From greenqueen.com.hk
Dutch firm Vegan Visboer has expanded beyond animal-free offerings with a new blended salmon offering, combining the fish with mycoprotein and plants
Blended proteins are on an unstoppable streak, and the Netherlands is at the heart of the race.
Lidl, Aldi and Albert Heijn have all released private-label products blending meat with plants, and the latter has also brought out two hybrid milk SKUs.
Now, one Dutch start-up is taking the idea further with a first-of-its-kind product, extending the blended protein portfolio to seafood.
Based in Zwolle, Vegan Visboer (Vegan Fisherman) has unveiled a hybrid salmon fillet in collaboration with aquaculture company Tiptopp, which produces probiotics for feed and processes industry sidestreams.
Vegan Visboer tackles Norwegian salmon sidestreams
Vegan Visboer already sells a range of plant-based seafood products, including fish fillets, nuggets, burgers and shrimp croquettes. But its move into blended proteins marks a departure from what its brand name promises.
Its new innovation, manufactured at Kramer Fish in Urk, comprises 54% Norwegian salmon from sidestreams that “normally never reach consumers’ plates”.
The rest of the ingredients include textured mycoprotein, textured rice flour, potato starch, bamboo fibre, rapeseed oil, salt, and paprika extract.
“For many consumers, the step to go fully plant-based is still too big. Our Hybrid Salmon Fillet bridges that gap: the familiar taste of salmon, combined with the benefits of plant-based innovation,” the company said.
It suggested that the product was developed with the intention of reducing the business’s carbon footprint, although adding a seafood product to an entirely vegan range isn’t exactly best practice on the environmental front. Rather, the fillet – as is the case with other blended meats – will help lower the climate impact of the seafood industry.
Norwegian salmon is notorious for being overly dependent on global fish feed supplies – the sector’s feed footprint makes up 2.5% of global marine fisheries catch, and the forage fish targeted by the industry contain key micronutrients that are critical to healthy populations in West Africa, leading to experts accusing the sector of ‘food colonialism’.
Globally, too, farmed salmon consumes 44% of the world’s fish oil, despite only accounting for 4.5% of seafood production by the aquaculture industry.
To navigate this, Vegan Visboer works with Tiptopp to remove the salmon left over from filleting, and uses this residual flow to extract its ingredients and flavours. It then adds hypoallergenic rice grains to help bridge the gap between the fish and plant-based ingredients.
Are blended proteins the answer to alt-seafood’s problems?
Europeans are still reluctant to go fully plant-based. Less than one in five (18%) avoid animal products in their diet, and when asked what changes they’d like to make in their eating patterns, 12% wish to increase their intake of meat and dairy.
At the same time, two in five actively avoid processed foods, a category that includes plant-based seafood as well as processed conventional fish products. Plus, 51% of Europeans want to eat healthier, versus just 9% who want to prioritise sustainability.
“By combining the best of both worlds, we retain the authentic taste and nutritional value while still taking a step towards plant-based,” Vegan Visboer stated.
“The ‘convenience generation’ is the future: health, sustainability, and food safety are more important than ever before. This generation is growing up with plant-based alternatives and is very conscious about making informed choices,” it added.
The move is the latest marker of the embattled plant-based seafood industry. These products represent just 1% of both the vegan meat market and overall seafood sales. Over the last year, several alternative seafood startups have closed, including France’s Olala! and Dutch startups Upstream Foods and Vegan Finest Foods. In the US, celeb-favourite vegan sushi chain Planta filed for bankruptcy this summer and was recently acquired by a VC group for $7.8M.
And despite consumers viewing fish as a healthier, more sustainable alternative to other meats, plant-based versions can still be lacking in protein and omega-3s. Vegan Visboer’s blended salmon contains 14g of protein and 2.5g of fibre per 100g, and is rich in minerals like selenium, magnesium and potassium, and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
The firm plans to appeal to a broad target group, including flexitarians, eco-conscious consumers, and conventional fish lovers. It will debut the hybrid salmon fillet at Gastvrij Rotterdam and Anuga in Cologne, with a rollout set for January.
Consumers have already taken to blended meat, with omnivores and flexitarians finding some of these products better than their conventional counterparts – will seafood have the same effect?
https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/vegan-visboer-hybrid-salmon-fillet-blended-meat-fish-plant-based/
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