TECH

Herbal steaks: coming soon to a 3D printer near you

Israeli startup Redefine Meat plans to launch 3D printers to produce plant-based steaks next year in an attempt to capture a slice of the fast-growing market for alternatives to meat.
Meat substitutes are increasingly popular with consumers concerned about animal welfare and the environment, increasing sales for Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods and Nestlé.
Redefine Meat, based in Rehovot, south of Tel Aviv, will first test its "Alt-Steak" in luxury restaurants this year before launching its industrial-scale 3D printers for meat distributors in 2021.
"You need a 3D printer to mimic the structure of the animal's muscle," Chief Executive Eshchar Ben-Shitrit told Reuters.
The machines will be able to print 20 kilos per hour and, eventually, hundreds, at a lower cost than real meat.
Founded in 2018, the company raised $ 6 million last year in an investment round led by CPT Capital, an investor in Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. Hanaco Venture Capital and the German bird group PHW also invested in the company.
"The market is definitely waiting for an innovation in terms of improving texture," said Stacy Pyett, who manages the Proteins for Life program at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands.
She said that 3D printing is a technology that competes to improve the texture of alternative meat, but "having new technologies ... does not necessarily solve the taste problem".
Sales of meat alternatives could reach $ 140 billion by 2029, about 10% of the world meat market, according to Barclays. 

by Tova Cohen and Silke Koltrowitz