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Plant-based food tech start-up Revo Foods has just unveiled what’s thought to be a “world first” – a 3D-printed vegan octopus made from fungi.
The Austrian brand, which was founded in 2020, has named the product “The Kraken.” It’s made from mycoprotein, and looks similar to meat made from octopus tentacles.
The ready-to-eat food, which can also be baked, fried, and grilled, is currently only available for a limited time. It will be sold exclusively on the Revo Foods ecommerce site, and it will also be shared with some of the company’s restaurant partners. Depending on consumer feedback, the product may be launched more permanently at a later date.
Vegan “seafood” is one of the fastest growing plant-based markets. It saw a 326 percent growth between 2020 and 2023, and it’s been forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 28 percent, reaching USD $1.3 billion by 2031.
The growing threat of octopus farming
Octopus meat is hugely popular in certain countries in Europe, particularly Spain, Italy, and Greece. The animal is also eaten widely in Japan, and there’s a growing market in the USA.
Around 91 million octopuses are killed for food each year. Unlike many other marine animals, a growing number of whom are farmed, virtually all octopuses sold are caught from the ocean. Farming them has previously proved almost impossible due to their solitary nature and tendency to attack each other if kept together in tanks. Octopus farming is a growing threat, however, as a Spanish multinational company called Nueva Pescanova announced plans to build the world’s first commercial octopus farm in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, in 2021. The plans are yet to materialize into anything concrete, however.
The announcement of the farm sent shockwaves around the world, and many environmental and animal rights groups have criticized the plans. Earlier this month, Washington became the first US state to outlaw octopus farming. While no octopuses are farmed there, it introduced the law preemptively to protect future octopuses.
Demand for octopus meat is growing, and plant-based versions like Revo Foods’ could help satisfy this demand without harming animals. The octopus product is just one of a long line of innovative vegan seafood products hitting the market, including calamari, shrimp, and even a 3D printed eel.
