VAXA: Cool tech, carbon-negative ingredients. No reformulation required.
In this episode, I sat down with Crystal Riedemann from VAXA, a biotech company producing microalgae in Iceland using geothermal energy and closed photobioreactors, to talk about what genuinely carbon-negative ingredient sourcing looks like in practice, and why it matters for FMCG right now.
Most sustainable ingredient swaps come with a catch. Reformulation costs, functional trade-offs, unmanageable price increases, or a supplier that can’t scale.
What if there wasn’t a catch?
What makes this different from every other sustainable ingredient pitch
VAXA grows two strains, Nannochloropsis (a pure omega-3 oil) and Spirulina, in a fully closed system on non-arable land in Iceland.
- No chemical contamination.
- No competing with food crops.
- No rotting biomass.
Their waste stream goes onto degraded Icelandic land, regenerating the soil. That carbon stock change is attributed to the ingredient, making it genuinely carbon negative, not just lower impact. And because it works as a drop-in solution, brands can hit carbon reduction targets without touching their formulation. Small amounts. Significant verified impact.
Why this is relevant to your product pipeline
- Omega-3 oil for supplements and pet food, a cleaner, traceable alternative to fish oil with supply chain provenance you can verify.
- Spirulina with 90% active B12, nutritionally superior to conventional Spirulina, with bioavailable iron that matters for product claims in food and health.
- Food-grade blue pigment and algae-based ink, a packaging play for beauty and food brands carrying a sustainability lifecycle assessment burden.
- Supply-specific impact data, verified on-site via drone monitoring and soil sampling, not generic averages. Something your reporting team will actually want to see.
The bigger point
One thing Crystal said that stayed with me.
“Companies need to move beyond talking about regenerative solutions and actually commit to learning about all the options.”
That’s a challenge I’d extend to the sector broadly.
Traceability and supply chain resilience aren’t abstract goals. Solutions like VAXA exist now. They’re scalable. The question is whether procurement and NPD teams are willing to engage before the regulatory pressure makes it unavoidable.
I’ve been working with companies on exactly this kind of supplier identification and integration challenge for years. VAXA is one of several conversations I’m having with ingredient and material innovators that are ready to work with serious buyers.