Blackbird Foods brings organic seitan to Whole Foods Northeast stores

Blackbird Foods pushed seitan closer to the center of the grocery case with its Organic Original Seitan Block, a 12-ounce refrigerated product now in Whole Foods Market stores across the Northeast. The company says it is the first certified organic seitan product to reach U.S. retail, and it comes with a blunt nutritional pitch: 76 grams of organic plant protein per block.

The timing fits a category that has spent the last few years fighting two battles at once, one for protein and one for trust. Blackbird’s block leans hard into both. It delivers 19 grams of protein per serving, can be refrigerated for 60 days or frozen for up to one year, and is described by the company as organic certified, vegan, dairy-free, kosher, cholesterol-free and non-GMO. The ingredient list is short, just organic flour, water, organic shoyu and citric acid, which gives the product a cleaner-label profile than many shoppers now expect from meat alternatives.

Just as important, Blackbird is selling the block as a kitchen ingredient, not a one-note swap. The company says it can be sliced, cubed or shredded, similar to tofu, making it useful for home cooks, meal prep and foodservice operators who want a protein that can move across dishes instead of locking into burger form. That flexibility matters in a market where consumers are looking for high protein without the heavy processing stigma attached to some plant-based foods.

The launch also reinforces how far Blackbird has come from its restaurant roots. The company says it began by making seitan for local restaurants before opening its own facility. It says it now sells products in more than 4,000 stores nationwide, including Whole Foods, Sprouts and Target. Blackbird launched in 2020 with seitan as its flagship product, and chef-turned-entrepreneur Mark Mebus created the recipe for Blackbird Pizzeria in Philadelphia.

Whole Foods gives the new block a platform that still carries outsized weight in natural grocery. The chain has 533 U.S. locations, including 36 in New York, 32 in Massachusetts, 25 in New Jersey and 16 in Pennsylvania. The new block also joins Blackbird’s existing Whole Foods assortment of Original Seitan Shreds and Chili Lime Seitan Shreds, signaling that the retailer relationship is broadening beyond a single item. With more premium cues, a shorter ingredient panel and a stronger culinary use case, Blackbird is helping seitan look less like a legacy niche product and more like a mainstream protein with room to grow.