unMeat fish-free tuna rolls out to Harris Teeter stores
Available in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Georgia, Florida, and Washington D.C., unMeat is aiming to make plant-based seafood options more accessible and affordable to consumers.
unMeat's full product range includes burger patties, ground meat, lunch meat, sausages, nuggets, and its fish-free tuna products (launched in August 2022) which are packaged in sunflower oil or water.
The company uses a blend of wheat and non-GMO soy proteins combined with natural flavors, vegetable broth, seasoning, thickeners (corn starch and xantham gum), sugar, and yeast to create products claimed to be indistinguishable from their fish-based counterparts in taste and texture but lower in fat and calories and free from mercury.
In consumer testing, unMeat plant-based tuna delivered a three-to-one preference in comparison to other plant-based tunas, the company claimed.
“We hope that with a budget-friendly option easily found at their regular grocery store, more consumers will opt to incorporate more plant-based meals in their diet," Gregory Branzon, chief operating officer, Century Pacific Group, parent company of unMEAT.
The company said it hope to attract meat eaters, vegans, vegetarians, and flexitarians all looking to diversify their diet with more plant-based protein options.
Comprising just 1% of the total plant-based meat market plant-based seafood grew 14% from 2020 to 2021 hitting $14m in US retail sales in measured channels last year, according to data from the Plant Based Foods Association.
