Conversation with Thijs Wullems of Monkeys by the Sea

This week I spoke with Thijs Wullems, who started an alt-seafood company after seeing the impacts of the conventional seafood industry first hand for over a decade.

FTW: Thijs, how come you founded Monkeys by the Sea? You have a long background in the seafood sector, right?

Thijs: “I was in the international seafood industry for more than 13 years, and during that time I saw with my own eyes the degradation of the oceans, and the flaws that exist in the supply chain. There’s overfishing, ocean acidification, invasive species, and a lot of dodgy stuff going on in the trade, such as mislabeling. I simply couldn’t unsee all of this. After an underwater encounter with a giant whaleshark, the fragile and beautiful nature of the ocean really hit me. It sparked my desire to make a positive contribution, for the sake of our oceans and future generations. This is how Monkeys by the Sea started.

When we looked into alternative seafood 3 years ago, we only found flavored soy-based TVP products. They were far below expectations in terms of taste and texture. We saw the opportunity to do things better.”

FTW: Why did you pick this company name? It’s sort of funny.

Thijs: “There was this research published by a Dutch university that had discovered that monkeys who live close to the sea have slightly bigger brains compared to jungle monkeys; it’s because of their diets — they get some protein from the ocean. It’s the inspiration for our name as well as our ingredient strategy.”

FTW: Tell me more about seafood and the challenges around it.

Thijs: “There are many efforts to improve sustainability, like product certifications for example. But if you dig a little deeper, the certifications are not very strong. The industry largely funds the organizations that do the certifications, and then get to put a label on their products. It’s simply a license to operate, not a deeply rooted conservation effort.

The demand for seafood remains huge and still grows. Another 30M tons of aquaculture is planned to be ‘produced’ by 2030 to keep up with demand. But to grow fish, you need wild fish, so you rely on wild-caught fish as feedstock, as well as antibiotics. It has a huge impact on the ocean. Household pets are also big consumers of seafood. And terrestrial animal farming - chickens and pigs – also consume huge amounts of fishmeal. So it’s becoming an unmanageable system. Those close to the fire know this very well, but often turn a blind eye.”

FTW: What is your ideal world then, in terms of oceans?

Thijs: “It’s where our ocean, which comprises 70% of our planet, is flourishing and treated with more respect. Ocean health is a globally underrated problem, and it’s important for every human being as the ocean is the biggest carbon sink, and with that -our biggest source of hope in our fight against climate change.

Alternative seafood deserves a place in the supply chain. That means plant-based, mycelium-based as well as cell-based seafood. We also see a place for hybrid products to alleviate pressure on the oceans as a lot of seafood is also wasted in processing.”

FTW: What products do you have?

Thijs: “We focus on taste and texture as that’s the key to repeat purchases. We have a range of chilled spreads and a range of frozen seafood-inspired options like tuna chunks, fish fingers, cod bites and whole fillets.

We offer chefs and consumers an equitable alternative to mainstream seafood products, that can be distributed, cooked and enjoyed in the exact same way as the classic seafood products they emulate. We add the so sought-after omega’s from algae and seaweed, basically skipping the middle-men (i.e. the fish).

In addition, we have developed semi-fabricates like our white-fish alternative, which can be used by classic seafood companies who want to enter this space or create hybrid products. These kinds of products will also provide a platform for cell-based companies who are looking to scale towards a market-ready product sooner.”

FTW: There’s a number of alt seafood companies out there. What makes you unique?

Thijs: “We combine production techniques from the classic vegetable and seafood industry as well as the alternative protein sector. The variety in textures and taste is not something we believe can be served by a one-size-fits-all production method or one base ingredient, like soy was for alt meat for so many years. This is also the reason we are using a blend of ingredients from local sources, such as purified seawater from a marine reserve, mycoprotein, potato protein, micro-algae and upcycled plant ingredients like beet fibre. Our process is highly scalable as we are focused on building products that fit seamlessly in the existing supply chains.”

FTW: What’s your long term vision? And what impact do you think this could have?

Thijs: “The Rabobank Seafood Map gets published every year. Seafood is the most globally traded protein — not meat. For example, there’s a massive CO2 footprint of catching anchovies in Peru, turning them into fishmeal, shipping that off to Norway, Scotland and New Zealand to feed farmed salmon, and then trucking and flying that salmon all over the globe. Environmentally, this doesn’t make any sense.

