Speaker

About the speaker: 

Kate Sullivan is the founder of Uncracked, a San Francisco–based food tech company developing seaweed-based ingredients for clean-label food innovation. She studied Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics at the University of California, Berkeley, where she first explored the versatility of seaweed while developing alternative seafood products in the Alt Meat Lab. Although awarded a scholarship to pursue her Registered Dietitian certification, Kate chose to continue her seaweed research and launch Uncracked. With a background that spans food service, sales, marketing, quality assurance, and product development, she brings almost a decade of hands-on industry experience. Kate has spoken at Future Food Tech, the Fancy Food Show, and TechCrunch’s Female Founder Showcase.

Company info:

Uncracked is a food technology company developing clean-label, seaweed-based food products and ingredients. The company’s mission is to replace synthetic additives and optimize nutritional value with sustainable, functional solutions, derived from macroalgae.

Presentation:

This presentation will explore how seaweed’s natural functionality can be harnessed to develop clean-label, high-performance food ingredients. As the industry shifts away from synthetic additives, seaweed offers a sustainable alternative rich in functional polysaccharides like alginate and carrageenan—ideal for gelling, binding, and emulsifying. Highlighting companies like Uncracked, the talk will showcase how innovators are leveraging seaweed’s inherent properties to create ingredients and biomaterials that retain the integrity of the source, avoiding harsh extraction processes. These minimally processed solutions are addressing formulation challenges in both plant-based and conventional categories, enabling food manufacturers to meet consumer demand for sustainability and clean labels without compromising functionality. Attendees will gain insights into emerging market trends, new processing techniques, nutritional benefits, novel applications and seaweed’s growing role in the future of food.