meal, made it important to increase the knowledge of seaweed extract.
From 1980 to 1990, deeper knowledge was gained about the seaweed extract and development of new products as seaweed binders for fish, feed and also seaweed based skin-treatment cream for the cosmetic industry.
In 2000, Algea acquired the seaweed extract company, Maxicrop in UK, and moved the production to Algea’s seaweed extract factory in Kristiansund. At the same time Algea bought the Norwegian seaweed meal company, Fr�ytang. Through the acquisition of Maxicrop, Algea gained access to new markets for seaweed extract sales, and access also to Maxicrop’s research library which together with the work done by Algea, raised the knowledge and understanding of seaweed extract to a much higher level. As the seaweed meal production was rather unstable, the production was reduced to one seaweed meal factory in Br�nn�ysund.
Two years later - in 2002 - Algea’s owner, Norsk Hydros Agri Division, implemented a change in the strategy and Algea was sold to the Italian Valagro SpA, a leading company in the world of plant nutrition specialties and bio-stimulants. Valagro was already a long-term customer of the seaweed extract of Algea.
In 2005, Valagro acquired Nordtang, the only seaweed meal producer in the Arctic Circle. This ensured the supply of the finest quality seaweed meal based on Ascophyllum nodosum.
Since then the years have been characterized by restructuring and further development of Algea's products combined with new investments, in order to retain its lead as the number one worldwide supplier of seaweed meal and seaweed extract products. Through a close and fruitful cooperation between Algea and its Italian owner, Algea has managed to adjust to the different changes and challenges in the international seaweed market, and still after more than 70 years in the seaweed business continues to be the leading worldwide producer and supplier of seaweed based products.
