The Scottish seashore is where Sozyë sources seaweed for its sauces
PHOTOGRAPHS: GUILD OF FINE FOOD (RICHARD FAULKS). WORDS: GUILD OF FINE FOOD (LYNDA SEARBY)
From beef to palm oil, much of the food we eat raises difficult ethical and environmental questions – but did you know that even includes soy sauce? According to Jacob Thundil, founder of London-based Sozyë, our appetite for the dark, umami-rich condiment is contributing to the world’s ever-worsening deforestation problem. “The soy sauce industry is heavily reliant on soya, and soybean farming is responsible for causing widespread deforestation and displacement of indigenous people around our planet,” says Jacob.
SCOTTISH MAGIC
Noya is Jacob’s answer to the ethical dilemma posed by conventional soy sauce. Instead of being brewed from soya, it gets its umami punch from seaweed. “We brew our sauces in the UK using certified organic Scottish seaweed,” says Jacob. “Our seaweed is harvested from the remote and pristine shores of Wick, in Caithness at the tip of the Scottish mainland. We make sure only the tops of the leaves are collected so they can regrow within a few weeks.”