Over 70% of the surface of the Earth is made up of oceans and seas, so, unsurprisingly, the number of companies and entrepreneurs that want to explore new business opportunities related to the sea is on the rise.

Galicia, the Spanish region with the longest coastline (1,498 km), is promoting a blue economy, which is focused on marine spaces as motors of innovation and growth for a more sustainable and fruitful development. Along these lines, the Galicia Government advocated for the optimum use of the European funds to foster competitiveness in coastal areas in order to become an international benchmark in the maritime and fisheries industries.

Since the economic use of the sea can go well beyond fishing, nautical leisure activities, and energy, an increasing number of companies have decided to innovate by selling bottled ocean water with multiple applications, from cooking to brewing beer or producing isotonic drinks.

Sea water for seasoning and drinking

One of the pioneering companies in using sea and ocean water in Galicia is Brétema, which, since 2014, is selling ocean water form the Costa da Morte, where the sea temperature is low and the “currents from the Central North Atlantic produce certain unique features”, according to the company.

Although most of the salted water is use as a condiment to enhance flavours in cuisine, Brétema also sells craft beer and artisanal gin with ocean water.

Other market niche for sea and ocean water is isotonic beverages. This is the case of ReFix, an “organic recovery” drink that was also born in Costa da Morte, whose water comes from the marine reserve Os Miñarzos, in Carnota. This product is sold throughout Spain, the United States, Portugal, and the United Kingdom with sustainability as its motto. According to its founder, Raúl Álvarez, the company, which participated in the BFFood accelerator, innovates from a sustainable development perspective, “taking care of the entire value chain, from the origin of the raw materials to the recycling process at the end of the lifetime of the product”.

From the area of Pontevedra, in Rías Baixas, Artio sells what they call “isotonic drinks and 100% organic sports nutrition”. Its creator, Antón Ruanova, says that their products are made of sea water for sportspeople with an “active and healthy life who are demanding organic food and beverages with no added sugar, artificial sweeteners, and preservatives”.

Also in the south of Galicia, there is Aguas de Rodas, a collaboration between the private sector and the University of Vigo, financed by the Xunta. This initiative is finalising the details to sell ocean water from the depths of the Atlantic islands. According to its director, Gerardo de la Huz, “due to the underwater orography, the currents, and the wind, there are certain times when the water from the deepest areas comes to the surface and arrives to the Galician estuaries. This water has a much higher amount of trace elements than the water at the surface”.

Public-private collaboration

Implementing innovative projects as the previous ones would not be possible without financial help or public-private collaboration. Therefore, the Galician Government is developing several entrepreneurship support programmes and aids for SMEs that seek to innovate and update their processes. 

The company Refix has benefited from different Igape (Galician Institute for Economic Development) programmes for entrepreneurial digitalisation. According to Raúl Álvarez, they have been key to expand their brand out of Galicia. The company is currently participating in the programme Galicia Exporta Digital to gear its internationalisation strategy in order to reach new markets.

Artio has also been supported by the Xunta with the initiatives Galicia Emprende Rural and Galicia Emprende, which, according to Ruanova, “were vital in the first steps of the company”.

Another success example of the partnership between the private sector and the Administration is Aguas de Rodas, which, apart form the financial support of the Regional Government, is collaborating with the University of Vigo and Anfaco–Cecopesca in the research projects involved in the implementation of the project. 

Innovation

Looking for different uses for sea water and developing new profitable products is part of the innovation process in which more and more companies in Galicia are getting involved. Thus, the Xunta supports the use of the Next Generation European Funds to promote innovative, digital, and sustainable initiatives.

The Regional Government is working along these lines with “the digital transformation of SMEs, the promotion of entrepreneurship, the search for new markets, and the financial support“ as goals, according to the director of the IGAPE, Fernando Guldrís.