More plant-based seafood analogs debut in North America

Current Foods’ addition of plant-based tuna and salmon analogs and a new partnership between Above Foods and Umiami represent the latest plant-based seafood analog offerings available in the North American market.

San Francisco, California, U.S.A.-based Current Foods, formerly Kuleana, is rebranding itself as it enters the direct-to-consumer market with sushi-grade, plant-based, and ready-to-eat seafood.

The products were previously only available through restaurants and foodservice outlets, including Erewhon Market and Blue Sushi Sake Grill. Now, Current Foods is opening up website sign-ups to “get on the early access waitlist to shop its D2C plant-based tuna and salmon analogs,” the supplier said in a press release.

“Since we began our company journey three years ago, our goal has been to create plant-based products that enable us to enjoy the best parts of seafood: taste, texture, and nutrition, without any of its usual drawbacks: mercury, microplastics, and oceanic depletion,” Current CEO and Co-Founder Jacek Prus said. “The rollout of Current Foods – bringing the future of sustainable eating to the current – is a massive step forward in realizing this goal.”

Separately, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada-based Above Food Corp. is partnering with France-based Umiami, which focuses on reproducing whole-cut fish and meat from plant-sourced materials.

The two companies will be collaborating on research and development, featuring a variety of Above Food’s proprietary protein ingredients and scaling production processes for the development of texturized whole-cut meat and fish analogs, Above Food said in a press release.

“The mainstream production techniques for plant-based meats have had significant limitations on size and texture, until now,” Above Food President and Co-Founder Martin Williams said in a press release.“Umiami has cracked the code, meaning it can create a thick, fibrous whole cut of meat, beyond the typical patties, sausages, and bite-size portions consumers are accustomed to right now.” 

Above Food also recently added Loma Linda, Tuno, and Neat to its consumer packaged goods brands last year.

Photo courtesy of Current Foods