Israeli cultured meat company MeaTech 3-d is putting other people on the edge of their seats as they check out their first-time culture nuggets, made from vegetable protein and biomass from internally produced cultured poultry fats.
The growing demand for meat is driving opportunities that can also reduce your carbon footprint. Although more environmentally friendly than classic empanadas, plant-based burgers and nuggets still don’t fully meet customer expectations because they lack the juiciness and flavor of animal fat.
Since 2019, one of MeaTech’s main goals is to achieve the best juiciness and flavor by adding a single herbal element. In 2021, the company acquired its own subsidiary Peace of Meat (PoM), a Belgian company that relies on the creation of this missing element in the laboratory.
By adding its biomass of cultured poultry fats to a plant protein, the result is a more fleshy-tasting nugget, which the company began testing at food tastings at its headquarters in Rehovot, Israel, the epicenter of the country’s food technology sector: “People say it’s like science fiction: you don’t really perceive it until you savor it,” says Arik Kaufman, co-founder and CEO of MeaTech.
Following those positive tests, the company is now setting up its first pilot plant to take cultivated biomass production to an evolutionary level: “The fact that we are now the pilot plant means that we are very comfortable with our functions to evolve and feel very comfortable with our mobile line,” Kaufman said.
Belgian Holy Grail
MeaTech 3-d is headquartered in Rehovot, popular with lab-grown meat startups and other biotech corporations that are transforming the food industry.
But its first factory to produce its juicy Holy Grail will be located in the Belgian town of Antwerp, where Peace of Meat has been installed since 2019. At the end of 2021, the one hundred percent Belgian subsidiary was able to produce a jar of 700 grams of poultry fat biomass in a single production cycle: “I think the decisions we made at the beginning to choose a very fast mobile type that no one else was and no one else is yet in the meat development area turned out to be a smart decision,” says Dirk Standaert, CEO of Peace of Meat.
The existing bioreactor allows the company to work on such volumes: “But our goal, of course, is to advance even further in the market. The new facilities will be used for R&D purposes and we will be able to accommodate many more people,” he explains, as his team has grown exponentially in just one year.
According to Standaert, with its 2000-liter bioreactor, the new R pilot
Factories and associations
In total, with only its first plant, MeaTech can produce around 20 tonnes of biomass consistent with the year, to be added as an element to hybrid meat substitutes. His hybrid technique for product progression extends to his sales strategy: “We will produce our own classified steaks and nuggets, but we will close the door to corporations that need to buy our biomass and integrate it into their products,” says Kaufmann.
MeaTech plans to identify between four and five plants worldwide by 2025, which could produce around 560 tons of biomass per year. Adding a unique component that can give more fleshy and juicy features would be an advantage for businesses that need to locate. it responds to the taste and mouthfeel of your products, while also reducing prices and item lists.
The company is further expanding its collaboration with Dutch mycoprotein startup ENOUGH, which will combine poultry biomass into its plant matrix: “We need to enter the market as soon as possible, so we are looking for collaborations that suit us. this will make the time to market as temporary as possible. Kaufman says, hoping the partnership will result in a product that will then be sent to regulators for approval.
Sustainable farms of the future
According to life cycle tests conducted by researchers at the Dutch University of Delf, cultured meat may offer environmental benefits to classic meat, especially beef production. , would be to use renewable force to force bioreactors.
Kaufman says the company’s plants that will produce batteries and biomass will be designed with a sustainable approach: “We aim to have a vision of circularity, where to run our process, we will use blank energy,” adding that the purpose is to make for installation in all weather conditions, from deserts to Antarctica.
Meanwhile, in Rehovot and Antwerp, food tests are being conducted to improve the product. To date, the company has conducted seven official tastings at its facilities and is about to do more. When it comes to plant-based products, there are many paints. make to imitate meat with evolutionary products grown in the laboratory and at home. Food scientists find it incredibly helpful to have feedback on their most recent trials. Kaufman says the bar isn’t that high: “The challenge is there, yet it’s doable,” he concludes.