Our long-term vision is that alternative seafood becomes a category in its own right, not a side fringe of the alt meat sector. Alt meat companies have openly admitted how difficult it is to do alt seafood and either left or stalled their innovation in the space. Seafood is unique in so many ways, both from a texture and nutritional point of view as well as its supply chain, the sheer variety of product formats and the customer usage. The fact that classic fish wholesalers who sell to catering companies and restaurants have now already embraced our products is also a testament that change is perceived to be needed by the traditional seafood sector itself.

In the short-term, we measure our climate impact through independent LCA analysis on our products, which found our plant-based tuna had an 85% lower carbon footprint compared to traditional tuna.

At a later stage we believe in a convergence between plant-based and cell-based companies as both have their unique set of challenges that could be quicker to overcome collectively.”

FTW: What’s your business model?

Thijs: “Our focus is B2B, so foodservice wholesalers and traditional seafood distributors, that in turn sell to caterers, hotels, and restaurants. We put a lot of emphasis on cooperation in the supply chain, from our ingredients all the way to the chefs. The product response has been overwhelmingly positive, also in blind tastings and even by seafood lovers.”

FTW: Where do you sell?

Thijs: “The Netherlands and Belgium, and we’re exploring adjacent markets like the Nordics, UK, Germany. We have 30 or so customers currently. We see solid U.S. potential as well. Some of our former industry peers have left the space. We wouldn’t expand there without the right local partners though.”

FTW: Industry peers, can you talk more about that?

Thijs: “We don’t talk about competitors, we talk about peers. Each company has unique qualities. We are also an active member of the Future Ocean Food Association, where we have monthly founder calls and share ideas and foster partnerships. There’s plenty of market potential for all the remaining companies.

The reality is that demand for ‘fish-like protein’ is still skyrocketing. The FAO forecasts say the demand for fishy proteins will surge with another 50M to 60M ton by 2050, and the wild capture from our oceans, combined with the aquaculture sector, simply cannot meet all this demand.

So even traditional seafood suppliers are embracing our product. Some years ago they thought we were crazy. Now, they take our whole range. They see that there’s a growing demand. Everyone from school canteens to large corporations are looking to address their CO2 emissions and green up their menus. This makes me bullish on the sector, both mid to long term.”

FTW: What does your team look like, and are you looking to grow it?

Thijs: “We’re 4 people in the team — Welsh, American, Scottish, and a Dutch. So quite an international team, and we’re looking to expand. It’s no secret that the overall plant-based sector has faced huge challenges in recent years. Our segment of the market has not been immune to that unfortunately, but we have weathered the storm so to speak.

We still believe the future holds bright potential for the industry with more conscious chefs and consumers increasingly voting with their forks. So we hope to grow our team on the side of product development and sales and marketing. In our product development pipeline are whole-cut ‘naked’ products, which will open another avenue of new customers.”

FTW: And you mentioned to me that you’ll be fundraising?

Thijs: “Yes, it’ll be our first external round. We’re hoping to raise €750k, with the help of local government-backed investors as well as impact- and FoodTech investors. We believe classic VC has proven not to be the most optimal route for early-stage FoodTech.”

FTW: What asks, if any, do you have for the FoodTech Weekly community and anyone else reading this article?

Thijs: “We’d like to speak to investors with realistic expectations, who understand that the food transition takes time. Food investments don’t show exponential, hockey-stick growth, as some investors thought a few years ago. People need to have realistic expectations, as well as a long term outlook. We like out-of-the-box thinkers and global citizens, who are ready to ride the wave with us. Investors should generally step up towards SDG14, ‘Life Below Water’, the most under-invested SDG.

And for those not looking to invest, but who still care about what’s happening with our oceans and how that affects all of us worldwide, I’d highly recommend the book ‘Outlaw Ocean’ by Ian Urbina, and follow his Outlaw Ocean Project. Also, please support any ocean related NGO’s in your own country."

FTW: How can folks get in touch with you?

Thijs: “LinkedIn, or via email. And please follow our socials via our website.