.jpg)
Plant-based seafood did not take off quite as explosively as the meat alternatives market initially. However, with innovation in alt-seafood accelerating, the category can draw valuable lessons from alt-meat's journey. The Plant Base explores.
While hyper-realistic plant-based alternatives to beef burgers or pork sausages have become
more achievable in recent years thanks to advancements in food technology, replicating seafood has proven far more challenging. The distinct flavours of fish and shellfish are difficult to mimic using plant-based ingredients, as are the diverse range of textures, from the delicate flakiness of cod to the soft tenderness of mussels.
But replicating the taste and texture is just one piece of the puzzle, as the plant-based
meat industry learned. While consumers expect these products to closely resemble their animal-based counterparts, expectations around clean labelling and ingredient quality have also risen.
With growing awareness of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), the alt-meat industry has faced
increasing scrutiny – some even suggest this could be a key factor behind slowing sales in
the meat-free category. Now, much like the alt-meat sector, plant-based seafood producers face pressure not only to replicate the sensory qualities of traditional seafood but to do so with a clean, minimal and natural ingredients list.
Back to nature
Theresa Wilms, technical sales manager and lead of the plant-based category team at GNT Group, noted: “Using ingredients that consumers know and trust can really help improve perceptions of healthiness and naturality”.
“We create [our] Exberry colours from non-GMO fruit, vegetables and plants. We use around 30 different raw materials to create our portfolio, and together they can deliver hundreds of shades from across the whole rainbow in almost any food and beverage application.”
As the plant-based seafood category expands, creating visually appealing products is key to standing out on-shelf and capturing consumer interest. In the meat alternatives category, Mintel research suggests consumers feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of options – one factor behind slowing sales. When numerous variants of the same meat alternative – a plant-based chicken fillet, for example – crowd the meat-free aisle, visual appeal becomes crucial in influencing purchasing decisions. While plant-based seafood innovation
has been slower, the category is expanding, with more varieties now emerging, from battered fish-style goujons to vegan shrimp alternatives.
Colour plays a crucial role in the visual appeal of plant-based seafood. As the industry moves away from artificial ingredients, natural colour solutions will be key in new product development.
“We’ve created highly realistic colour solutions for all sorts of plant-based seafood products, including caviar, tuna steaks and prawns,” said GNT’s Wilms. “Canned tuna is proving popular at the moment. With these products, it’s really important to achieve
the pinkish hue that consumers expect. There was a 2024 study that showed canned tuna substitutes that looked beige or yellowish were considered unappealing, as they didn’t have the appearance that shoppers were used to.”
Wilms told The Plant Base that plant-based colours rely on the natural pigments found in
fruit, vegetables and plants, therefore they have their own technical considerations in alt-seafood applications and beyond.
“For example, a plant-based salmon fillet might require a combination of orange and pink colours to achieve the target shade,” she explained. “If you’re using an orange concentrate made from carrots, the carotenoid pigments can shift from orange to yellow if there’s a lot of fat in the base product. For the pink, you could potentially use concentrates containing anthocyanin pigments, such as black carrot or radish.”
“The difficulty is that plant-based products usually have a pH level of around 5 to 7, and anthocyanin pigments start to shift blue at those levels. Beetroot concentrates can provide a
pH-independent source of pinks, but their betanin pigments are sensitive to heat, so formulation requires careful consideration.”
GNT’s products support clean label declarations, using ingredients like carrot and beetroot
concentrate. Its recently launched Exberry Shade Vivid Orange is particularly suited for clean label seafood alternatives, including salmon fillets, smoked salmon and prawns.
A sea change
Part of the challenge for alt-seafood producers is overcoming negative consumer perceptions. Like meat alternatives, alt-seafood has faced scrutiny over concerns about ultra-processed foods. However, the issue is more nuanced. A food’s healthiness depends on factors such as its nutritional profile and ingredient quality, rather than processing methods alone.
Rosie Bambaji, marketing lead for plant-based seafood brand Happiee, wants to challenge
misconceptions about these products. The brand has created a plain plant-based shrimp product, suitable for use in stir fries, curries and other dishes, in addition to breaded shrimp and calamari options, all available in UK retail.
“I think there’s an element of misunderstanding, where a consumer would look at these products and think they are unnatural, because they are replicating a shrimp,” she reflects. “The reality is, if you look at the ingredients, [our product] is a clean product. Its got a root vegetable base, water, natural flavouring, familiar ingredients… it’s just been put into a mold to make the shape of a shrimp, just like you’d need to mold a burger.”
While health may be a key factor for some consumers choosing to reduce or eliminate
traditional meat, Bambaji pointed out that this is not so much the case with alt-seafood. Instead, the emphasis tends to be on the environmental benefits. She highlighted that the industry has some way to go in educating consumers around the sustainability of choosing plant-based seafood over fish.
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, approximately one-third of the world’s fish stocks are currently overfished, impacting marine ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as food security. Bambaji noted that encouraging awareness of these issues will be crucial to driving growth in the alt-seafood sector. She also pointed out that a recent study, conducted by Portland State University in the US, found microplastics in 99% of fish and shellfish samples – a worrying statistic that underscores the growing health risks posed by global plastic pollution.
