Israel’s Redefine Meat Launches 3D-Printed Meat Substitutes, As Market Hurtles Towards $140m

TEL AVIV, Israel — Alt-Meat innovator Redefine Meat has officially rolled out its first 3D-printed products in Israel. Additional launches in Europe, the US and Asia are expected to follow in 2022.

The startup, which says it has developed a manufacturing process to make plant-based proteins that more closely resemble whole cuts of beef than any of the existing options, has already won the backing of investors including Happiness Capital, Hanaco Ventures and CPT Capital.

In February of this year, it secured $29 million in funding — the highest ever Series A round for an alternative meat company at that time. In a further bid of confidence, it also announced its first strategic agreement with premium-quality Israeli meat distributor, Best Meister.

With the building blocks now in place, the ambitious startup believes it can change the belief that delicious meat can only come from animals, and do so on a global scale.

“Launching our first product portfolio represents a big step in our mission to become the world’s largest meat company, and accelerates our ability to bring to market our further innovation later this year,” explained Eshchar Ben-Shitrit, CEO and Co-Founder of Redefine Meat.

“Each product in the range and the ones to follow are born from our understanding of meat at the molecular level, extensive R&D and technological innovation, which combined, provides us with the ability to create any meat product that exists today. This has been critical to achieving a superiority in taste that honestly, we did not even expect, and the technological versatility to do what no other has done — replace every part of the cow with tasty plant-based meat.”

At present, its product range consists of a premium 170-gram (6 Oz.) hamburger, sausage, lamb kebab, middle eastern ‘cigar’, and ground beef is now available in select Israeli restaurants and hotels nationwide. However, Redefine Meat also plans to launch its first whole cut range later this year, following pilot-testing success.

According to the startup, which uses proprietary industrial 3D printers to create its meat substitutes, a recent large scale blind taste-test surpassed expectations, with unassuming meat-eaters from the general public finding its alt-meat indistinguishable from animal meat, with an acceptance rate of over 90%.

“What this has shown is that meat lovers can enjoy our alternative meat because it tastes and feels like meat — not solely because it is better for the environment or animals,” argued Ben-Shitrit at the time.

And with the alt-meat market predicted to reach $140 million in value within the next decade, it’s striking whilst the iron’s hot.

However, like its counterparts in the category including Novameat, Upside Foods and Nature’s Fynd — which have also secured funding within the past 12 months — it still has plenty of work to do to win over the mainstream market.

According to analysts writing in a recent Barclay’s report ‘I Can’t Believe It’s Not Meat’: “This should include research and development to improve nutrition and taste while keeping prices competitive, and a marketing campaign that emphasises the health, animal welfare and environmental benefits.”

If these issues are addressed, “then substitutes may capture a significant share of the market from traditional meat products,” they added.

Redefine Meat’s products are still a while away from hitting supermarket shelves, however, it hopes to gain enough ground through its partnership with hotels and restaurants to capture the imagination of consumers.

“With the backing of such strong investors and strategic partners, and the incredible global interest we continue to receive, the progress we have made has been phenomenal and we’re only just getting started,” commented Ben-Shitrit.

“For those seeking to believe it, I encourage you to try our New Meat and taste it for yourself. We don’t expect you to like it, we expect your mind to be blown.”