Sachi Singh wants us all to eat more seaweed
Meet seaweed’s number one fan, Sachi Singh, also known as the founder of Rootless. With a decade of experience in international climate change solutions across non-profits, academia, and philanthropy, Singh is well aware of what we’re collectively up against. In seaweed, she found a rare bright spot: a timeless ingredient with transformative potential for health, climate, and local economies. After a year of experimenting with different recipes and forcing them on her friends and family, she started Rootless with the Daily Bite. She also has an excellent seaweed-infused cocktail recipe, which SHACK15 was lucky to learn about in our recent conversation with Singh.
SHACK15: Tell us about your background and what led to the idea behind Rootless?
Singh: I’ve spent the last decade of my professional life thinking, living, breathing international climate and oceans issues across think tanks, philanthropy and academia. Somewhere along the way, I stumbled upon seaweed; now, I’m convinced that it could be the future of food and farming! Seaweed is a rare bright spot: the most nutrient dense and diverse food on the planet that does not require land, freshwater or fertilizer to grow, and actively gives back to the oceans, atmosphere, and communities around it!
So in November 2020, I quit my job in climate philanthropy to get more people to eat and grow sustainable seaweed! After much tinkering in my kitchen (and force-feeding my friends and family), I landed on a recipe for our first product, the Daily Bite: a seaweed-based whole food supplement that is nourishing and delicious.
SHACK15: Why Seaweed?
Singh: My favorite question! Seaweed is a uniquely abundant food source that reduces the agricultural burden on land, only requires sunlight and ocean water to grow (i.e. no added fertilizer, pesticides, or even freshwater!), and actively regenerates the environment in which it’s grown. Studies have shown that seaweed deacidifies the ocean, leading to healthier shellfish with thicker shells. Scientists are also evaluating seaweed’s role in locking up atmospheric carbon and its potential to alleviate the impacts of climate change.
Seaweed also has crazy benefits for human health, backed by decades of scientific research as well as millennia of cultural tradition across the globe. Like land veggies, each seaweed species has a slightly different nutrition profile, but broadly contains high quality protein, dietary and prebiotic fiber, and a host of minerals, vitamins, and bioactives that have been shown to have antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidising properties. The TL;DR: seaweed is the single best thing you could be adding to your diet.
Unsurprisingly, communities that eat seaweed regularly have lower incidence of metabolic syndrome disease, and are living longer, healthier lives. Scientists are even validating seaweed’s role in fighting cancer.
And yet, despite all this (waves arms around), few of us are incorporating seaweed into our daily diet. That’s why we launched Rootless to the world.
SHACK15: What are your immediate plans for Rootless?
Singh: Since we launched in January 2022, we’ve sent tens of thousands of bites into the world. We’re focused on helping you understand how the Daily Bite can support your metabolism and thyroid health and give your gut some TLC, while filling nutritional gaps in your diet. What I find most energizing is the increasing number of messages we receive about how the bites are impacting your health. From improved digestion and thyroid health to increased energy levels — especially for women who are deficient in iron (there are MANY of us!) — it is thrilling to see what seaweed-powered clean nutrition can do for you.
For the rest of the year, we’re hyper focused on growth and getting as many people to try the Daily Bites as possible, while continuing to build a community of fronds who love their daily seaweed ritual (and a good pun). We recently launched Rootless Labs as a way to partner with our customers to co-create new products and flavors. We’re dropping our first Labs flavor in September…watch this space!
And, the Daily Bites are just the beginning! We are working on a range of nutrition and holistic health products to help people and their families tap into the transformative benefits of seaweed every day.
SHACK15: What was the feedback at SHACK15's recent event supporting Nordic inspired sustainable food systems?
Singh: The SHACK15 event was a fantastic opportunity for us to sample the bites and talk seaweed with a diverse, and mission-aligned audience. It was an honor to discuss seaweed’s place in the future of food alongside the inspirational Stuart Brioza, Tanya Holland, Brandon Jew and Lisa Curtis. Most notably, it was incredibly valuable to get real-time feedback to the product and brand. Feedback in everything in these early days.
On a personal note, I’m new to the world of food and entrepreneurship so I thoroughly enjoyed meeting other SHACK15 innovators, investors and founders. I hope this is the start of a wave of seaweed-related programming and meals and drinks we can work on together ☺
SHACK15: We have to ask, can you please share your seaweed-infused cocktail recipe?
Singh: Aha! My friend Ben made this banger for an all-seaweed dinner I hosted. It’s a spin on French 75: Seaweed gin (Gray Whale), kombu simple syrup, lime juice, saline solution, a few drops of toasted sesame oil, topped off with some sparkling wine. Nourishment for the body and soul?!