The German company Happy Ocean Foods, founded by two friends, offers vegetarian shrimp instead of real shrimp.
Another type of shrimp
Munich is not known as a seafood hub. After all, the city, which is the center of Bavaria, is far from the sea. But Julian Hallett and Robin Drummond say that this is not a problem at all, and they started the shrimp business with this in mind.
Their company sells a plant-based product called Happy Ocean Shrimp instead of real shrimp.
Their background, idea and vision are explained very simply: according to experts, eating plants instead of animals is an effective way to save the climate and protect the planet.
When it comes to seafood, there is the fact that overfishing threatens the oceans. This means that more fish are being caught instead of more.
According to WWF, more than a third of all edible fish species are affected, with 60% of all stocks considered “severely depleted.”
The same is true for shrimp: if shrimp are caught in the wild, it is usually accompanied by a large amount of unwanted catch.
According to WWF, 40 million tons of seafood are lost every year due to unwanted catch.
In shrimp aquaculture, the use of antibiotics is often unavoidable and in many cases the environment is also damaged.
In short, Hallett and Drummond believe that there will always be ethical issues when it comes to shrimp. That’s why they decided to produce plant-based shrimp when they launched Happy Ocean Foods in 2020.
“Our shrimp is made with 100% plant-based ingredients, mainly seaweed, soy and sea salt extract,” explains Julian Hallett.
A combination of oils, spices and flavourings gives the seaweed plant mass a shrimp flavour. Happy Ocean Foods’ producers produce their vegetarian shrimp in a crescent shape to resemble ready-to-cook shrimp.
There are already many alternatives to meat products such as gyros and chicken in Germany. Alternatives to milk protein, whether in the form of drinks, yoghurt or plant-based cheese, have also been the subject of discussion for some time.
Raising capital in the “Lion’s Den” program
Happy Ocean Foods needs fresh capital for the next phase of its development. The Munich-based marine conservationist says that shrimp production is just the beginning. In the next phase, they want to offer other plant-based products to replace tuna and salmon. That’s why they’ve asked for investment on the Vox show “Lion’s Den.”
Their offer for a 10 percent stake in the company is €300,000. That would value the company at €3 million.
Julian Hallett, 32, studied international management, and Robin Drummond, 28, studied media management. At Happy Ocean Foods, the duo offer seafood that looks, tastes and feels just like the real thing.
“We’re passionate about diving and surfing, and we’ve travelled the world on surfboards,” explains Julian Hallett. “I started surfing in Hawaii, where some of my relatives live. My uncle is a professional surfer and he taught me how to surf,” says Robin Drummond.
They know how precious the world’s oceans are, but people are not treating them right. “The oceans are too acidic because of CO2 emissions, they are also polluted with microplastics and they are being ruthlessly overfished,” says Julian. Almost all species that are commercially exploited are at high risk.
The idea came to Halt during a 2019 holiday. “I was walking along the beach away from the tourist areas. I was shocked to see so much litter on the beach.”
He says 33% of fish stocks are already overfished. “I decided to do something about this problem. So I teamed up with my friend Robin Drummond and we started the company.”
At a trade show, they presented three different products: natural, plant-based and crunchy. The vegetarian shrimp is not yet available in retail stores. As seen at the exhibition, the price per pack of the product (containing 18 pieces) is 6.99 euros.
