Konscious Foods launches first-ever vegan frozen raw seafood in Whole Foods

French chef, and the founder of Yves Pottervin’s latest venture is disrupting sector of plant-based seafood by offering frozen sushi.

The industry of plant-based seafood has seen huge increase in recent years since both consumers and grocers alike put more emphasis in purchasing products that are sustainable.

The Good Catch It was also the first seafood brand that was vegan to go on sale in 2021. It also had the addition of Long John Silver’s partnership to add to the mix. Then, in May Wah Vegetarian Market came out with items that are vegan, such as abalone, squid, and lobster that are made of isolated soy protein seaweed, as well as vegetarian flavors.

Konscious Foods, based in Vancouver and established in the year 2021. It has introduced its sushi line made of plants at Whole Foods, the company announced on Monday. Konscious’s line-up of frozen sushi made from plants includes poke bowls and nigiri. They are made from pure ingredients like the konjac plant and pea fiber, Jasberry rice, organic red quinoa, and organic vegetables and fruits.

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It was developed by the classically skilled French Chef Yves Potvin, the brand seeks to create “a good for you, good for the planet and most importantly, good tasting,” alternative to sushi, Potvin told Food Dive in an interview.

“It’s the first of its kind, full line of frozen sushi, nigiri and poke bowls,” said he stated, “what is also important to note is that it’s priced anything more than normal sushi. They cost exactly the same as conventional sushi.”

Konscious Foods sushiCourtesy of Konscious Foods

The popularity of plant-based seafood is on the rise.

The sector of plant-based seafood was worth $800 million in 2022 and is expected to expand by a compound annual rate of 5.5 percent from 2023 to 2032, as per Global Market Insights. In 2022, however, the majority of fisheries were considered “overfished or harvested at maximum capacity,” and “one-third of all fish stocks are being depleted faster than they can replenish,” according to the Good Food Institute.

With the debut of this line of products, Konscious Foods is entering a massive white space in the market, as per Maya Benami, PhD microbiologist and alternative protein consultant.

“Raw seafood replicated in the plant-based space is almost non existent except for a few companies,” she stated to Food Dive in an interview.

To allow these businesses to succeed they must be aware of their customer base as she stated, “I think in general the market for alternative proteins has not performed well in being able to communicate with the market they are targeting because are they really just for vegans? What are the reasons why consumers who consume seafood shifting to alternative protein? What’s the reason,” said Benami.

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Konscious Foods is looking to solve this common problem within the space of alternative protein, particularly in the niche market of plant-based seafood. “Taste is the number one thing for me,” Potvin said. Potvin.

An expertly-trained French chef with a classical French training, Potvin is very conscious of the presentation, quality and taste of the food he serves, Potvin shared with Food Dive.

“Since the beginning of this adventure. I’ve probably visited 400 sushi establishments and sampled a myriad number of different variations,” he added. “for us, it’s all about the texture” when it comes to replicating the taste of traditional sushi, added Potvin.

The process of launching an important health food chain of Whole Foods’s scale was no simple task. One of the most difficult aspects was establishing a partnership with retailers following the COVID-19 outbreak changed the method by which deals of this kind are conducted, according to Potvin.

“Because of COVID, most of the buyers don’t want to see you anymore, they just want to receive samples and make their own judgments,” Potvin said. Potvin, “Pre-COVID you were capable of arranging an appointment to make an appearance. This was a bit more difficult because there’s nothing better than establishing an alliance,” he said.