Redefine Meat launched their 3D printed alt-meat products in several European companies.
Redefine Meat is an Israeli company that’s one of a few pursuing non-meat technology that is promised to dramatically lower the environmental impact of food production.
There are two approaches to “non-meat meat”: one is to use actual animal cells to grow actual meat in eco-friendly vats, and then 3D print it into familiar meat formats. This is often called “cultured meat”. The other approach, used by Redefine Meat, is to eschew meat altogether and use an ingenious combination of plant material to create “alt-meat”. This can then be flavored and 3D printed in a variety of formats to meet local food needs.
Redefine Meat explains how their technology works:
“Using a range of proprietary and patented technologies, including Meat Matrix Additive Manufacturing, Redefine Meat’s products are made from plant-based ingredients. Working closely with global meat experts to understand the complexity of animal muscle structure, Redefine Meat has cracked the holy grail of the alternative meat industry – whole cuts of meat. The new Redefine Beef and Lamb cuts go beyond the experience of any plant-based product to date – offering an extremely juicy, yet firm meaty bite by mimicking the complete muscle tissues of animal meat, ideal for products like steaks and roasts.”
I described the company’s technology in some detail months ago in an interview with Redefine Meat’s Head of Technology & Innovation, Daniel Dikovsky.
So far it’s been a mostly experimental journey for Redefine Meat. They have been delivering alt-meat products through a variety of outlets in Israel, and even had a blind taste-test popup truck.
I haven’t tasted this alt-meat myself, but I’ve been told by several folks that it is uncannily similar to actual meat to the point where you cannot identify that it’s made from plants.
The news this week is that they’ve now expanded their production and delivery chains sufficiently to open markets in Europe. Specifically they are putting Redefine Meat products on the menus of selected “high-end” restaurants in UK, Germany, The Netherlands and of course Israel.
This will expose their products to a much wider audience, and if they take to the alt-meat, the company could quickly find demand for the 3D printed products growing rapidly.
Redefine Meat also lined up a group of Michelin-starred chefs to take on the alt-meat products. One of them was UK’s Marco Pierre White, who is the youngest chef ever to be awarded three Michelin stars. White reacted to the alt-meat product in this short video:
You can sense his positivity, and that tells you something about the product: a chef of that calibre and reputation would not be saying such things unless they were true.
If things continue to work out the way they’ve been doing for Redefine Meat, we may soon see a wave of alt-meat across the land, and, hopefully, that will help slow the climate emergency.
Via Redefine Meat and Incus
