[Review] Good Catch Sustainable Seafood Launches in Singapore – Available at Grand Hyatt Singapore and Privé

While we would all be familiar with sustainable meat alternatives for beef, pork and chicken, sustainable seafood is a newer concept that is picking up in popularity.

Earlier last year, Gathered Foods, makers of Good Catch, announced the launch of their innovative plant-based seafood product line in Singapore, with the support of and distribution through fine food specialist Classic Fine Foods.

This also marked the brand’s first market launch in Asia.

The chef-driven innovative food company develops flavourful 100% non-GMO plant-based seafood alternatives using a proprietary protein-packed six-legume blend of peas, chickpeas, lentils, soy, fava beans, and navy beans. Each product in its range was created to offer the same nutritional value, delicate textures, and flavours of conventional seafood, without the environmental impact.

“People are increasingly more aware about the environmental concerns that come with eating seafood. Understanding Singapore consumers’ love of seafood, their sophisticated palates, and the city’s massive variety of gastronomic options, we are excited to be launching our range of delicious plant-based seafood options,” said Chad Sarno, Co-Founder & Chief Culinary Officer at Gathered Foods, makers of Good Catch.

“We’re constantly pushing culinary boundaries to deliver the taste and texture consumers expect from seafood and thrilled to launch with our select partners into this new market.”

In Singapore, Good Catch launches with four products:

• Plant-Based Food Service Tuna Flake: A versatile and delicious ingredient for restaurants and food service outlets. Great in sandwiches, tuna melts, sushi rolls, soups, casseroles and more

• Plant-Based Fish Burgers, Classic Style: Think of the best fish patties seasoned with green onion, celery, touch of lemon, sea salt and pepper — perfect for burgers, barbecues, and grilled entrées.

• Plant-Based Fish Cakes, Thai Style: An ode to a beloved and succulent Thai appetizer, generously spiced with lime, fresh lemongrass, coriander, all intermingling with garlic, shallots and flecks of chilies.

• Plant-Based Crab Cakes, New England Style: A lump crabmeat-style patty with sweet peppers, green onions, parsley, and a hint of spice that is ideal for weeknight dinners or weekend lunches paired with a velvety aioli.

The products are available on menus at a variety of food service outlets in Singapore, including restaurants at Grand Hyatt Singapore and Privé, as well as gourmet-casual outfits like Love Handles, and delivery-only concepts like Good Food People.

“At Grand Hyatt Singapore, we’re always delighted to find phenomenal products that minimize any detrimental impact to our environment and allows us to express our culinary creativity through great flavors… We’re excited to showcase an array of dishes made with Good Catch produce, to our diners exploring plant-based options at our signature outlets like mezza9 and 10 SCOTTS,” shared Chef Gottfried Schuetzenberger, Executive Chef of Grand Hyatt Singapore.

Diners will find enticing menu items such as moreish Good Catch Thai Fish Cakes accompanied with a fresh som tam salad at Grand Hyatt and a delectably comforting Good Catch Tuna melt croissant with plant-based Swiss cheese, tomatoes, baby gem lettuce, dill mayonnaise, roasted red peppers, capers, celery, sliced red onions and mesclun at Privé.

We sampled the four Good Catch Launch launch products, prepared and served off the menu at Grand Hyatt Singapore. The runaway favourite was the fish fillet served in a burger, clearly the closest among the four to mimicking seafood flavours. The crab cake and fish cake had great texture, but the flavours were a little too clinical, missing a little of that ‘fishiness’ that makes seafood, seafood. I was told by the culinary team that the Good Catch recipes are still being improved on and they will only get better and better. The team values candid feedback which is great and will be constantly working to improve the products.

A recent study conducted showed that the average Singaporean person consumes an average of 22kg of seafood per year, above the global average of around 20kg. Additionally, a WWF report revealed that 75% of the seafood consumed in Singapore is unsustainably fished or farmed. The combination of unsustainably sourced seafood with Singapore’s high dependence on imports implies a large environmental impact.

“Plant-based alternatives are part of the solution to a more sustainable food system” shared Karen Tay, General Manager of Classic Fine Foods Singapore.

“We witness an increasing number of chefs and consumers integrating sustainable products into their menus and diets respectively. Helping Good Catch launch in Singapore is fully aligned with our strategy of becoming the choice partner for the best alternative protein brands. Our aim is to provide our customers with high quality and innovative food ingredients, attuned to market trends and needs.”

About Good Catch

Good Catch is a chef-driven brand developing flavorful, plant-based seafood. Founded by pioneering chefs Derek and Chad Sarno, Good Catch products offer the taste, texture and eating experience of seafood without harming the environment. Good Catch products include single-serve, ready-to-eat pouches of Plant-Based Tuna and frozen Plant-Based Fish Burgers, Plant-Based Crab Cakes, Plant-Based Thai Fish Cakes, Plant-Based Breaded Fish Sticks, Plant-Based Breaded Fish Fillets and Plant-Based Breaded Crab Cakes available in retailers across the US and Canada, with growing food service partners and wider distribution planned.