New Wave Foods has signed a strategic distribution agreement to launch “New Wave Shrimp” in the North American foodservice market. Under a non-exclusive deal with Dot Foods, the largest foodservice industry redistributor in North America, the San Francisco, California-based company is accelerating efforts to provide restaurant operators with proprietary plant-based faux shrimp made of seaweed and other plant proteins.
Created through collaboration with chefs and R&D experts, the product is being promoted as “virtually indistinguishable from ocean shrimp in terms of taste, texture and bite.”
Aiming to disrupt the $9 billion dollar shrimp market, New Wave Foods is focusing on the restaurant and non-commercial foodservice segments as that’s where 80 percent of shrimp in the United States is sold.
According to Datassential. Americans eat an estimated 1.5 billion pounds of shrimp annually, making the popular shellfish the most consumed seafood in the USA, with consumption intake equal to twice as much as salmon or tuna.
“Following our recently announced $18 million Series A financing, we’re excited to launch this new agreement which extends our presence and provides foodservice companies throughout the United States greater access to New Wave’s plant-based shrimp,” said Mary McGovern, chief executive officer of New Wave Foods. “Given Dot Food’s vast foodservice distribution coverage, this partnership provides us with immediate national availability while demonstrating Dot’s belief in the growth of plant-based eating and New Wave’s product offering.”
New Wave’s pre-cooked faux shrimp is presented as the “perfect ingredient” for fast preparations such as bruschetta, nachos or entrees such as chowder, tacos, pasta and Kung Pao.
“We know that commercial and non-commercial foodservice operators need to continue to excite their guests with innovative products, and plant-based food is the largest growing segment,” according to Rodd Willis of Mount Sterling, Illinois-headquartered Dot Foods. “New Wave Shrimp is an extremely unique product – a true game changer in the seafood industry. We believe that it is a great plant-based alternative to ocean shrimp as an ingredient, and that it delivers on the needs of foodservice operators for menu versatility and quality.”
Among investors in the New Wave Foods startup company are New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Evolution VC Partners, Sand Hill Angels, and Tyson Ventures, the venture capital arm of Tyson Foods.
