Oct 25 2019

Fitoplancton Marino: The Real Flavor of the Sea

Fitoplancton Marino is a company dedicated to satisfying the market need for marine plankton long before the concept of eating this natural product was catapulted onto the international culinary stage.

Spanish chef Ángel León may have made marine plankton famous at his three Michelin star Aponiente restaurant in El Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz, but the true pioneer of it in Spain is without a doubt Fitoplancton Marino, a company dedicated to satisfying the market need for marine plankton long before the concept of eating this natural product was catapulted onto the international culinary stage. In fact, Fitoplancton Marino has been researching, developing and supplying microalgae-based products and functional ingredients since 2002.

Today, this company continues to supply sectors like aquaculture, aquariums, cosmetic and health items with this product, while continuing to expand its work in terms of nutrition and culinary applications for marine plankton in partnership with chefs like Ángel León—and a growing cadre of others all over Europe.

Both Fitoplancton Marino and Chef León are based in El Puerto de Santa María, and this is the first and only company authorized by the European health authorities to manufacture, sell and use marine microalgae (also called phytoplankton) for human consumption.

Beyond the company’s vast experience in this field is its commitment to exploring and developing the potential role of this product in nutrition, given that the microalgae cultivated by Fitoplancton Marino are rich in vitamins, antioxidants, omega 3 fatty acids, minerals and other functional ingredients.

And we should mention that it’s tasty—at least when Ángel León prepares it—and we have no doubt that these edible microalgae inventions are just the tip of this culinary iceberg.

In any case, here to share the story behind this fascinating company and its stellar product is its sales manager, Alberto Palomar.

Text: Adrienne Smith/@ICEX.