Novel Vegan Seafood Development From Revo Foods Signals a Sea Change

Austria’s Revo Foods is bringing three new vegan products to market this week: Graved Salmon, Salmon Spread, and Tuna Spread. It says the Graved Salmon and Salmon Spread are new to the plant-based seafood category.

“With the release of these 3 unique products, we reached a new milestone in the dynamic market of plant-based seafood alternatives. Not only are we the first company in the world to release a plant-based alternative to graved salmon and salmon spread, but with our more than 2500 selling points all across Europe, we are having a real impact on sustainable seafood products,” Robin Simsa, CEO of Revo Foods, said in a statement.

Novel seafood tech

Revo, which recently secured a €2.2 million grant from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency, is using a novel “Fiber Dispension Technology” to develop individual fiber strands in the plant protein, which mirrors the bite and mouthfeel of conventional tuna. The company says this will be used to develop more realistic seafood alternatives in the future. 

The new products also tap into a high protein and high omega-3 fatty acid content from microalgae oils that deliver EPA and DHA fatty acids.

Revo is bringing its products to Austrian supermarkets with plans to expand quickly to locations throughout Germany, Denmark, and the UK.

The new products follow Revo’s initial Salmon launch last November, which saw the startup expand to 18 countries and more than 2,500 locations across Europe where the brand quickly established itself as a category leader.

Revo’s quick market penetration points to the category opportunity for the alt seafood sector. A recent consumer survey in the world’s leading seafood-consuming countries across Asia found consumers were more interested in alternatives to conventional seafood than ever. Much of the demand comes from an interest in avoiding heavy metals and microplastics common in both wild-caught and farmed fish.

Vegan seafood demand

Last week, U.S.-based vegan seafood brand Good Catch announced it was being acquired by Wicked Kitchen. Both companies were founded by chef brothers Chad and Derek Sarno. The move is expected to foster rapid growth for the seafood products that include tuna and crab cakes. Wicked Kitchen is sold in all Tesco stores in the U.K., and recently expanded its U.S. presence to Kroger and Sprouts stores, among others.

According to recent findings by the Good Food Institute APAC, alternative seafood companies doubled their funding raises to US$175 million last year over 2020 numbers.

“Consumers also want products that can match or exceed the nutritional value, freshness, and affordability of the conventional seafood they know and love,” Mirte Gosker, Acting Managing Director of GFI APAC, said in a statement.

“Satisfying these demands will require substantially more investment from public and private stakeholders into open-access research and development aimed at improving the quality and cost of plant-based and cultivated seafood products,” she added.