Californian alt seafood startup Impact Food announces the launch of its flagship plant-based tuna at Pokeworks’ most popular location in Irvine, California, from the 28th for a limited time.
Impact Food, which debuted in February its Impact Tuna at Onigilly, a Japanese eatery with three locations in San Francisco Bay Area, now announces a strategic distribution agreement with the fast-casual poke brand to expand and provide a broader audience with “uncompromising” sustainable alternatives.
Pokeworks, the world’s leading fast-casual poke brand, has more than 60 locations nationwide and restaurants in Taiwan, Mexico, and Canada, and it plans to expand to over 100 stores in 2023. The chain has launched vegan offerings such as crab legs made by Aquamar and Omni’s vegan pork musubi.
Impact Tuna
Stephanie Claudino Daffara, co-founder & COO of Impact Food, told vegconomist: “This strategic collaboration with Pokeworks allows us to refine our product and cater to the evolving preferences of our valued customers. By leveraging their high-volume location, we have a perfect platform to enhance Impact Tuna for a wider audience.”
Founded in 2021 to help the oceans from overfishing, pollution, and bycatch, Impact Food started to develop a tuna alternative for the Pacific Bluefin Tuna, a species with decreasing population numbers. In August 2022, the food tech raised $500,000 in a strategic angel & VC round. Mike Chen, co-founder and president of Pokeworks, is one of Impact Food’s angel investors.
Best texture and taste
Impact Food uses a proprietary texturization technology and scalable processes to make alt tuna out of nine ingredients, including pea protein, algae, and vegetable juice. Its tuna is described as a flavorful and nutritive alternative that provides omega-3 fatty acids and proteins. It replaces fish in a poke, sushi, ceviche, or any raw seafood dish.
“We’ve tried several plant-based tuna alternatives and we feel Impact Tuna has the best texture and taste in its class. We hope creating a signature Pokeworks dish with Impact Tuna will create new demand for sustainable eating,” said Chen.
Impact Food will make its trade show debut at Summer Fancy Food Show 2023 as part of the diversity pavilion booth #1336F.
