46. BC’s blue economy & seaweed cultivation with Bruce Wallinger - Food Sector Director & Board Member @ The Pacific Seaweed Industry Association

Bruce provides us with great insight into BC’s Blue Economy and the role that the emerging BC seaweed industry is playing by helping to solve some of the biggest challenges humanity is facing today; climate change, economic instability and food security.

Bruce and I touch on some exciting innovation currently underway in the seaweed and algae bioplastic space (a serious contender in the replacement of petroleum-based polymers in the future) and the impact that this will have on flexible plastic packaging and the CPG industry.

Seaweed is becoming an increasingly popular ingredient and is a fantastic dietary source of iodine, vitamin K, B, zinc and iron. With this taken into account, the potential to utilise seaweed as an ingredient in your food based products to create a unique flavour, point of differentiation, nutritional boost is definitely worth considering! 

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Bruce Wallinger serves as a food sector director and board member with the Pacific Seaweed Industry Association (PSIA). He is also a freelance business consultant working with natural and plant-based food entrepreneurs and companies. 

Prior to consultancy work, Bruce was the vice president at Orca Specialty Foods Limited, Canada’s leading value-added seafood processor. He also worked for Icicle Seafoods as a national sales & marketing manager for Canada.

Prior to working in the seafood industry, Bruce worked directly and extensively with BC First Nations communities and tribal associations as an advisor assisting with environmental impact assessments, community-based planning, and funding. 

Bruce earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in geography at UBC with continuing education at BCIT and Sauder School of Business.

Web: https://seaweedindustry.ca/  

Email:  bruce.wallinger@seaweedindustry.ca 

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