Why Saltverk
A jar of Saltverk costs more than the salt next to it on the shelf. This page is what the difference is made of.
Two ingredients
Arctic seawater and geothermal heat. That is the whole recipe. The water comes from a remote fjord in the Westfjords of Iceland, far from industry and shipping lanes. The heat comes out of the ground at Reykjanes at 206°F and runs through pipes under our pans, slowly turning seawater into brine and brine into flakes. Nothing is added along the way and nothing is taken out.
We burn nothing
Making sea salt takes a great deal of energy. Roughly nine litres of water have to leave the pan for every litre that becomes salt, and almost every premium flake salt does that with natural gas. We do it with the earth. Our production runs on 100% geothermal energy, so the carbon footprint in making the salt is zero: no gas, no oil, no CO₂. As far as we know, we are the only artisanal salt in the world made this way.
Since 2024 the whole business, not just the saltworks, has been Climate Neutral Certified through the Change Climate Project. Ingredients, packaging, travel and shipping are measured every year, reduced against a plan, and what is left is compensated. It is a claim you can check, not a word on a label.
Lifted by hand
When the flakes form on the surface of the brine they are lifted out by hand, drained and dried, one pan at a time. No anti-caking agents, no iodine, no bleaching. Every batch is third-party tested for heavy metals, and our Flaky Sea Salt is Kosher certified. Pure flake salt keeps indefinitely, so a jar never goes off, it only runs out.
Why the flake matters
A pyramid flake dissolves faster than a fine grain. You taste it at once, and then it is gone, which means you use less salt for more flavor. Saltverk flakes are large, dry and crisp; press one between your fingers and it shatters. That is why chefs use them at the pass to finish a plate, and why they work just as well on a Tuesday egg.
A saltworks, revived
Salt was first made with geothermal heat at Reykjanes in the 1700s, when Iceland was part of the Danish kingdom and needed salt for its salt cod trade. The saltworks fell silent for two centuries. In 2011 we rebuilt it, designing and welding much of the equipment ourselves, and we have been making salt there every day since.
What cooks tell us
Our Flaky Sea Salt is rated 4.9 out of 5 from nearly 500 reviews on saltverk.com, and our salts carry more than 12,000 ratings on Amazon. Over the past year, more than one in three customers on saltverk.com came back for another order. Our salts are used by world-renowned chefs and Michelin-starred restaurants around the world, and it tends to stay once it arrives.
Nothing wasted
The mineral-rich brine left in the pans becomes the base for a skincare line. Salt that spills on the floor goes to the farmers next door for their sheep. The fresh water our filtration produces is reused in the facility. And our US shipments sail the most direct route, Iceland to Portland, Maine, because it is the lower-emission path even though it costs more.
What is in the price
- Seawater pumped, heated and evaporated with geothermal energy alone
- Flakes lifted, drained and dried by hand in small batches
- Shipped from the Westfjords of Iceland to your door
- A glass jar you keep and refill from our 6 oz pouch
A 90 g jar lasts most home cooks one to two months of finishing. Free US shipping on orders over $50.
Our promise
If a jar arrives damaged, or the salt is not what you hoped for, write to us at saltverk@saltverk.is and we will make it right.