100% NATURAL SEA SALT - THE INSPIRATION

One thing that inspires us every day is the beautiful coast we live on, Opito Bay on the North-Eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand. Our beautiful bay looks out onto the stunning Mercury Island group (named after the planet) and various rocks and reefs in the far distance. It’s staggeringly beautiful and has amazingly pristine water. It’s a habitat full of marine life from shellfish and kelps through to large pelagic fish like marlin and swordfish.  It’s also one of the sunniest spots in NZ which really helps with our chosen method of making salt, evaporation using only the sun.

The remoteness, stark beauty, clean emerald green water and copious amounts of sunshine we get in this unique micro-climate are the key reasons we were drawn to make salt here.

SUSTAINABLE

We’re not eco-warriors but believe the less of a footprint we leave on the planet the better. So harvesting salt from sea water using the sun to evaporate it and packaging our lovely product in re-usable and recyclable packaging just seems to make sense. We have virtually nil carbon foot-print as just about everything we do is done by hand. A labour of love.

ARTISAN SALT-SEL MARIN

Our mission is to bring you an authentic taste of the Coromandel-using a salt making technique that’s thousands of years old. We aim to produce the best premium fine finishing salt that reflects our terroir. Small batches help us ensure you get quality natural sea salt every time. Each batch is subtly different as salt formation is influenced by heat. We get bigger crystals in the height of summer and slightly smaller ones in spring and autumn. It’s all part of a naturally produced product. 

Our salt is known across the world as a sel marin. We don’t artificially dry or use any anti-caking agents, flours, iodine or silica. It’s just pure natural sea salt!

QUALITY

Using some of the cleanest water in NZ certainly helps but that’s not the end of the story. One of the reasons our salt is unique is that we naturally evaporate sea water, which allows the wonderful trace minerals naturally present in the ocean to stay in the salt, adding to its briny flavour! Our salt is evaporated in purpose built solar tube houses which keep our salt beautifully pure and away from dust and other contaminants. We inspect our salt continuously through our process from harvest to packaging to make sure you’re getting a pure 100% genuine natural sea salt.

NATURAL MINERALITY: HOW TO STORE

Our sea salt is a true reflection of the beautiful and pure waters of Opito Bay. That means its unique flavour comes from the all the lovely natural trace elements and minerals present. And it’s this reason that the salt is slightly hygroscopic-which means it may absorb a little moisture over time. To keep our sea salt it in good condition, we recommend keeping it in a sealed container or salt pig/salt bowl. Visit our shop for our modern take on gorgeous salt storage bowls made by local artisan potters and sculptors especially for the Opito Bay Salt Co. Each one is unique 100%!