Himanthalia elongata is mainly found in the north-east Atlantic. The three most important harvesting areas are located off the coast of Brittany (France), on the west coast of Ireland and in the Galician Atlantic region of Spain. This algae prefers to grow in clean, oxygen-rich tidal zones on rocks and is subject to seasonal growth cycles that are well suited to sustainable harvesting.

The algae are brown to olive green, can grow several metres long (up to 2 m) and grow in long, ribbon-like strands. They develop from a small disc-shaped thallus, from which two ribbon-shaped ‘fruit bodies’ emerge.

The algae are harvested in the wild, with divers or collectors cutting the strands by hand at low tide without damaging the basal growth centre. After harvesting, the algae are washed with fresh water, mechanically pre-cut and dried on racks at <42 °C for raw food quality.