The alt-seafood category may also face challenges due to negative perceptions around taste and texture. However, Bambaji believes the industry can learn from the alt-meat pioneers, noting that sometimes people just “have to try it to believe it”.
“Once people try it, they’re often quite engaged, much like what the Beyond Burger achieved,” she commented. She added that during her time as a plant-based buyer for Sainsbury’s, only around 30% of the fixture was shopped by vegetarians and vegans, with a substantial 70% coming from flexitarians. While this group is essential for growth, she pointed out, they are harder to retain.
To retain these consumers, their needs around taste and texture must be met. Bambaji said that the industry has been held back in this regard, noting that it has “taken a while to get some good alternatives on the shelf”.
“I think the European market is well versed in soya protein and pea protein, which creates a really nice flaky texture – in terms of tuna, we’re seeing a lot of product innovation in the UK. But what they weren’t able to do with those kinds of alternatives was create that rubbery texture of shrimp, calamari and the kind of products Happiee does.”
Happiee began as a brand in Singapore, offering a broader range of products, including
meat alternatives, before launching in the UK in 2023. It was from this foundation that the brand’s alt-seafood R&D originated, leveraging ingredients less commonly used in Europe. The brand’s shrimp alternative contains a base of tapioca starch, alongside konjac, a root vegetable used widely in Asia.
Know your focus
Focusing on quality taste and texture, and identifying market gaps can help alt-seafood
brands stand out in a crowded space – an issue the alt-meat industry has also faced.
Simon Ferniot, CEO and co-founder of French plant-based seafood company Olala Foods,
said: “We chose to focus mainly on tuna and salmon, the products that are both the stars of the seafood category in terms of consumption and that have also been pointed to for potential environmental issues posed by their related industry.”
He added: “Consumers expect plant-based products to be of indisputable quality, both
from a taste and nutritional standpoint. And why shouldn’t they? Therefore, we have put all of our development efforts [into] these aspects.”
The brand chose pea protein due to its high-protein ratio, taste and the fact that it is free
from common allergens, enabling development of a more inclusive product. Olala also
includes highly concentrated omega-3 algae oils, responding to demand for plant-based
products that can offer the essential fatty acids found in fish. Additionally, it features a mimimal ingredients list, with its tuna flakes product containing just five ingredients, including water.
The variety of products available is expanding globally, with the next wave of innovation in
the category expected to introduce a diverse range of creative formats. GNT’s Wilms told
The Plant Base: “We’ve seen a lot of innovation in Asia, where brands have been launching plant-based alternatives to many types of seafood including ribbonfish, sea urchin and goby. There’s a lot of excitement about new production methods too, especially 3D printing, as manufacturers try to tackle the challenge of mimicking the distinctive textures of fish and seafood.”
In the Netherlands, start-up Monkeys By The Sea embraces what founder Thijs Wullems
describes as a “relentlessly creative” approach – finding the right balance of ingredients,
continuously refining its sourcing and innovating in production.
“We believe it’s more about creating new taste experiences and pioneering a new category
rather than simply ‘mimicking’ traditional seafood,” Wullems explained. “That said, chefs and consumers often look for familiar reference points when cooking and serving dishes.
Therefore, our initial range includes high-volume seafood staples like tuna chunks, tuna salad, fish fingers and whitefish fillets – all reimagined with plant-based ingredients.”
The brand’s ingredient portfolio, as its name suggests, was inspired by monkeys living near the sea – Wullems pointed out that research shows their enhanced brain capacity compared to jungle apes is linked to a more diverse diet from land and sea.
“We embrace this philosophy by using a mix of marine and land-based ingredients. Key
components include purified seawater from a local marine reserve, seaweed and microalgae,
along with plant-based proteins like pea, potato, rice, mycoprotein and wheat. We focus on sustainable sourcing, keeping our supply chain as local as possible, to reduce food miles.”
In addition to launching its latest product, ‘Wave Rider’ – a seafood-inspired burger made with rice protein, beet fibre, algal oil and sea lettuce, which Wullems described as being “in a category of its own” – the company has several new innovations in the works for 2025 and is actively working on R&D partnerships in areas such as marine proteins, precision fermentation and circular ingredients, Wullems revealed.
“We see the future of seafood-inspired products being shaped by stronger collaboration and knowledge-sharing across the supply chain. The industry needs to move beyond competition and focus on scaling sustainable solutions together,” he said. “We also expect more crossover between plant-based and traditional seafood companies, finding new synergies rather than operating as two separate worlds.”
Wullems concluded: “The urgency of protecting our oceans demands it – and we’re already
leading the way. Two of our current distributors are top seafood suppliers, a clear sign that the industry is evolving. These partnerships prove that sustainability and tradition can go hand in hand, opening new doors for the future of seafood.”
Note: This feature was included in the April/May print issue of The Plant Base magazine. Since its publication, one of our interviewees, Olala Foods, has sadly ceased operations. Read here for more information on the company's closure.
