Business Spotlight: Câr-y-Môr

Câr-y-Môr is Wales’s first community-owned regenerative seaweed and shellfish farm, based in the heart of St Davids. As a Community Benefit Society, their mission is rooted in restoring the health of the ocean while creating meaningful opportunities for the local community. 

In 2023, Câr-y-Môr joined the GlobalWelsh for Business Membership Programme to grow their network, seek investment, and amplify the impact of their work. We spoke with Katie Read, board member at Câr-y-Môr, to learn more about their journey so far and what’s next…

Can you tell us about Câr-y-Môr?

Câr-y-Môr is Wales’s first community-owned regenerative seaweed and shellfish farm, based in St. Davids. We sustainably harvest seaweed and shellfish, and work with local day-boat fishermen to buy their catch at fair prices, then supply them directly to consumers and restaurants. In addition, we produce a range of seaweed-based biostimulants designed to help farmers and growers naturally enhance crop yields, improve soil health, and boost resilience to environmental stress.

Our work is built around four main pillars. First, there’s the Sea, where we run regenerative seaweed and shellfish farms. Then there’s the Soil, where we transform harvested seaweed into bio-stimulants to support sustainable farming. The Table represents our food business. We work closely with local day-boat fishers and supply fresh seafood and shellfish to everything from Michelin-starred restaurants to everyday kitchens. We also sell seaweed products like chilli sauces and pestos through our Beach Food by Câr-y-Môr brand. And finally, the Community is at the heart of what we do; we run educational and outreach programmes to help people of all ages learn about the ocean, seaweed, and sustainable living.

What are the advantages and challenges of operating as a community-owned business?

One of our biggest strengths is being community-owned, meaning the money stays in the local area, supporting jobs, skills, and infrastructure. But that model also presents challenges. However, as a Community Benefit Society, raising large-scale investment can be tricky, even though the government says it wants to double the number of community-owned businesses in the next decade.

To help with this, we're working with the government and other bodies to demonstrate that while the model is powerful, we also need better access to larger investors. Wales has huge potential (50% of its marine space is suitable for seaweed farming), so we’re eager to build the infrastructure to unlock that.

You’ve been a regular at our  Connect to London events. How have you found these experiences?

Fantastic! The team spends most of the time rooted in the community in St Davids, but events like Connect to London give us the chance to reach people who may have strong connections to Wales, even if they’re based elsewhere. Pitching at the event introduced us to professionals in London, some working in sectors that align really well with what we’re doing, many of whom hadn’t yet heard the good news coming out of West Wales.

There’s often a lot of discouraging news about the climate, so to be able to share a positive, homegrown solution, one that’s both tangible and hopeful, really resonated. People were genuinely excited to hear that meaningful environmental innovation is happening right on their doorstep.

The events have opened doors for us. We have connected with potential investors and advisors, many of whom offered valuable guidance or introductions, even if they weren’t in a position to invest directly. One particularly exciting outcome is that following the most recent event, we’ve been invited to host a stand at the London Welsh rugby match next season, which is a brilliant platform for us to engage with a wider audience.

You’ve mentioned previously that you want to grow your membership base. How’s that going?

We now have over six hundred members! Anyone can join for as little as one pound, and we ask our members to help us spread the word. With media like David Attenborough’s recent ‘Oceans’ documentary, there’s growing awareness of how powerful the ocean is in regenerating itself - and that is literally at the heart and soul of what we do. So, we're just trying to make even more noise and pull up our membership numbers for anyone who wants to get stuck in and spread the word about the power of regenerative sea farming.

 We’ve also been engaging thousands of schoolchildren through educational workshops and are running our own summer holiday club this year, partly funded by a National Lottery grant.

There are a few great ways to get involved with Câr-y-Môr. You can become a member for as little as £1, which is a simple but meaningful way to support what we’re doing. You can also buy our seafood or garden bio-stimulants, which directly supports our work. Following and sharing our story on social media really helps us reach more people, and we’ve also got some exciting crowdfunding efforts coming up, so there’ll be more opportunities to get involved soon.

How has being part of the GlobalWelsh network influenced your business journey?

We’re just scratching the surface of what GlobalWelsh can offer, but so far it’s been great. The monthly Cwtch sessions are really valuable, with guest speakers and opportunities to meet other members, many of whom share our ambitions and our challenges. I remember a session that was especially helpful as it gave us new ways to think about telling our story!

Through GlobalWelsh, we also connected with a green infrastructure investor. Although they aren’t ready to invest in us right now, we’re building a relationship, and that’s incredibly promising. Targeted introductions, especially in areas like farming, renewable energy, and regenerative business models, really help take things further.

What’s next for Câr-y-Môr? Are there any exciting developments people should look out for?

Definitely, we’re opening our processing centre, Sied-y-Môr, later this year. It’s been funded in part by a UK Government DERA grant, and will house our shellfish and seaweed processing operations, new offices, a retail space, and an education hub for the team who've been working out of a farmhouse for the last six years.

That will let us scale up, especially on the shellfish side to start with. We’re also beginning community consultations around expanding our offshore sea farm capacity.

Câr-y-Môr is more than a business; we’re a living, growing community movement. Whether you join as a member, buy a seafood platter, or try our biostimulant, you’re investing in real, tangible climate action and community regeneration. Everything we raise goes back into building this future - from job creation to education, from restoring marine habitats to strengthening our local economy. We’re proud of what we’ve built so far, and we’re excited about what’s next.

CONNECT WITH CÂR-Y-MÔR VIA GLOBALWELSH CONNECT >>