Ofek Ron
On Protein Production Technology Podcast
“I thought that I'll come up with a new plant-based fish, and a fish lover will come taste it, and if it's cheaper, they'll change. Big mistake, unfortunately. I found out that we're a very interesting product to people that are already vegans and vegetarians. We look at who buys the product, who goes to the restaurants: mainly people who are already familiar, they eat Beyond Meat, they eat Impossible.”
Protein Production Technology Podcast · Alternative Proteins · November 2026
Context
Describing his first big misconception as a founder. The hoped-for crossover from fish eaters has not happened; Oshi's buyers are mostly people who already eat plant-based food.
Transcript
…I only commit one thing, I'm gonna do my best. So I remember that first call with Yaron committing to that. And I remember why I'm doing what I'm doing, which is why I care about it. And I just continue. And believe me, if I wouldn't do anything vegan, I would say give up 20 times along the way.
What was the biggest misconception you had about the seafood sector before you got into it?
I will tell you the misconceptions I had on various things. Okay, first of all, I thought that I'll come up with a new plant-based fish, and a fish lover will come taste it if he likes it. And if it's cheaper, they'll change. Big mistake, unfortunately. And growing up, the company, I found out that I'm a very interesting, that we're a very interesting company and product to people that are already vegans and vegetarians. Okay, now, of course, it's a pity, right? Because in the end, I really hoped that, you know, once someone who is a fish lover, and we met those fish lovers and they loved the product and they say, yes, it's great. But in the end, you know, we look who buys the product, who goes to the restaurants. Mainly people that are all vegans or vegetarians, or not vegan or vegetarians, but they're already familiar, they eat beyond meat, they eat impossible, you know, they're already there, which is still good. We help them to have better experience to maintain to eat less animals, to stay vegans or vegetarians, to have more sources of protein and excite them. It's okay, I'm still very happy. But I thought the world would look different now. Okay, I thought that people will stop…
Well, let's talk about, you know, that technology now. Solving whole cut fish meant you ended up tackling something else that you probably hadn't envisaged when you started the company, and that was building the equipment to make it. Again, you said something in our prep call that rather sums up…
So I think from the beginning, it was the pitch that we're going to build a machine that will create a fish. The only thing that had to change is the machine itself. Okay, so we started a company thinking we will be a 3D printing company and we had a very A cool prototype that shows how we have a…
You've admitted there are engineering decisions you'd make very differently today without giving away anything proprietary. What did you learn about building machinery that you simply couldn't have known when you started?
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