cod almighty

The plant-based brand has launched its Cod Almighty SKU into Sainsbury’s, Co-op and Ocado

The Vegetarian Butcher has entered the fish alternative market with a cod alternative.

The Unilever-owned plant-based brand has launched its Cod Almighty (rsp: £3.50/180g) SKU into Sainsbury’s, Co-op and Ocado.

The battered cod alternative is made of structured rice flakes, which it says offer taste and replicate the flakiness of white fish.

“Whilst fish is a popular dish in the UK, there are very limited plant-based fish alternatives on the market, which means many are having to go without,” said Matthew Bailey, The Vegetarian Butcher brand manager at Unilever.

“Given our expertise and success across the category, it made complete sense for us to create Cod Almighty, to allow more people to enjoy fish dishes at home.”

The brand said fish alternatives were currently the fastest-growing segment within the plant-based market, up 30% in value in the past 12 months, and it wanted to tap into this growth opportunity.

The launch will be supported with social media and in-store activations, including product tasting focused on the ‘fish and chips’ occasion.

The activities are designed to highlight the product’s superior taste and convert shoppers at the point of purchase.

“We’re proud that The Vegetarian Butcher is continuing to outperform the market with 6.1% value growth and we attribute this to the fact that we work tirelessly to create a product that replicates the true taste and texture of meat, and this is exactly what we have concentrated on with Cod Almighty,” said Bailey.

The product is packaged in fully recyclable trays and sleeves.

“We wanted to create a delicious plant-based white, battered fish alternative, making it an easy swap for those looking to reduce their fish consumption,” he added. “We are confident Cod Almighty will help drive shopper interest in the plant-based fish space.”