For Lent: Claims of a canned-fish revival, and DuPont rolls out new ‘crispy, crunchy’ plant-based proteins

It was Ash Wednesday -- that day of meat abstension for Christian omnivores -- and my inbox was filled with surprising alternatives from foreign seafood canners and the DuPont Co.

U.S. consumption of familiar canned tuna has been dropping since at least the 1980s -- but a surge in access to colorfully packaged canned-fish specialties from Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa has boosted sales through ethnic groceries and high-end restaurants, claims Bloomberg, in a report just in time for the yearly Lenten fasts.

Global canned-fish sales are expected to rise to about $37 billion by 2021, up from just under $30 billion three years ago, Bloomberg says, citing data from Supermarket News. And some of those products are filtering into the U.S. through both high-end and discount outlets.

Grocers that cater to immigrants, such as the 7 Day Farmers Market, in a former Pathmark near DuPont Co. headquarters in Wilmington, have in recent years added spiced tinned sardines from Morocco and the Philippines, smoked eels from Taiwan, oiled sprats from Poland and the Ukraine, varieties of German herrings, and other products that are novelties for many American consumers. These items are shelved next to increasingly diverse product lines from suppliers such as New Jersey-based Goya and Haddon House, typically priced from under $1 to $3 a can. Dollar store chains such as Family General have also diversified their sourcing a bit for canned shellfish and fin fish.

Seafood canners hope to expand the U.S. import menu to include more exotic regional specialties, such as East Asian “croaker with fermented bean sauce” and other products “high in protein and heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids,” Bloomberg reports. And high-end lines such as Jose Andres Foods are promoting single-serving restaurant servings of canned products with special trimmings in New York.

My neighbors in the Inquirer newsroom know I make it through most days on canned sardines, mackerel, kippers and other delicacies their grandparents used to keep in the closet in case the icebox failed on hot days. I mash the fish, preferably with a little tomato sauce, and serve it under barley. (I used to use rice, noodles, or bread, but the doc, who calls sardines “health food in a can,” warned me off white starches.) So now I’m almost trendy.

Separately, DuPont picked Ash Wednesday to launch “six new plant protein nuggets” from its Supro and Trupro lines, which the company says are less salty and more concentrated than previous protein supplements used in “nutrition bars, snacks and cereals.”

“Our plant-based nuggets help manufacturers differentiate their brands with improved nutritional profiles and exceptional eating experiences.” while still claiming “crispy, crunchy texture,” said DuPont marketer Jean Heggie.

Supro Nugget, made of soy, are “80 percent protein," contain fewer than 120 milligrams of sodium per 100 grams, and can be bought by meat-free food processors to boost the protein content of their products in “irregular flake-like,” “barrel” or “oval” shapes. Also available with cocoa.

DuPont also rolled out new Trupro proteins, based on “non-genetically modified” yellow peas. (DuPont sees markets everywhere: the company’s ag division, most of which is to be combined with Dow’s into a new company, CorTeva, in June, separately produces genetically modified seeds, and pesticides designed to work with them.)

These concentrated plant proteins are being pitched to food makers who target “millennials,” people born around 2000, who “eat at least two snacks a day,” and "are more likely to opt for high-protein snacks than any other age group,” said Chris Schmidt, a team leader in the DuPont group that dreamed this up. If that’s not appealing to you, you might not be the target: snack bar sales are growing twice as fast in Latin America and Europe as in North America.

DuPont’s nutrition group, based in St. Louis and including Denmark-based Danisco plants that DuPont acquired a decade ago, will be part of the reconstituted, Wilmington-based DuPont Co. that plans to separate from the current DowDuPont conglomerate in June.

The protein flakes and stuff made for them should easily pass the Lenten abstension guidelines. The Catholic Church de-emphasized meatless Friday fasts in the 1960s, but the church and other Christian groups that celebrate Easter as Christ’s Resurrection still urge believers to abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent, also a period for penance and service to others. Besides going meatless, adults from 15 to 59 are expected to eat sparingly, both on Ash Wednesday at the start of Lent, and on Good Friday, marking the day Christ died, two days before Easter.