Topic for Mar. 7. ( Thur )

[Alex !]

Vegan Seefood

In November 2021, convenience store chain CU launched a new Tuna Mayo Triangle Gimbap. Tuna Mayo Triangle Gimbap is a product that is considered a byword, and has been around since Samgak Gimbap first arrived in Japan in the early 2000s. Surprisingly, it was a triangular gimbap made with vegetable tuna, an alternative seafood. 

It was a new attempt considering that plant-based alternative food ingredients had been limited to animal meat, eggs, and dairy products. CU said, "To expand the range of vegetarian convenience food options, we developed a recipe using plant-based tuna, an alternative seafood, for the first time in Korea. As alternative seafood is unfamiliar in Korea, we applied it to triangle gimbap, which is the most sold at convenience stores."

To ensure the integrity of the product, the substitute tuna was seasoned with vegetable mayonnaise, creating a convenient meal that even consumers who pursue a vegan diet can easily buy at convenience stores without worrying about it.

Considering the growing interest in alternative seafood, it is not at all surprising that products can be purchased at convenience stores. Alternative seafood, which is not much different from alternative meat in its conceptual approach, is largely divided into two product groups. 

These products include products that mimic the taste and texture of seafood using plant-based ingredients such as tomatoes, beans, and wheat, and products that are produced through 3D printing after cultivating stem cells from fish, like alternative meat. The majority trend is the latter, with the number of companies increasing by 81% in 2021, while the former increased by 14%. 

Above all, the latter is growing more rapidly because it requires less processing, which is in line with consumers' food trends. This means that the fewer additives used to express taste and texture, the safer the food is considered by consumers.

Alternative seafood may feel unfamiliar, but its base is wider than expected. 

According to global market research company Statista, alternative seafood accounted for 29% of plant-based alternative foods purchased by U.S. consumers in 2020. The proportion is larger than that of pork substitute meat, which recorded 26%. As this trend continues, sales naturally increase, with sales of alternative seafood in the U.S. growing by 23% compared to the previous year.

Marine ecosystems have suffered particularly severely. Due to overfishing, the population of marine life has rapidly decreased, and over the past 50 years, 90% of large fish species such as sharks and tuna have disappeared from the sea due to overfishing.

Pollution of heavy metals and microplastics is also at a serious level, especially in tuna and salmon located in the upper part of the marine ecosystem. Given this situation, interest in alternative seafood is bound to increase. In addition, plant-based alternative seafood being released overseas has all the characteristics of safe food that consumers want, such as gluten-free, no addition of genetically modified plants, and no addition of dairy products.

In the United States, a leader in the world of alternative foods, the options are even more diverse. The leader is Sophie's Chicken, a California-based plant-based alternative seafood brand. With the catchphrase ‘Plant-based seafood as delicious as fish,’ Sophie’s Kitchen offers a variety of product lines, including plant-based pure fish fillets, shrimp, crab cakes, salmon, and canned tuna (Toona). It is a vegan product line that is free from gluten and soy ingredients and does not use genetically modified agricultural products.

Shrimp, a popular food ingredient, has as high a greenhouse gas emissions as beef. According to a 2017 study by the International Forest Research Center, 1 kg of farmed shrimp emits four times more greenhouse gases than the same amount of beef. Making 100g of protein from shrimp emits more than 18kg of greenhouse gases. Half of the shrimp market worth about 48 trillion won worldwide is produced through farming, which destroys coastal mudflats and wetlands that absorb greenhouse gases and purify the ecosystem.

Alternative seafood, like alternative meat, still has many hurdles to overcome. Development and commercialization are completely different stories, so the product must be produced in as large a quantity as possible as quickly as possible after development and the price can be lowered to settle in the market while minimizing psychological resistance from consumers. 

Alternative seafood companies need to keep a close eye on the situation of alternative meat producers, which have grown steadily for about a decade since launch but are now showing a noticeable slowdown. It cannot be said that if a mistake is made, there is a possibility that a product with poor quality may be put on the market and then fail to gain trust from consumers.

[_Ken_]

Discussion
1. What are your thoughts on the findings of this topic?
2. Do you eat meat? If so, have you ever considered becoming a vegetarian? If not, why not?
3. Are many of your friends and family vegan or vegetarian? Please explain your answer.
4. Do you eat a lot of fish? Please explain your answer.
5. Do you think that following a vegetarian diet is generally healthier than eating a meat-based diet? Why do you think so?

[_Ken_]

Further Discussion
1. Are there many vegetarian or vegan restaurants where you live? If so, how often do you go there?
2. What's the best vegetarian meal you've ever had? Please describe it.
3. How often do you cook for yourself? How many different dishes can you make?
4. What are your favorite unhealthy foods? How often do you have them?
5. Who's the best cook you know? Please explain your answer.

[Alex !]

Thank you for your questions that help us boosting up!