Seed to Surf: Mushroom celery root ingredients star in plant-based tinned fish products
25 Jun 2024 | Seed to Surf
Canadian firm Seed to Surf specializes in tinned alt-fish products and uses whole vegetables to imitate traditional seafood and recreate a “seafood experience.” We speak with co-founder Alex Bergquist, who explains how the company came about and why they saw a gap in the market for plant-based seafood alternatives.
Welcome everyone, this is Liz Green from Food Ingredients First.
I'm here today with Alex Bergquist, who is the co-founder of Seed to Surf, a company specializing in tinned fish alternatives.
So Alex, welcome, thanks for joining us.
What can you tell us about how the company first came about and why you saw a gap in the market for plant-based tinned fish?
So it's funny, it's kind of the brainchild of, of COVID, and you're stuck in your house, and you're like, how should I pass the time?
And myself and my two co-founders, took this opportunity to think about, you know, you know, hey, we have this time, we're, we're excited about making changes.
We, we, we wanted to create something, and, and where should we start?
And, and we kind of narrowed it down.
And looking at different skill sets and passions, my co-founder, one of my co-founders is, very culinary.
My other co-founder is very passionate about biodiversity and the oceans, and I'm vegan.
I've been vegetarian for over 15 years and vegan for like over, almost 10.
So, all these different things coming together, and we said, hey, like, selfishly, what are we looking for here?
And we, we came to, the idea of, you know, plant-based, just really having a moment, we're passionate about it.
We also see a lot of opportunity in the market.
And then narrowing it down even more, to plant-based seafood and said, hey, the market share is quite small, in terms of the plant-based offerings, for seafood alternatives, where, where, where's the opportunity here?
And kind of based off of that, thought about leaning into a different kind of avenue, than some of the plant-based alternatives or like the meat alternatives are currently, Are currently on, and that's kind of celebrating, you know, vegetables and Whole Foods rather than trying to mimic, the product, to a T, taking that avenue and saying, hey, how can we celebrate vegetables and Whole Foods and, create nice options or alternatives for people that enjoy seafood but are looking to, kind of venture elsewhere.
Mhm, mhm.
OK, interesting.
So what ingredients are you, are you using then to replicate the taste and texture of traditional fish and seafood?
Yeah, so, it's, kind of a pride, point of pride.
We, we have a super short ingredient list, 5 ingredients in each of our two products.
So we have 2 products, on the market right now.
We have a celery root smoked whitefish.
So, it's celery root, we smoke it, we preserve it with kombu kelp, sea salt, and we tin it, and, you know, worked with an amazing food, science team, to, profile the, similar experience to a smoked fish.
So it's It's just celery root.
It's kind of the main star of that product, and then we have an enoki mushroom snow crab, so we take ennoschi mushrooms.
Similar story, kombu, kelp, sea salt, and natural flavors that we've developed in-house, and that is supposed to remind you of snow crab.
And so we're not, you know, we lead with the vegetable.
We're not trying to be something we're not, but we're saying, hey, it's an alternative, but look at how short our ingredient list is.
We're not trying to mimic or create that original product.
We're saying there's something.
Else that exists, in its current state, let's use that and remind our, you know, our users of, of what you could create, without having to, use seafood as the main ingredient.
Mhm, mhm.
That's quite interesting.
So were you always kind of set on the enoki mushroom and the celery root as like the starring ingredients, or was it a bit of a trial and error situation?
Or did you always know that those were those two ingredients that you wanted to kind of lead with?
Yeah, I know, we, we, I remember trialing some different products too.
Again, always leading with, you know, vegetables.
I think at one point we had, tried a Japanese sweet potato as a yam, and I think it was really good, but it just tasted like a really good potato.
So we were, really leaning to, you know, The, the synergies between the vegetables and the, the seafood, it was trying to mimic, and we found that, you know, landed on the final two.
The mushrooms, really replicating or reminding the, the customer of, of, the snow crab or the celery root, which reminds everybody, very much of, of a smoked fish.
Mhm, mhm, fantastic.
OK, so you've just entered into the national grocer category in North America.
What has the response been or what do you expect the response to be with these two leading products?
Yeah, you know, we're super excited.
I think, we're Canadian-based and we, we launched into the market, at the beginning of last year, and initially thought, hey, you know, we're a small Canadian company.
