Juicy sirloin steaks hot off a 3D printer are on the menu this year as the booming faux meat market bids to lure even die-hard carnivores.
Israel’s Redefine Meat Ltd. is targeting steak houses and other restaurants in Israel, Europe and Asia with its 3D-printed facsimiles of beef cuts, from fillet to rump and brisket. The startup has just raised $29 million in funding to build a large-scale pilot factory and begin sales later this year, it said Tuesday.
“We want to change the belief that delicious meat can only come from animals,” Chief Executive Officer Eshchar Ben-Shitrit said. “We have all the building blocks in place to make this a reality.”
Alternative-protein demand has boomed in recent years as environmental and health concerns drive consumers to products like faux burgers or nuggets. That’s attracted venture-capital investors and food giants from Nestle SA to McDonald’s Corp., although more needs to be done to improve the taste of products and lower prices to compete with conventional meat.
