Redefine Meat, Israeli Vegetable Meat Company Prints Steak Cuts With 3D Printer, Suitable For Vegetarians

Vegetable meat from Redefine Meat, looks so much like real meat because it is printed with 3D primers. (photo: Instagram @redefinemeat)

JAKARTA - Redefine Meat, an Israeli processed food company, announced on Thursday, October 13, that it has entered into a partnership with importer Giraudi Meats. This collaboration is to encourage the distribution of their latest products to Europe. This product is “New Metas” (new meat) which is a steak cut from vegetable products produced with a 3D printer,

The start-up, which raised $170 million in a series A financing round this year, operates a large-scale meat press at its headquarters in Rehovot, south of Tel Aviv, and a new factory in the Netherlands. They hope to build their product as an alternative to conventionally produced meat.

The initial frenzy about plant-based meat alternatives, which are seen as better for animals and the environment, has subsided as fears of inflation and recession led some consumers to turn to cheaper animal meat products. But staff shortages have hit the fast food chain, which is an important sales channel for plant-based burger buns.

US-based Beyond Meat has also cut its sales outlook, although food giant Nestle, which has less exposure in the fast-food restaurant business, said consumer interest for plant-based meat alternatives was still strong.

Redefine Meat, which makes plant-based meat products from ingredients such as soy protein, peas, chickpeas, beets, nutritional yeast, and coconut fat, has ambitious plans.

"Our product is meat, it has the same attributes, it's just produced in a different way," Co-founder and Chief Executive Eshchar Ben-Shitrit told Reuters. He added that production capacity will reach more than 15 tons per day this year.

"The fact that our products are now sold by Giraudi Meats, the same party that sells high-quality meat, shows that they are not compromising on vegan products," he said.

Ben-Shitrit said Redefine Meat launched its tenderloin and striploin steaks and their adoption by chefs in expensive restaurants have proven their quality.

With Giraudi's help, they will launch their products in restaurants and butcher shops in France this month, then in Italy, Greece and Sweden later this year. Even in dozens of other countries next year.

New Meats, according to Ben-Shitrit, is currently available in Israel, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany as well as in nearly 1,000 restaurants that currently pay around $40 per kilo for a Redefine Meat steak cut.