Save da Sea

What Save da Sea does

Save Da Sea Foods Inc. is a privately held, woman-founded and led food manufacturer headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia, that produces plant-based alternatives to smoked salmon, tuna salad, and lox spread. The company operates a four-SKU portfolio built from whole-food ingredients: two smoked salmon variants (original and dill & capers) made from carrots with Omega-3 fatty acids from flax oil, a tuna salad alternative made from jackfruit, and a carrot lox cashew spread. All products are positioned as plant-based, gluten-free, soy-free, and ocean-friendly. The business model combines direct-to-consumer sales through the company's Squarespace-hosted e-commerce site with retail distribution through Canadian grocery chains, primarily Thrifty Foods in British Columbia and Farm Boy in Ontario, with an active expansion into the U.S. market via distributor relationships secured through the York University YSpace accelerator program.

Save Da Sea's go-to-market centers on a small but focused omnichannel presence: owned DTC e-commerce, regional Canadian grocery retail, community-driven brand marketing on Instagram (@savedasea), an email newsletter, recipe content collaborations with complementary food brands (notably Tocha Foods), and participation in craft markets such as Circle Craft in Vancouver. The customer base is bifurcated between health-conscious consumers seeking allergen-friendly plant-based options and environmentally conscious consumers motivated by ocean sustainability; both are persona-level segments reached horizontally. Revenue streams are transactional product sales rather than subscriptions or licensing.

The company was founded in 2019 and remains a micro-cap operation with 1-10 employees. It raised $650,000 CAD in seed financing from the Business Development Bank of Canada in May 2024 while participating in the YSpace agrifood accelerator, with capital earmarked for U.S. expansion. No patents, certifications, institutional venture capital investors, or M&A activity are recorded. Operations are governed by founder-CEO Aki Kaltenbach, and the company has not disclosed revenue, pricing, or valuation figures.

Name

Save da Sea

Legal name

Save Da Sea Foods Inc.

Website

https://savedasea.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Save Da Sea is a woman-founded Canadian food manufacturer that makes plant-based smoked salmon, tuna salad, and lox spreads from carrots and jackfruit, selling through DTC e-commerce, Canadian grocery chains, and a nascent U.S. distributor footprint.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Plant-Based Seafood

NAICS

Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging (31171)

SIC

Prepared Fresh Or Frozen Fish & Seafoods (2092)

akta.pro primary industry

Plant-Based Seafood Alternatives (Analog Fish & Shellfish) (AFANAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Smoked & Cured Seafood (Salmon, Herring, Lox) (AFANALAD), Marinated & Seasoned Seafood (Value-Added Raw/Par-Cooked) (AFANALAE)

Keywords

• Plant-based seafood
• Smoked salmon alternative
• Tuna salad alternative
• Vegan seafood products
• Carrot lox spread

Headquarters

HQ city

Victoria

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Product Sales (Direct to Consumer): Direct sales of plant-based seafood products to consumers through the company's e-commerce website. Products include smoked salmon alternatives, tuna salad alternatives, and spreads.
2. Retail Distribution: Wholesale distribution through grocery retail partners including Thrifty Foods and Farm Boy stores across Canada.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Save Da Sea manufactures and sells plant-based seafood alternatives, including carrot-based smoked salmon substitutes, jackfruit-based tuna salad alternatives, and a carrot lox cashew spread. All products are plant-based, gluten-free, soy-free, and contain Omega-3s from flax oil, sold directly to consumers via e-commerce and through Canadian grocery retailers.

Product overview

Save Da Sea is a woman-founded and led food manufacturer based in Victoria, Canada, offering a portfolio of four plant-based seafood products. The core offerings include two smoked salmon alternatives (original and dill & caper flavors) made from carrots, a tuna salad alternative made from jackfruit, and a carrot lox cashew spread. All products are plant-based, gluten-free, soy-free, and contain Omega-3s from flax oil, positioning the brand as a sustainable ocean-friendly alternative to traditional seafood.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Plant-Based Smoked Salmon A smoked salmon alternative made from carrots, serving as a plant-based, gluten-free, soy-free option containing Omega-3s from flax oil. Targeted at consumers seeking sustainable seafood substitutes.
• Plant-Based Smoked Salmon with Dill & Capers A dill and caper-flavored variant of the plant-based smoked salmon alternative made from carrots. Gluten-free, soy-free, with Omega-3s from flax oil.
• Plant-Based Tuna Salad A tuna salad alternative made from jackfruit, providing a plant-based, gluten-free, soy-free option containing Omega-3s from flax oil.
• Carrot Lox Cashew Spread A spreadable plant-based alternative to lox made from carrots and cashews, gluten-free, soy-free, with Omega-3s from flax oil. Available at Thrifty Foods across Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.

Quantifiable outcome

• Participants in YSpace accelerator on track to double revenues and sales velocity within a year
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• York University YSpacecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2024YSpace agrifood business accelerator, funded by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's AgriDiversity Program, accepted Save Da Sea into a cohort of 14 diverse food and beverage startups in May 2024. The program helped secure seed funding, distributor relationships, and U.S. market expansion opportunities.
• Tocha FoodsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCollaboration with Tocha Foods on recipe content featuring smoked salmon crostinis using Tocha Yuzu product paired with Save Da Sea's carrot lox spread.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Good Catch Foods: Plant-based seafood brand offering tuna, salmon, crab cakes, and fish sticks. Most direct competitor to Save Da Sea in plant-based seafood analogs across North American grocery.
• New Wave Foods: Plant-based shrimp and shellfish maker serving foodservice and retail. Comparable as a venture-backed alt-seafood startup targeting similar retail buyers with analogous analog formats.
• The Plant Based Seafood Co. Producer of plant-based scallops, shrimp, lobster, and crab using vegetable proteins. Directly comparable plant-based seafood CPG with similar grocery/foodservice go-to-market.
• Sophie's Kitchen: Pioneer plant-based seafood brand with vegan shrimp, fish fillets, and crab cakes. Comparable small CPG company with overlapping product categories and retail focus.
• Ocean Hugger Foods: Maker of Ahimsa plant-based tuna (tomato-based). Closely comparable whole-food, plant-based seafood analog approach to Save Da Sea's carrot- and jackfruit-based products.

Emerging players

• Finless Foods: Cultivated/cell-based seafood startup (plant-based and cell-cultivated blue fin tuna). Comparable as an alt-seafood disruptor targeting the same end-consumers and retailers, though operating in a different technology lane.
• Wildtype: Cultivated salmon startup. Comparable as an alt-seafood brand targeting similar consumers concerned with ocean sustainability and seafood quality.
• Tindle Foods: Plant-based chicken brand from the same alt-protein CPG ecosystem. Comparable as a similarly sized, well-funded alt-protein startup using clean ingredient formulations and DTC-plus-retail distribution.

Broad incumbents

• Beyond Meat: Market-leading plant-based meat brand with expanding alt-seafood initiatives. Comparable as the broader alt-protein incumbent that defines shelf placement, pricing, and consumer expectations in the category Save Da Sea competes in.
• Impossible Foods: Major plant-based protein company with growing retail footprint. Comparable as the large-scale incumbent shaping alt-protein retail dynamics relevant to Save Da Sea's category.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/savedasea
• Facebookfacebook.com/savedasea
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/savedasea

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Save da Sea