Korva is a scroll of the internet’s best ideas.
A suspicious chart
Peter Rahal, who founded David Protein, distrusts any chart where his own product wins every row, a habit from his years as an investor. The team was comparing brands on how many calories come from protein, and David Protein ranked first, so they went looking for anything with a better protein-to-calorie ratio than their gold bar. The only thing they found was boiled cod.
The joke on the table
On the website's comparison table, boiled cod went in at number one and the bar at number two, left there as a dorky joke. The joke worked because the pairing signals convenience and value, and cod is pretty unappetizing. Halfway through the first year, bored with launching another flavor, the team decided to sell the fish for real, as a serious product.
Cod for sale
The frozen cod costs $55 online, and almost no one wants it. It never found product-market fit, yet it keeps the conversation on protein-to-calorie ratio, delivered as a riddle instead of a pitch. The team calls the approach product as market, and plans to keep selling cod until it finds that fit.
Why is cod so lean?
Cod keeps its fat in its liver rather than in its muscle, which is why the fillet is nearly pure protein and water. That liver is the source of cod liver oil. USDA nutrient data for cooked Atlantic cod shows most of its calories coming from protein. Lean white fish such as cod and haddock rank among the leanest sources of animal protein.
Why did cod once drive Atlantic trade?
Cod dries and salts so well that it lasts for months without refrigeration, which made it an ideal food for ships and for Catholic fast days. Basque, English, and Portuguese fleets worked the Grand Banks off Newfoundland for centuries. Salt cod became a staple from Iberia to the Caribbean. Canada closed its northern cod fishery in 1992 after the stock collapsed.
Why does an odd item stand out in memory?
The von Restorff effect is named for the German psychiatrist Hedwig von Restorff, who published experiments in 1933 showing that an item that differs from its surroundings is remembered better. A boiled fish in a table of protein bars is that kind of outlier. Her experiments used lists in which one item was set apart from the rest.
More from David Senra
