The great paradigm shift in plant-based happened when product makers stopped thinking of vegetarian offerings in terms of “substitutes” – think bean “burgers” and Portobello mushroom “steaks”—and started to create items meant to replicate the actual flavors and textures of meat.

This was appalling to vegetarians in the beginning – and still is to a fringe contingent. But it catalyzed the now overwhelming flexitarian movement that allowed meat-eaters to participate in reducing the impact of a meat-based protein economy without sacrificing their preferences for the flavors and textures of beef, chicken, seafood, and bacon. One of the foremost pioneers of plant-based mimics of animal proteins is Yves Potvin. Potvin created a true soy-based hot dog analog in the 1980s. From there, his work in plant-based meat analogs expanded into analogs of deli slices and ultimately, his founding of Garden Protein International—a.k.a. Gardein—in 2003. There, he created a comprehensive line of game-changing analogs of beef, chicken, sausage, crab, and fish.

Read more about how Konscious Foods is expanding frozen plant-based sushi into foodservice channels.

How did Potvin do it? “When it comes to developing a product, I take a holistic view on how to collect and connect different ingredients to make a delicious and nutritious option for consumers,” he says. “It’s a combination of art and science; ingredient companies provide the science of different protein sources, but it’s art in how you put it together for consumers.”

At a time when the meat analog industry is in a state of flux, the proud French-Canadian Potvin not only started a new company—Konscious Foods Canada, Inc.—he has seen it grow in leaps and bounds. Konscious makes some 10 different offerings of sushi, onigiri, and poke analogs that bring the fresh raw seafood experience to vegans, vegetarians, and to mainstream consumers who are simply sick of the devastation of marine life that’s happening on a global scale.

In a series of culinary coups, Potvin achieved excellent recreations of raw seafood that were developed in a manner radically different from his, and others’ previous approaches in that he uses minimal, natural ingredients, such as tomato and konjac for tuna, carrot and konjac for salmon, etc. And he did so while keeping the retail price at or lower than the original animal-based versions of the products.

“I am an entrepreneur at my core,” Potvin explains. “At Konscious Foods, my dedicated team and I recognized a growing need for delicious plant-based seafood, prompted by the ever-increasing and unsustainable global demand for traditional fish. With this realization, we embarked on a mission to craft a product that genuinely fulfills all the criteria: affordability, convenience, nutritional value, and exceptional taste.”

Listen to part 2 of this interview.

Potvin notes that this approach forms the cornerstone of his creative process. “We pinpoint a necessity and then strive for perfection,” he says. “We spent a lot of time focusing on the taste and texture. As a classically trained chef, I take that very seriously. You can’t change behaviors without having food that actually tastes good.”