After folding earlier this summer due to its sole reliance on foodservice accounts and the COVID-19 pandemic, plant-based seafood analog brand Ocean Hugger Foods is planning a re-launch sometime next year.
“We are working with strategic partners who would like to bring the company back to market, and the product back to market,” Co-Founder and CEO David Benzaquen told SeafoodSource, while declining to name the partners.
Along with its partners, Ocean Hugger will “build a strategy that is more COVID-proof, so it will be more diversified,” Benzaquen said. “We are looking at a broader portfolio of products to reach folks in different places.”
The supplier’s current two products are raw-tuna substitute Ahimi and raw-eel substitute Unami.
In late June, Ocean Hugger said on its website that it “must cease operations” due to deteriorating business conditions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Ocean Hugger’s plant-based take on tuna sashimi launched with much fanfare at Seafood Expo North America in 2018, and was later picked up by Whole Foods Market and Aramark.
However, due to “the COVID-19 health crisis our world is facing, and the fact that our company sells exclusively to foodservice customers (such as university and corporate cafeterias, and restaurants) who have suffered greatly during this time, we have had to make a difficult decision to pause operations,” Ocean Hugger said in a 31 August update.
“Over the coming months, we will be exploring paths to relaunch bigger and better than ever,” the supplier added.
Now, Ocean Hugger is looking at broadening its product selection and entering the retail channel, Benzaquen said. However, more detailed expansion plans will be “decided over the next month,” he noted.
“We don’t anticipate being back in the market in 2020. Our focus is to prepare for a bigger [launch],” Benzaquen said.
Meanwhile, Ocean Hugger said foodservice operators can buy the inventory it still has on hand from select distributors in the United States, Canada, the European Union, and Asia.
“We are getting a lot of calls from customers. There is still some product in the marketplace for distributors, and we would love for someone to carry our products – even for a limited time,” Benzaquen said.
The full list of distributors and contact information is available on its website.
Photo courtesy of Ocean Hugger Foods