Let's just play in, play in Canada and we'll see what we can do and really quickly learned that the, the appetite for our product, no pun intended, was actually in, in the US, started to, get into Small bodegas through an online wholesale partner that was able to connect small businesses from around the world with those retailers and the majority of our interest from retailers to customers was in the US.
So, we kind of kind of felt pretty good about, you know, focusing our energy from, you know, small businesses in Canada to, that opportunity in the States, at least to start knowing that that's where our audience was and that's where the potential was.
So, as we launch into , a national grocer with the primary focus in the US, we feel pretty good, because I think we, we saw that our, our interest, and our customer base was primarily based in the US.
Those customers that are shopping, you know, a higher, you know, want higher quality, that want unprocessed and refined foods, we're better placed than to, to, be on the shelves at Whole Foods.
So, we're, we're really looking forward to seeing how the customers react, but we're feeling pretty good.
Good, nice.
So you have your two flagship products.
What is next for the company?
Are there any kind of areas of fish and seafood that you want to sort of delve into next?
What's the, what's the plans?
Yeah, I know, we're super excited, and I think, like, we really like, like, it was a little bit of, you know, looking at the market and seeing where the gaps was, but also kind of reading our crystal ball and, and seeing at the time, you know, a few years ago when we started developing this, we knew tinned Fish was, was on the rise, but we didn't know it was gonna have such a moment.
It's really having a moment right now, and, and it's form.
So we're really, we're really lucky to be that complimentary, offering to that tinned fish movement for anybody that's vegetarian or vegan.
You know, that being said, it's a higher price point, we haven't seen super, super high velocities, in our products because it's more special, it's specialty, more special events, focused.
So we're, we're looking to, venture into different products that still stay true to our roots.
And use whole vegetables, to recreate that seafood experience, but might be more accessible.
And I think that we're looking to develop a line of plant-based, soups.
So, we've got our first prototypes right now.
I'm actually looking at them.
We need to taste them.
They arrived earlier this week, and we're really excited about where that can go again, again.
Leaving with the vegetable, unprocessed, unrefined, if you turn over the ingredient list, you would recognize everything on there, but they might remind you of a Tom Yum soup or a Green Goddess chowder.
Spoiler alert.
So, we're really looking forward to, seeing where that can take us and, and diversifying our offerings so that we can continue to reach a broader audience.
Mhm mhm.
I know that you've mentioned a few times about kind of leading with the vegetable, but where do you stand in terms of sustainability and, and, you know, kind of promoting sustainable seafood practices?
Obviously I know that your products are alternatives to seafood and fish, but is that important to you as a company as , like the whole sustainable sustainability issue?
Absolutely, I think, you know, I'd say personally, for all of those reasons from ethical to sustainable, it's the reason that I'm, I'm personally a vegan.
But most of my friends aren't, and most of the people I know aren't.
And I think what I've learned throughout my life, and especially in the last, few years running this company is people are aware of The, of issues and, and opportunities in the world in terms of sustainability, in terms of, ethical practices, but it doesn't work to shove it in their face.
And I've learned that from a personal, on a personal level and also, just through interacting with other companies and businesses, in my time with C to Surf.
So, we I, I wanna give, you know, the customer enough credit to say, hey, you know, this is a plant-based offering.
I'm already kind of aware of the issues that happen, in terms of sustainability and seafood practices, and I'm, I I'm happy that somebody's not making me feel bad about this choice, but wow, you know, look at this, you know, plant-based option, I'm gonna go here, or, hey, you know, I know that there's some ethical, you know, issues at play in terms of seafood and, and practices there.
I really appreciate this company isn't making me feel bad about indulging in seafood.
Food, but I'm really grateful that I had the opportunity to venture else.
So, of course, it's important to us.
Of course, sustainability is at our core, as is ethical practices, but we, we want to give the customer enough credit to know that they, they already know that, and say, hey, here's a really nice stepping stone to, introduce a little bit more of a variety and maybe less seafood or more vegetables into your diet.
And feel guilt-free and excited about it too.
Mhm, definitely.
Alright, lovely, thank you so much, Alex.
It's been great to talk to you, and I wish you all the best with your next steps and the two flagship products that you've got.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
