“Plant-based seafood is the logical next step”: First European alternative fish company to start distribution next month

14 Jan 2020 --- Plant-based foods are trending as consumers opt for healthy and sustainable food choices. Novish, a member of Foodvalley, specializes in 100 percent plant-based fish substitutes. According to the company, natural aromas inspired by seaweed and algae offer a delicious flavor. Novish products are 100 percent vegan, soy-free and contain no artificial additives including flavor enhancers, colorings and preservatives. The company is set to begin distribution of its plant-based fish alternatives in Europe next month. The first fish-free Novish range of sticks, burgers and nuggets will be presented during the Horecava expo in Amsterdam, which is being held this week.

The founders of Novish Paul den Dulk, Katja Busser and Maiko van der Meer collectively have 75 years of experience in the international food industry.

Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst, van der Meer says plant-based seafood is the logical next step in view of bycatch, overfishing and other sustainability challenges associated with seafood. 

“Similar to meat analogs, the key challenge is to develop products which have the right taste and texture, and thus sufficient consumer appeal. We have launched the first series of products [vishnuggets, vishburgers and vishsticks] which have received excellent feedback at the Horecava,” he explains. “We will introduce other products like uncoated salmon burgers and tuna steaks which are more challenging but certainly very feasible.”

One of the founders of Novish: Maiko van der Meer The target consumer group is flexitarians, who worry about our planet and, therefore, want to cut back on their intake of animal proteins, notes van der Meer. “Other animal welfare issues seem less relevant for seafood, there are certainly concerns about the environment and health, which can be addressed through the availability of plant-based seafood,” he continues.  Obviously, both retailers and foodservice outlets are looking for alternative taste products to focus more on these consumers, he adds. 

Van der Meer expects the introduction of plant-based seafood will “move much faster than meat analogs since the consumer has been educated about sustainability and health issues.” Therefore, we expect that plant-based seafood can take a small part of the existing seafood market, he comments. 

The different variety of seafood species means there are many different tastes and textures to replicate. Van der Meer highlights that this makes plant-based seafood more complicated in developing, but also more interesting if the appropriate textures are developed. “Deep insight in different protein functionality and texturizing properties are required to solve these texture challenges,” he says. 

“For now, it seems that companies have not entered this space yet for several reasons including scale, technological challenges and so on. However, we believe that eventually more companies will start to target plant-based seafood,” van der Meer continues. 

“We focus on being an overall sustainable company which is continually striving to make the best choices in product, packaging and distribution. For example, we avoid the use of soy in all our products, we have made all products 100 percent vegan and we aim to use to most sustainable packaging options [recycled polyethylene terephthalate (RPET)],” he states.

Looking ahead, Novish has a significant pipeline of new innovations which it hopes to bring to market in the next few months, including plant-based shrimps and coquilles. “We will also branch out into vegan seafood toppings, salads and snacks,” adds van der Meer. 

By Elizabeth Green