Beyond the Horizon; the Silent Conquest.

There was a time when it was inconceivable to imagine a life beyond the boundaries of the vast, seemingly endless oceans or the daunting, frigid mountain ranges; a promise of death lurked out just beyond these gates. Inhospitable stretches of harsh wilderness devoid of life sustaining resources carve out invisible and ambiguous borders between lands; occasionally luring inquisitive seekers in pursuit of prosperity and opportunity into an agonizingly slow demise as they journeyed across their barren expanses. But, even so, given the adequate resources, time, some skilled wit, and a bit of gut; even these no-man’s lands have proven to be surmountable.

Defined domains, or territories if you will: produce, dairy, bakery, meats, and seafood sections separated by invisible but defined borders that establish consumers’ expectations, line the outer rim of most supermarkets. Laying a clear inflection point between what is and what isn’t, these hard boundaries offer us a dangerous sense of security; allowing us to confidently let our guard down and lean into the fence.

We would never expect for a produce brand to place an eggplant amongst some fresh fish filets in the seafood section and label it “alternative halibut” and actually get away with it; consumers would see right through it.

Likewise it would be just as absurd to place some salmon steaks next to the tomatoes in the produce section and label them “alternative portobelos”.?

But what happens when we step out and away from these kingdoms and into the market’s no-man’s land, its savagery in full display between the packaged, frozen, and shelf-stable products that inhabit the lawless freezers and aisles? Right next to a tin of sardines we can find a jar of “alternative anchovies spread” made out of guess what… not anchovies, or next to a box of frozen cod fish sticks we encounter a box of “f’sh filets” made out of anything other than fish.?

It is amazing what the power of a missing vowel can accomplish, avoiding any legal dispute based on misleading labeling, and thanks to the power of the human mind, still achieve its intended purpose. I can imagine the team of lawyers cackling like a group of cunning ravens, wiping their asses with hundred dollar bills.?

The faux fish tribe has been journeying into no-man's land for a better part of the last three decades, slowly but surely making progress and carving out their share of the market whenever they strike gold in the form of a popularly accepted product. We have all seen the rise and fall of many plant based alternative products over the years; many falling short on consumers’ expectations on the flavors and textures that they are trying to imitate.?

Anybody remember the first attempts at vegan burger patties in the market??

They were about as burger as ham is to fresh, earthly, and natural.?

Nonetheless, undeterred by these early failures they continued to trudge into the unforgiving terrain and carried on, toiling away on the shelves and freezers. Constantly experimenting on various fronts: food technology, labeling, product design, marketing, and branding to find the sweet spot that meets consumers’ expectations and satisfies their demands to successfully substitute true seafood on the consumer packaged goods frontier.?

Meanwhile, it appears, businesses across the seafood industry are looking over at these encroachments with scornful displeasure; calling a powwow to echo their stern disapproval of this uncomfortable proximity, scoffing at the audacity to tread on what has been considered sacred terrain.?

Now I hate to stand on the side of those conniving lawyers, and worse, agree with them; but what the plant based clan is doing isn’t wrong. Yes, it is dirty, like a punch below the belt. Deceitful??

“Distinct” I’m sure the lawyers would deviously state as their cleft hooves clattered on the office floor and the unmistakable smell of sulfur pierced our nostrils.?

But, to their credit, no-man’s land, is a lawless and blurry frontier where by its very nature the rules are murky and ambiguous; with the consumer’s choice being the ultimate authority on what is foul play or permissible.?

“Alternative seafoods”, will by definition never be seafood, but stepping out of the security of the seafood section and into the savage borderlands where the definition of seafood leans more towards “tastes like” and “feels like” rather than "actually is"; we suddenly find ourselves feeling naked and exposed. Hell, even offended.?

“You’re really comparing true crab to a chickpea and spices pulp called “c’rb meat”? Is everything ok with you?”

Rather than hoping that the fallacious seafood clan will abandon their advanced outposts and willingly secede from the freezers and shelves, leaders in the seafood industry have an opportunity to see that not only is it possible to successfully venture out from the confines of our “section”, but that there is fortune in no-man’s land.?

Amongst its uncertainty and mystery there is a path towards unfound riches.

Rather than focusing on drawing in new consumers into our territory, trying to convince them to try our products on our terms, we have to set out on our vessels of value-added consumer packaged goods to seek and reach out towards new consumer groups; the ones that call no-man’s land their home; a land ruled by convenience.

We just have to be confident in our skills as navigators and be true to our pioneering spirit.