Thai Union Group quietly introduced a full line of plant-based seafood analog products late last year, and plans to add a plant-based shrimp analog product this year.
The massive seafood supplier and owner of tuna brands such as Chicken of the Sea and John West rolled out plant-based versions of tuna, crab cakes, fish burgers, and frozen dim sum for foodservice in December in Thailand, Tunyawat Kasemsuwan, Thai Union’s group director of director global innovation and director of the company's Global Innovation Center, told SeafoodSource.
“The COVID-19 pandemic did delay a larger launch, particularly in Europe, as many retailers and their buyers are working from home and have not yet been able to properly evaluate new products,” Kasemsuwan said. “However, we are very much hoping that this year will see more plant-based products from us globally.”
The line is being tested in foodservice locations globally and “we expect to see products hit several markets in 2021,” he added.
While Thai Union is still developing its plant-based shrimp analog product, it expects a “global launch” in the second half of 2021, according to Kasemsuwan.
“This initiative has been developed to respond to the large global demand for shrimp and to ensure that we are able to serve the flexitarian market, who want to be able to enjoy shrimp without changing their diet,” he said.
Thai Union plans to bring out additional plant-based seafood analog products this year, and will explore extending into non-seafood plant-based alternatives as well.
“We will continue to look into a wide range of seafood-type applications. These could include different versions of fish, crab, shrimp, and squid. We may also consider other types of meat, including chicken and pork,” Kasemsuwan said.
Kasemsuwan said Thai Union will be launching consumer-facing products in Thailand over the next few months.
The first phase of its plant-based seafood analog rollout has been focused on private-label products in the foodservice channel. “Going forward, we will need to evaluate brand perception and the externality of our famous brand names to consider how we brand in the future,” Kasemsuwan said.
Finding the proper fit between Thai Union’s existing brands and its new plant-based products will be a focus of the company’s efforts near-term, he said.
“We’ll be looking carefully into how to extend our brand into non-seafood products,” Kasemsuwan added. “This is especially important as we’re mainly known as a seafood producer and we don’t want to cause any confusion or run the risk that someone might buy one of our products thinking its seafood when its plant-based.”
Photo courtesy of Thai Union
