The vegetable-based synthetic meat is now all the rage: just think of the "bang" made in the very first hours of sales even in chains famous for offering traditional meat. The “green” burger offers a healthy and eco-friendly alternative to real meat.
Until today, while minced meat like hamburgers were easy to recreate, creating whole cuts of meat was a little trickier. Today the vegetable steak seems like a reality.
Hyper realistic
The Spanish startup novameat revealed a new plant-based steak that is “the first to mimic both the texture and appearance of a cut of whole animal muscle, in this case a beef steak”. The new product is called Steak 2.0 and was 3D printed from peas, seaweed and beetroot juice.
“I started with steak, because I think it's the holy grail of plant-based meat”he told the Guardian Joseph Scionti, founder of Novameat. “And it's also the hardest cut to reproduce.”
Vegetable steak, already beautiful but perhaps not yet good
The company is still experimenting with the flavor, but expects a final formulation within the next few months. However, the price is already established: 50 grams cost around €1,50. 30 euros per kilo, the price competes with that of a normal steak. It is clear that a possible mass diffusion will allow lower costs.
A good product
If Novameat can achieve its goals in terms of flavor and price, its product will sell and sell well. The appearance is extraordinary and the demand for plant-based and synthetic meat is growing vertically. Another player in the sector, Impossible Foods, confirmed this some time ago.
Consider the fact that these products are not for vegetarians. And it is logical that this is so. A vegetarian does not want meat, or anything that tastes like meat. Otherwise he would have remained carnivorous. These are produced for the rest of the mass, those who eat meat for taste. This is why they must look and taste very similar to meat.
The progress achieved by Novameat is useful, because they offer meat producers of vegetable origin a wider range of tools to imitate all types of meat, and gradually also fish.
