27Bloomberg Businessweek / SEPTEMBER 2, 2019
THE ELEMENTS
The Salt King of
America
11
Na
Sodium
By Andrew Zaleski Ben Jacobsen wants people to think differently
about sodium chloridePhotographs by Shawn Records
B
en Jacobsen is standing over one of the rectangular
oyster pans that fill each day with about 8,000 gallons
of seawater from nearby Netarts Bay, a protected estu-
ary along Oregon’s northern coast. He thrusts an index finger
toward a tiny, translucent speck beneath the surface of the
brackish, near-gelatinous water. The speck joins another, then
another, until a dime-size cluster forms. As the crystal drifts
to the bottom of the pan, Jacobsen grins. “Beautiful,” he says.
The flakes are different from the salt you might sprinkle
on fries at a diner: larger, brighter, crunchier, and, if the dis-
cerning taste buds of North American chefs are to be believed,
more flavorful. Jacobsen Salt Co.’s “pure flake finishing salt”
has made him popular with Michelin-starred restaurants, taco
trucks, Williams-Sonoma stores, small grocers, and Antoni
Porowski ofQueer Eye. “The way it dissolves is different.
There’s this brininess as opposed to this mouth-deadening
salt flavor,” says Megan Sanchez, co-owner and chef atGüero, a restaurant in Portland, Ore., known for its tortas.
Jacobsen, who’s 43, and others who share his passion
have helped to change how Americans think about salt—
the marriage of sodium and chlorine, and sometimes potas-
sium and iodine. The global market for gourmet salt totaled
$1.1 billion in 2016; it’s expected to grow to $1.5 billion in
the next decade. Jacobsen’s roster so far includes his flake
salt, a coarse kosher salt for everyday cooking, and a line of
flavor-infused salts, such as an outré blend of smoked chili
peppers and San Pablo worms harvested from Mexico’s
Oaxaca Valley. He’s also created a line of salt-based season-
ings for meats and ramen. “Salt is one of those things, in the
U.S. at least, that has been pretty easily overlooked,” he says.
“So I think we’re fortunate to get some attention. But I also
think we make the best salt on the planet.”
Jacobsen found his calling after a detour through Silicon
Valley. He attended high school in Portland and got a degree◼ Sodium $110 / kg 5-pound bag of Jacobsen pure flake finishing salt