Alternative-Meat Startup is Hoping a 3D-Printed Steak can Upend the Meat Industry
same or even better.” Ben-Shitrit is focused on creating industrial-level 3D printers that would ultimately be sold to meat distributors around the globe and become part of the meat supply chain. “The idea is to replace a cow. So each of our machines produce in a day exactly like a cow, up to 250 [kilograms] in a single day,” he said. by Emily Hager & Mark Abadi, businessinsider.com Faux meat is believed to be significantly better for the environment, requiring less water t's made by the Israeli alternative-meat start- and energy and releasing fewer fossil fuels than livestock — the CEO calls it “the best way to up Redefine Meat, and fight climate change, the technology behind it to deliver healthier is one of many contenders solutions and food to in today’s sizzling-hot interthe entire population national race to capitalize of the planet.” on the growing faux-meat At this stage market. in development, Redefine Meat isn’t Redefine Meat is focusing on alternatives to not disclosing how ground beef or sausages, much the printers but whole-cut steaks — an will cost. The plan is area of the market that has The Israeli company hopes to release to keep the price of yet to hit the mainstream. machines that can print 44 pounds of its 3D-printed steaks “There is an amazing faux steak an hour. comparable to tradiindustry of alternative meat that is focused on minced meat. And actually tional ones, which can range from $5 to $12 the meat industry is driven by the whole-muscle per pound. The company hopes to debut the steaks at cuts,” CEO Eshchar Ben-Shitrit told Reuters. “Steaks, roast, slow cooking, grilling — every- high-end restaurants in Israel, Switzerland, and thing that an animal can do we want to do the Germany by the end of 2020.
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Livestock Market Digest
Redefine Meat's 3D-printed vegan steak. 3D STEAK
The Israeli company hopes to release machines that can print 44 pounds of faux steak an hour. But it will be awhile before the printers are part of the meat industrial complex. The machines produce only up to 13 pounds of meat an hour, and next year, the company plans to release a new generation of machines that will print 44 pounds an hour. By comparison, American slaughterhouses can collectively process over 100,000 cows a day, each of which yields hundreds of pounds of beef. In the meat industry, profit margins are greatest on whole-animal cuts like steaks. The key to those profits is creating a product with the same taste and texture as traditional meat, Redefine Meat food engineer Alexey Tomsov said. “We analyzed the different components that make those beautiful cuts and . . . we identified three main components — the muscle, the blood, and the fat,” he said. “These are the components that we need to mimic in order to reach the perfect beautiful steak.” Redefine Meat’s recipe contains soy and pea proteins, coconut fat, and sunflower oil, among other ingredients. Though the full list is secret, the company says all ingredients are plant-based and vegan. The company has some competition. Israel is a hot spot for alternative-meat companies developing both lab-grown and 3D-printed food. In Spain, the startup Novameat is also working on 3D-printed steaks and recently developed a whole-muscle version of pork. Big companies including Tesco and Unilever are developing plant-based meats too. Venture-capital money is pouring in, and the global faux-meat market is projected to reach a value of $8.1 billion by 2026, according to Allied Market Research. They’re all racing to convince consumers that a lab-grown product can taste as good as the real thing. “At the end of the day, technology is important, but what’s more interesting is to have a really delicious and tasty food product that you can cut through and have a bite, and be excited,” Ben-Shitrit said..
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