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Alternative seafood: how consumer demand varies across the APAC region

The Asia-Pacific market is rife in opportunity for manufacturers of alternative seafood products, yet consumer preferences vary significantly between countries. How can manufacturers ensure they are responding to different market demands?

As growing and wealthier populations continue to demand more seafood, research shows that the conventional seafood industry as we know it will not be able to meet this rising demand. Plant-based seafood alternatives offer a sustainable and often more affordable solution to this issue of supply and demand, but consumers want products which deliver on both taste and health benefits. Manufacturers should prioritise taste, health and functional benefits the results of a survey conducted by the Good Food Institute (GFI), a non-profit organisation that advocates for an animal-free food system, suggest.

The plant-based seafood sector has exploded in popularity in recent years, raising $175 million of investment in 2021, almost double the amount raised the year prior. With investment capital increasing by 92% over the course of the past year, an influx of alternative seafood products has entered the market from both conventional and new players.

In 2021, the commercial landscape welcomed over 20 new alternative seafood companies, bringing the total to over 120 worldwide, concentrated mainly in Europe (44), North America (41) and APAC (32). Despite being one of the most opportune markets for alternative seafood products given the prevalence of seafood in consumers’ diets, the awareness and enthusiasm of consumers in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region surrounding these products varies and, in some cases, is relatively low.

A lack of accessibility could deter consumers

Unsurprisingly, concern about perceived taste and scepticism about whether the flavour of plant-based seafood products would match up to that of conventional seafood is a key barrier to purchasing and future consumption of products. This is particularly prevalent in South Korea, with 36% of respondents where plant-based products are concerned and 32% for cultivated products predicting that they would not like the taste. For all consumer cohorts surveyed, taste was among the top drivers of purchasing decisions.

Across all four countries, lack of availability and accessibility to alternative products was also perceived as a key barrier to future consumption of plant-based and cultivated seafood products. Respondents in Singapore (20%), South Korea (25%) and Thailand (22%) all ranked lack of availability in grocery stores as a leading barrier.

With demand for seafood set to outpace supply in future, alternative seafood products may be able to bridge the gap between consumer demand and manufacturer. Enhancing the ability of alternative seafood ability to appeal to Asian consumers is crucial in driving this change, yet more education and awareness about products, along with increased accessibility to them, are needed across the APAC region.

Consumers are willing to try seafood alternatives, but exposure is lacking

The majority of the world’s seafood is produced and consumed in the APAC region, making it a key market for manufacturers of alternative seafood products. Nevertheless, consumer familiarity surrounding these products remains low, the results of a survey conducted by the Good Food Institute on consumers in Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand show.

Despite needing more exposure to and information about alternative seafood, consumers in Singapore and Thailand are generally enthusiastic about exploring plant-based options, the survey showed. Respondents in Thailand revealed the highest future purchase intent, at 78% for plant-based and 77% for cultivated products.

In contrast, the same cannot be said for Japanese and South Korean consumers, with only 42% of respondents in Japan showing intent to purchase plant-based and cultivated (29%) seafood alternative products. In these markets, respondents tended to be less trusting of alternative seafood and more sceptical of products’ naturalness and freshness.

Tasty and healthy: What consumers want

Taste and health are non-negotiable attributes for consumers when making purchasing decisions about alternative seafood products. Across all four countries surveyed, ensuring that products have a guaranteed absence of mercury and other heavy metals, as well as a good taste was deemed as extremely important to 41% and 40% of consumers respectively.

Offering nutritional benefits (31%) and lacking an intense fish smell (33%) were also considered important in determining whether or not to buy plant-based fish products across the board.

Aside from taste and nutritional quality, consumers value products which offer functional benefits and can be easily incorporated into their dietary habits and daily life. For manufacturers, this may translate to producing products with long shelf lives, which are easy to cook with and are available and accessible in grocery stores and supermarkets, as deemed preferable by around one third of survey respondents.