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AKI KALTENBACH
FOUNDER AND CEO, SAVE DA SEA FOODS
A
ki Kaltenbach always wanted to be an
entrepreneur; it just took her some time to
find out how she was going to get there.
While running her family's Japanese restaurant
in Whistler, she became vegan, but she had a
difficult time finding alternatives for seafood. "It
seemed obvious to me that plant-based food was
the next big thing," she says. "We were seeing
the rise of companies like Beyond Meat and
Impossible Foods."
ENTREPRENEURIAL LE ADER
WOTY
She started developing her own recipes using
carrots to replicate smoked salmon and serving
them in the restaurant. It was a side hustle for a
couple of years before she validated the market for
her products. In 2019, she made the leap to work on
Save da Sea Foods full time.
Originally, Kaltenbach didn't focus on selling
packaged goods to retail customers—her idea was
to sell her products to other restaurants. But, soon
after she launched, the pandemic hit. "We quickly
pivoted into creating a retail product. Today, 95 per-
cent of our revenue comes from retail," she says.
Despite the competition ramping up in plant-
based food, Kaltenbach argues that the market for
plant-based seafood is still underserved. "There
are far fewer players than you see in plant-based
milk, cheese or meat," she maintains. "And unlike
meat, where we essentially eat three types, we
eat dozens of species of seafood. There's so much
opportunity. Even the companies that are out there
have barely scratched the surface."
Victoria-based Save da Sea has three offerings
currently in the market—two smoked salmon
varieties and a tuna salad product that's made from
jackfruit. More are on the way, but Kaltenbach
doesn't want to rush them. "In terms of future
products, it's very important that they be minimally
processed, with whole fruits and vegetables," she
"There are
far fewer players
than you see
in plant-based
milk, cheese
or meat."
