Exploring markets: Nitesh Mall (left) and Andrew Vanezis


Kombu seaweed worth its salt By Jon Griffin


A fledgling West Midlands company has launched a new product to help reduce stroke attacks by encouraging consumers to swap salt…for seaweed. Walsall-based SALTernative.uk


has joined the battle to cut the costs to the nation of strokes and raised blood pressure with a new salt ‘substitute’ using Kombu seaweed imported from China. Long-standing friends Nitesh Mall


and Andrew Vanezis have joined forces to ship thousands of tins of Kombu seaweed a month from the Far East to the UK – and have already signed up 500 UK outlets. The enterprising duo – backed


by Coventry-based investor Daljit Birdi – now have their sights set on stocking the seaweed in


supermarkets to further boost sales to between 10,000 and 15,000 tins a month. They are being help to explore markets by the Enterprise Department at Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce. Nitesh, 27, from Sutton Coldfield,


said: “If everyone were to cut a gramme of salt out daily, it could save 6,000 lives a year in the UK. Kombu seaweed contains 92 per cent less sodium than table salt – there is a massive opportunity in commercialising the product for consumers. “Eliminating salt from Indian


cooking, for example, is very hard. But when we tested the seaweed it worked a treat. The thought of seaweed in food may not be appealing to everyone but we wanted to see if it would work in the mass market and so far we


have had a positive response.” The two friends opted for Kombu


seaweed – found in the seas off Taiwan – after flying out to China in May last year to sign an exclusive deal with one of the country’s biggest seaweed producers to ship the tins back to the new firm’s distribution centre in Preston. “We feel we are the only ones in


the UK market heavily pushing a seaweed-based product as a salt alternative. We are currently pushing up to a figure of 3,000 to 4,000 tins a month and we are looking to reach between 10,000 and 15,000 a month by March.” Nitesh and Andrew have also


agreed a corporate partnership deal with national charity Blood Pressure UK to help raise the profile of Kombu seaweed and publicise the new product.


“We are in discussions with other


retailers, including supermarkets, grocers and other chains, and from January we will be selling in health food stores,” added Nitesh. The tins retail at £3.99 for a 50


gramme supply. Daljit Birdi, the new firm’s


commercial director, has bolstered the seaweed initiative by ploughing investment into the business, while Nitesh and Andrew are aiming to broaden their horizons further with an export drive, with Europe, the US and Russia in their sights. But profitability is not the new


firm’s only goal. As Nitesh says: “One in four adults suffers from high blood pressure and salt is the biggest culprit. If we can create a business that helps the UK population and is a viable business that is a a win-win situation.”


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February 2017 CHAMBERLINK7


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