Pioneering vegan seafood company Gathered Food recently teamed up with Long John Silver’s to create two plant-based seafood entrees under their Good Catch brand.
Crab-free cakes and fish-free fillets are coming to select locations in California and Georgia for a limited time. These plant-based seafood options are the first of their kind to be sold by the national restaurant chain.
“We’re proud to have their plant-based products on our menu as a way to open our doors to a wider customer base who want to experience tasty seafood products in a more sustainable way,” said Long John Silver’s Vice President of Marketing Christopher Caudill.
The entrees are made from a proprietary blend of six different legumes — peas, chickpeas, lentils, soy, fava beans, and navy beans — that captures the taste, texture, and experience of eating seafood while preserving aquatic resources and the environment, according to those in the partnership.
Christine Mei, CEO of Gathered Foods, said the company is excited to propel change in quick service restaurants through the development.
“With the plant-based seafood sector expected to grow twelve-fold in the next 10 years to $1.3 billion, there’s room for dramatic growth,” she said. “We’re proud to fuel the momentum by delivering the delicious taste, unmistakable texture, and comparable protein that consumers crave.”
Three factors are driving this unprecedented growth — heightened concern for the overall environment, the rapid depletion of global fish stocks specifically, and a better understanding of the compounding health problems associated with excessive meat consumption — according to analysis from market research firm Fact.MR.
Sustainable, plant-based seafood options are essential to saving animals, the ocean, and the planet, especially after the popular documentary Seaspiracy, available on Netflix, raised awareness about the abuses inherent in industrialized commercial fishing practices.
