Our founders met working at CSIRO, one of the world's largest mission-driven multidisciplinary science and research organisations.  As part of CSIRO’s culture of reinvestment in R&D, researchers Nathan, Linh and Adele joined an intrepid anthropological field expedition led by world renowned anthropologist Dr Mai Dang and her 2IC, Ann Nguyen.  

 

Their mission was to form a meaningful connection and study the historical cultural practices of the Toogee people of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to document their uses of seaweed in temperate Australia. 

 

After gaining the confidence of the Elders of the community, our team learned the exclusive ways of the Toogee people for harvesting and preserving the kelp for producing everyday items. 

 

Their published findings led to much acclaim and the raising of seed capital to fund the development of the Kelpics Research Institute.  Inspired by the generous spirit of the Toogee people, the Five pledged to use their newfound knowledge to advocate for a promising future for the local and indigenous population of Strahan.  

 

Today, we operate a thriving enterprise transforming locally sourced seaweed from the scenic waters off the Tasmanian coast and work with local communities to reduce our environmental footprint. Most importantly, we've kept our promise to grow the region with over 85% our staff calling Lake Macquarie home.