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University of New England receives an unusual donation — a seaweed snack business

Photo / Courtesy, University of New England SeaMade Bars, a kelp snack company, had been owned by Tara Treichel and Mark Dvorozniak, who donated the business as an educational tool.
By Alexis Wells

The University of New England says it has been gifted a small business that will provide students with real-world opportunities in nutrition, business, marketing and aquaculture.

SeaMade Bars, a Portland kelp snack company, had been owned by Tara Treichel and Mark Dvorozniak, who donated the business as an educational tool. This fall, UNE students went to work, using locally sourced ingredients to produce the cranberry-honey-kelp bars at the Biddeford campus.

The value of the business was not disclosed.

Treichel started producing SeaMade Bars and selling them in southern Maine in 2016. Later, Dvorozniak joined her to help grow the company. However, the limited availability of processed seaweed created challenges in meeting the wholesale demands. 

“Having this product get out into the world, out into the market, and to have seaweed made available to people in a grab-and-go, easy-to-eat kind of way is really exciting,” said Treichel. “Students, with all of their ideas and energy, can work on new nutritional aspects, flavor aspects, and maybe take it further than we were able to.”

Photo / Courtesy, University of New England
SeaMade Bars are made with fruits, nuts, grains and kelp harvested from the Gulf of Maine.

UNE students are already growing and harvesting kelp at the school's aquaculture research farm and they will harvest some of the honey from UNE’s two beehives to provide ingredients for the bars.

Those taking part in the UNE College of Business will help run the financial and marketing aspects of the business and nutrition and other health professions students will study the nutritional aspects of the product. 

“We are so thankful to Tara and Mark for donating SeaMade to UNE,” said Gwendolyn Mahon, UNE’s provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs. “This brand and product will provide unmatched opportunities for UNE students from various majors to gain firsthand experience in the many aspects of building and maintaining small businesses grounded in sustainability.” 

UNE is home to Maine's only medical and dental colleges, in addition to offering other health care degree programs. The university is currently relocating its College of Osteopathic Medicine from the UNE Biddeford campus to the one in Portland, where a health sciences center is being built.

More than 6,500 UNE students attend classes at the campuses in Biddeford, Portland and Tangier, Morocco, and online.

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