New Meat: Redefine Meat Debuts 3D-Printed Flank Steak in European Retail

Redefine Meat has released its 3D-printed vegan flank steak in retail stores in the UK and Switzerland, with the Netherlands soon to follow.

Israeli food tech startup Redefine Meat has brought its 3D-printed flank steak to retail locations in Europe, starting with the UK and Switzerland.

It follows a successful foodservice rollout in over nine countries, with the plant-based meat now available at Ocado in the UK and Coop in Switzerland. People in the Netherlands will also be able to buy the flank steak shortly in Jumbo, Albert Heijn and Crisp, while Germany and Italy are set to adopt it too.

“We’ve expanded our Redefine Meat offering to Ocado customers by launching the first premium-quality plant-based steak in the Ocado range,” said Zee Ahmad, senior buyer of frozen food at Ocado. “We’ve been pleased with the performance since the launch in late 2023 and are really happy with the glowing shopper reviews.”

A patented process to deliver superior taste and texture

One of Redefine Meat’s flagship products, the whole-cut beef flank steak is positioned as a premium, chef-led product that the brand claims has won plaudits from both industry professionals and consumers of all dietary preferences.

It is part of the Rehovot-based startup’s ‘new-meat’ range, a moniker it uses to differentiate the average plant-based meat from its more high-end version. Launched in 2021, the products are now available in more than 4,000 foodservice locations across Europe, as well as in British, Swiss, French and Dutch retail.

The Redefine Meat Flank Steak is made from a base of wheat, soy and potato protein, complemented by soy and wheat flours, rapeseed oil, cornstarch, natural flavourings, maltodextrin, barley malt, salt, and colourings.

The company employs a patented additive manufacturing process – more commonly known as 3D printing – at its factory in the Netherlands. The technology gives it a meatier flavour and lends the fibrous texture so devoured by meat-eaters.

It has termed the process ‘Plant-Based Tissue Engineering’, a nod to how it disintegrates textured vegetable protein (TVP) into fibres and blends them with a dough made from soy or pea protein isolates. “This approach allows the projection of the meat-like texture of TVP, but in a flexible manner, and in a scalable manner,” the startup explained in a white paper released earlier this year.

“The muscle component is reassembled to mimic the anisotropic fibrous structure of beef, while the fat component is engineered through lipid encapsulation within a hydrocolloid matrix,” it added.

Doing so plays into consumer demand for better taste and texture in plant-based meat. The steak has been endorsed by leading chefs like Marco Pierre-White and Ron Blaauw, while a 10-country survey last year found that taste is the most important aspect of vegan analogues for 53% of Europeans. Globally, the texture of plant-based meat is as important as their conventional counterparts for 75% of consumers, but only about 60% are actually satisfied with it.

Alleviating health and climate concerns

Redefine Meat’s steak also speaks to a growing consciousness around health and nutrition. A survey released this week shows that while a pleasurable sensory experience is the top driver of food choices in Europe (chosen by 87% of respondents), health isn’t too far behind (81%). This is the main reason behind Europeans eating less meat too.

The 3D-printed steak is packed with 25g of protein per serving (100g), has 3g of fibre and zero cholesterol. It has a Nutri-Score rating of A, something that is important to many European shoppers. And as plant-based meats go, it also has a relatively clean label.

Plus, there’s the environmental benefit. Over 80% of global consumers say they’ve changed their diet in the last two years, with 43% doing so because of climate concerns. The most common change was a cutback in red meat intake, reported by 39% of people.

Beef is the most polluting food on the planet. But a life-cycle assessment has shown that Redefine Meat’s steak consumes up to 96% less water, uses 98% less use, and emits 91% fewer emissions than a conventional burger.

“When we founded Redefine Meat six years ago, we had a bold and seemingly impossible target of launching a premium-quality steak for mass consumers to buy and cook at home,” said Eshchar Ben-Shitrit, co-founder and CEO of the company.

“Having focused much of our journey to date on refining our products to meet the quality standards of the highest echelons of the culinary world, we’re proud to bring the fruits of this labour directly to consumers through our best-in-class retail partners,” he added.

The retail debut for the flank steak comes months after the company brought its products to 650 new restaurants during Veganuary across Europe, as part of an accelerated expansion drive. Last month, it introduced its lamb kofta mix, pulled beef, pulled pork, burgers, beef mince and bratwurst in German retail via e-tailer Velivery.