Vegan salmon sashimi launched at German fish fair
A Dutch seafood distributor has launched new vegan sashimi products made to mimic salmon and tuna.
The fake fish products, created from tapioca starch and algae-based glucose, are being offered by Sterk Seafood and were introduced to visitors to Germany’s only professional trade fair for the fish industry, Fish International, in Bremen last week.
Sterk already offers fake lemon shrimp and calamari in its VeganSeaStar product range.
Bremerhaven Frosta Food Service presented its “Fish from the field”: ‘fish’ patties or fried ‘fish’ made from a vegetable blend, hemp protein and linseed oil in a crispy breadcrumb coating.
Farmed flounder
Another product making its debut was farmed Japanese flounder, grown by Turkish fish farmer Kiliç and previously unknown to German customers.
Fish International attracted 10,302 attendees this year, almost 2,000 fewer than the previous iteration in 2018, but organisers said the event suffered less than expected from a week of winter storms.
“We consider this a manageable decrease - for us, it is much more important that so many exhibitors spoke positively about the event,” said Andrea Rohde, area manager of exhibitions at the MESSE BREMEN exhibition venue. “Most decision-makers did choose to come and brave the weather.”
Virus worries
The outbreak of coronavirus in China did worry some participants, said exhibition organisers.
To counteract these worries hygiene measures were strengthened, and at-risk groups were asked to stay home.
Three registered Chinese exhibitors cancelled their visits. The fourth sent a company representative from North America to the exhibition. As a precaution, he posted a sign at the stand reading “Keep calm – we are Canadian”.
