Seafood producers are rolling out products that disguise fish as familiar comfort foods to win over reluctant American eaters. New items are debuting that look and taste more like meat. A Taiwan-based company, Tuna Fresh, is entering the U.S. with tuna presented as fried nuggets and breaded strips intended to evoke fried chicken. “Our Taiwanese magic is making tuna taste like fried chicken,” spokesman Jack Chi said. He added that the company chose fried formats to spark engagement in the US market, according to The Independent.
The push reflects a long-running trend to make seafood look and taste less like fish. Companies are reframing products in burger, tender, and snack-strip formats to lower the barrier for consumers who hesitate over flavor, odor, or unfamiliar textures. SK Food Brands is selling shrimp burgers in slider-size and larger options that it believes help non-seafood fans ease in. Harbor Bell Seafoods has designed salmon snack strips to resemble a Slim Jim-style meat stick and markets the product as free of assertive fish aromas or flavors. Friocenter Pescados is promoting “fish spareribs” made from Brazilian tambaqui, noting the species’ higher meat-to-bone ratio on its ribs compared with pork and positioning the product as a convenient finger food for stadiums.
Less than half of the global average
These efforts target a persistent consumption gap. Americans eat about 19 pounds (8.6 kilograms) of seafood per person each year. That level has barely budged in a century and remains far below the global average of 45 pounds (20.4 kilograms). Much of what US consumers do eat centers on a narrow range of species, with shrimp and salmon dominating. Marketers hope that if seafood is packaged like hot dogs, hamburgers, and chicken tenders, especially for children who are often most resistant to fish, it could begin to shift perceptions earlier in life and broaden the market over time.
‘Non-seafood folks’
Skeptics question whether camouflage alone will reach the sizable share of Americans who simply don’t seek out seafood. Some industry researchers say that disguising fish as meat-like snacks or fried items may resonate with occasional or curious buyers but won’t convert many of the entrenched holdouts.
“The non-seafood folks — which is about 40% of the population — I don’t know that this is really going to be appealing to them,” said Steve Markenson, vice president of research and insights for FMI, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Others worry that the effort to make fish appear and taste like something else introduces more processing.