Sky-blue lattes. Spirulina smoothies. That’s the future the trade department is betting on. Two Whitehall sources confirm a fast-tracked fact-finding mission to Bangalore next month. The prize? A slice of India’s exploding ‘blue gold’ drinks market.
The stuff is spirulina, a cyanobacterium that turns water electric blue. India now produces 60% of the world’s supply. And a new wave of startups is canning it, blending it, branding it as a superfood. Sales have tripled in two years. One founder I spoke to calls it “the new kale.”
But this isn’t just about trendy cafes. The UK has a protein problem. We import 70% of our plant-based proteins. Climate change is hitting British harvests. So the Department for Business and Trade is quietly scoping partnerships. They want Indian tech to build UK algae farms. They want joint research on nutritional standards. They want a piece of the supply chain.
“It’s a classic UK play,” a senior lobbyist told me. “We can’t compete on scale. But we can offer regulatory expertise, branding, and a hungry market. India has the land and the sunshine. We have the supermarket shelf space.”
But it’s not all smooth blending. Spirulina has a taste problem. Earthy. Muddy. Some compare it to pond water. The Indian startups are fighting that with fruit infusions and carbonation. A UK trade delegate who tried a sample last month reported “surprisingly palatable.”
There’s also a politics factor. The Indian government is pushing ‘Make in India’ hard. Any UK partnership will need to look like a joint venture, not a takeover. That means technology transfer. It means Indian brands staying Indian. Whitehall is alive with memos on how to navigate this.
Then there’s the environment. Algae farming has a smaller footprint than soy or almond. It uses less water. It absorbs CO2. That’s a selling point for the UK’s green agenda. But critics warn against a monoculture boom. One environmental group has already flagged the risk of algal blooms if farms are poorly managed.
Still, the momentum is real. A Westminster source tells me the PM’s trade envoy for India is “personally invested.” Expect a joint communique by autumn. Expect announcements at next year’s Food and Drink Expo.
For now, the game is quiet. The lobby is buzzing. And somewhere in Whitehall, a civil servant is trying to draft a trade deal that tastes good.
