The jelly in your ice cream may have started as Philippine seaweed

The Philippines has launched its first seaweed bioreactor to produce healthier planting materials, helping farmers improve harvests as the industry grapples with disease and climate-related challenges.

Seaweed is one of the Philippines’ biggest agricultural exports, yet many Filipinos may not realize that they use products made from it almost every day.

Carrageenan, extracted from locally grown Kappaphycus and Eucheuma seaweeds, is widely used as a thickener and stabilizer in ice cream, yogurt, processed meat, toothpaste, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and even pet food.

The Philippines is also the world’s fourth-largest producer of carrageenan-bearing seaweeds, supplying raw materials to manufacturers worldwide while supporting thousands of coastal livelihoods.

Despite its economic importance, the industry has struggled for years with declining productivity due to poor-quality planting materials, recurring disease outbreaks, climate change, and limited access to healthy propagules.

To help address these problems, the Department of Agriculture has launched the country’s first seaweed bioreactor at the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources’ National Seaweed Technology Development Center in Sorsogon.

Unlike older laboratory methods that relied on improvised bottles and manual aeration, the automated system regulates light, nutrients, and temperature to produce healthier, disease-free seaweed propagules faster and throughout the year. The Department of Agriculture said the planting materials will be distributed for free to seaweed farmers nationwide, helping improve harvests while reducing losses caused by poor-quality or disease-prone seedlings.

However, BFAR’s own roadmap notes that better planting materials alone will not solve the industry’s long-standing challenges, as farmers continue to contend with disease, extreme weather, and other production constraints that affect yields.

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