The Cornish Seaweed Company Organic Dulse Flakes

A jewel-purple sea vegetable, hand-harvested from the rocks of the Cornish coast — sweet, smoky, salty, and known to those who know it as "the bacon of the sea."

A 40g pouch of organic dulse seaweed flakes, made by The Cornish Seaweed Company in Cornwall. Co-founded in 2012 by Tim van Berkel and Caro Warwick-Evans, who started by free-diving for seaweed off the Lizard Peninsula and ended up building Britain's first commercial seaweed harvesting business. Soil Association certified organic — one of the very few organic seaweed operations in the world.

The dulse (Palmaria palmata) is hand-cut at low tide from the rocky Atlantic shoreline. Sustainability is built into the harvest — only the upper portion of each frond is taken, leaving the holdfast in place to regrow. The seaweed is then air-dried at low temperature in Cornwall, which preserves the colour, the nutrients and the natural umami. No salt added; the salinity is the sea's own.

Vibrant purple. Light, papery, easy to crumble between fingers. The flavour is the surprise — sweet-savoury, lightly smoky, with a quiet kick of umami that carries notes of bacon and toast. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall once described dulse as "the most delicious wild food on the planet." That's not unreasonable.

For sprinkling onto fried eggs, scrambled eggs, or omelettes as they cook. Stirring into curries, stews, soups and pasta sauces in the last minute. Tossing through potato salads, grain bowls or roasted vegetables. Adding to soda bread or scones for a savoury twist. A heaped teaspoon transforms a dish; a tablespoon dominates it.

Naturally high in protein (17g per 100g), fibre, iron, iodine, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin B12 — the latter unusual in a plant-based food and especially valuable for vegans.

Soil Association certified organic. Vegan. Gluten-free. Dairy-free. Plastic-free, fully compostable paper packaging.

Made of the Cornish coast.