Why are there so few plant-based seafood alternatives?

The meat alternative market has plenty of burgers, sausages, and steaks to meet the demands of an increasingly flexitarian marketplace. However, seafood alternatives have been scarce compared to the options available for beef, pork and chicken. Why is this the case? Well, seafood presents some unique experiential challenges, primarily with mouth feel and texture, that are part of what we associate with eating fish. In this podcast we look at these challenges, and the opportunities, that seafood alternative producers are confronting to create new and tasty fish alternatives.

Joining host Stefan Gates are a panel of global experts in the field, including Tom Johannsson, Co Founder & CEO, Hooked Seafood AB (Sweden), Jen Lamy, Sustainable Seafood Initiative Manager, The Good Food Institute (US) and Chris Kerr, Founding Partner, CIO, Unovis Partners; CIO New Crop Capital; Co-Founder, Gathered Foods (US). Join them to find out the scope of the challenges they are overcoming, and to find out how big the market could potentially be for fish and seafood alternatives, and the impact their success could have on the environment.

Tom is the Co-Founder & CEO of Hooked Seafood AB. He has an engineering background but with experience from The Boston Consulting Group and Procter & Gamble. With an increasing concern about the climate, food system and a desire to make a meaningful change he started Hooked Seafood with his Co-founders Emil and Peter in 2019. Hooked is now one of the most ambitious and promising startups to unlock the plant-based seafood market in Europe with a €500k seed round just closed to fund their launch in 2021.

Jen manages GFI’s cross-programmatic Sustainable Seafood Initiative to ensure that it proceeds strategically and with the input and involvement of key stakeholders. She works with members of GFI’s Science & Technology, Corporate Engagement, and Policy teams to accelerate the development and commercialisation of alternative seafood through foundational research, open-access resources, and strategic engagement with external partners. Jen holds a master’s in environmental management from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and a bachelor’s in economics and environmental studies from Wellesley College.

With almost thirty years of leadership experience with start-ups and venture capital investing, Chris Kerr has spent the last decade focused on impact investing in the plant-based foods sector. Chris is a co-founder of Gathered Foods and its Good Catch plant-based seafood brand and has worked with and helped launch many game changing companies in the plant-based sector, including Beyond Meat, Daiya, Alpha Foods, NUMU and many others.

He is the Chief Investment Officer for Unovis Partners, which is the asset manager for New Crop Capital, one of the world’s most active investors in the plant-based foods and cellular ag technology sectors.

Also, Chris is director of Trellis New Endeavors, Wicked Healthy, Pitcairn Financial Group, and Anark Corporation.