This article was featured in Eurofish Magazine 4 2025.
Vegan Fisherman, a Netherlands-based company founded five years ago by Simon Visscher, is at the forefront of plant-based seafood innovation. With its unique rice flour-based technology, the company produces fish alternatives that offer both taste and nutrition while keeping the ingredient list clean and natural. From its inception, Vegan Fisherman set out to fill a gap in the growing plant-based protein market: seafood. Mr Visscher began by experimenting in his kitchen, driven by the lack of viable fish substitutes compared to the booming plant-based meat sector. The result is a product line built on rice flour, chosen for its white colour and ideal texture that mimics the flake and bite of white fish. Algae powder is added to supply omega-3, 6, and 9 fatty acids, replicating the nutritional profile of traditional seafood without using animal products. The company’s -flagship items include fish sticks, shrimp -alternatives, and seaweed-skinned fish fillets. Vegan crab cakes have been developed specifically for the UK and US markets, while shrimp croquettes cater to Belgium, and the German market receives a product styled after traditional Backfisch. This tailored approach has helped Vegan Fisherman gain listings across the Netherlands, Belgium, -Germany, and more recently, France.
Production is outsourced to a company in Urk, a traditional fishing town, while product development and branding remain in-house. All Vegan Fisherman products are made with natural ingredients and are free from synthetic additives, preservatives, or artificial binders. “If you want to make a plant-based product, then make a plant-based product,”
Mr Visscher says, emphasising his commitment to authenticity. While the chilled range offers up to 29 days of shelf life, frozen products—favoured by retailers—can last up to two years. Flexitarian families are a key demographic, often swapping plant-based fish sticks for conventional versions without changing their routines. As sustainability and -consumer awareness grow, Vegan Fisherman is well positioned as a clean-label, future-focused food company offering plant-based solutions with a strong culinary and environmental conscience.