FAQs

Yes! All of our snacks are USDA certified organic, which means that we are also non-GMO.

Yes! We do not use animal products in any of our snacks. However, we do produce in a shared kitchen facility with other brands that use eggs, dairy, and meat products.

We use only gluten free ingredients in our snacks; however, we produce alongside other small food brands in a shared commercial kitchen and the kitchen is not certified gluten free. We do not recommend our snacks to people with severe gluten allergies at this time, but hope to have a dedicated gluten free production facility once we grow.

Our snacks contain soy (as an ingredient in tamari). We also make our snacks in a shared commercial kitchen facility with other small food brands that use milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, and wheat. While we do our best to prevent allergens from entering our food, people with food allergies should hold off on consuming our snacks (for now).

Our snacks are baked, never fried.

We use organic high oleic sunflower oil in our puffed seaweed chips. While traditional sunflower oil is high in linoleic oils and can be problematic when oxidized, our sunflower oil has a similar composition to olive oil (86% monounsaturated fat, 4% polyunsaturated fat, 10% saturated fat). The sunflower oil we use is expeller pressed (never chemically extracted) and is never heated in the process of making our chips.

A certified B Corp is a business that is committed to using their business as a source for good. They are held to the highest standards of social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability.⁠ Learn more here.

We currently sell online on our website, in Bay Area farmers’ markets, and all six of Erewhon Market's locations in the Los Angeles area. Additionally, you can find our snacks in the Bay Area stores Good Earth, Other Avenues, and Market Hall. Check out our website to learn more. If you have a favorite retail store where you'd like to see 12 Tides, please let us know by emailing hello@12tides.com!

Our seaweeds are certified organic through a rigorous testing process, which ensures that all growing and processing activities comply with organic standards.

We source our seaweeds from the clean waters of the Northern Atlantic, which results in high-quality, flavorful seaweed free of contaminants. For every harvest, our farmers test the seaweed for any contaminants to ensure their quality.

Seaweed is the umbrella term that refers to many different marine-based species of plants and algae while kelp is a type of seaweed. Kelp also tends to be large while seaweed ranges in size. 

Our friends at NOAA define aquaculture as “the breeding, raising, and harvesting of fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants. Basically, farming in water. U.S. aquaculture is an environmentally responsible source of food and commercial products that creates healthier habitats and is used to rebuild stocks of threatened or endangered species.”

A critical part of the ecosystem, kelp absorbs and stores a large amount of carbon - 20x as much as the rainforest - while also providing a number of ecosystem benefits and services such as supporting marine life, improving water quality, and fixing nutrient balances. Recently, the kelp forest across the Western part of the U.S. has declined 80% due to a purple urchin invasion. This is due to the food chain imbalances caused by human involvement as well as over polluting and overfishing. Evidently, the purple urchins population has boomed. They consume kelp at an unbelievable pace. Where there used to be a thriving kelp forest, purple urchins cover the area. Thus kelp restoration is key to restoring parts of our ecosystem. 

12 Tides supports kelp restoration through our partnership with SeaTrees, a non-profit that connects brands, people, social entrepreneurs, and scientists to raise awareness about ocean health and regenerative ecosystems. A portion of 12 Tides proceeds are given to SeaTrees and the funds directly support the kelp restoration project led by the Bay Foundation.

There are no commercial kelp farms in California due to regulatory reasons. Offshore infrastructure is challenging to get permitted and aquaculture is a “dirty” word in California. Hopefully this changes in the years to come!

1% for the Planet is a network of environmentally-conscious companies who commit to give 1% of their profits to environmental non-profits. Protecting our earth is a core value for us, so we have been a 1% for the Planet member since the very beginning.

Yes! The packaging for our Puffed Kelp Chips is ASTM Certified compostable in industrial facilities. It is not suitable for backyard composting at this time.

Unfortunately, if you do not have access to a compost facility, you will need to dispose of the packaging in the garbage. Throwing your compostable packaging in the recycling bin actually does more harm than good and will contaminate the recycling process. 

A circular economy means eliminating waste and reducing our consumption of resources through both reusing current resources and designing them for multiple use cycles at high quality. 12 Tides is currently in the process of developing a zero-waste packaging option for our customers. Stay tuned for updates!

So much of the world's plastic ends up in our oceans, so becoming 100% zero waste is a huge initiative for us. Currently, our snacks come in compostable packaging but we are constantly to brainstorming creative ways to get even better, throughout our entire supply chain. More to come!

We strongly encourage more people to get involved in ocean conservation in their local communities! You can also follow our friends at Sustainable Surf and SeaTrees to be notified of opportunities to get involved in their ocean conservation projects or to donate to these awesome causes!