Revo Foods To Host World’s First 3D Printed Plant-Based Salmon Tasting After Rebranding From Legendary Vish

Revo Foods, the Vienna-based startup that has recently rebranded from Legendary Vish, has revealed that it will soon be debuting its 3D printed plant-based salmon in a tasting event, a first for a product of its kind. It comes ahead of the startup’s planned commercial foodservice launch of its first plant-based seafood products on the market in Vienna this summer, which will include smoked salmon strips and salmon spread. 

Revo Foods has announced that it will be hosting what it claims is the world’s first public tasting event for 3D printed plant-based seafood in March this year, partnering with Vienna-based bagel café Budapest Bagels to serve its vegan-friendly salmon product. The company is currently giving away three free tickets for the event, which will be randomly selected from an online sign-up form on their website.

“The future of seafood has arrived! After countless R&D hours, we are happy to announce that the world’s first 3D-printed plant-based seafood is here,” said Revo Foods in a social media post.

In a conversation with The Spoon, Revo Foods also announced that it will be launching two products on the market in the summer – plant-based smoked salmon strips and smoked salmon spread – both of which are not based on its 3D printing technology. The products are made from pea protein, citrus fibre, plant oils and algae extract and can be consumed cold without the need for preparation, and will be debuting at several restaurant partners in Vienna. 

The future of seafood has arrived! After countless R&D hours, we are happy to announce that the world’s first 3D-printed plant-based seafood is here.

Revo Foods

The founding team of the startup – Robin Simsa, Theresa Rothenbücher and Hakan Gürbüz – first came together in 2017 under the European Union-backed research project Training4CRM, and started to explore using 3D printing technology to create alternatives for seafood that could mimic the complex structure of cuts of fish, such as salmon and tuna. They were previously known as Legendary Vish, but have since rebranded the company to Revo Foods. 

The 3D printed plant-based salmon that Revo Foods will be showcasing at its upcoming tasting event will be made from just 11 ingredients, and is billed as high-protein and contains plant-based omega-3 fatty acids. Unlike conventional aquaculture, the startup’s plant-based version contains no heavy metals, antibiotics, does not contribute to plastic pollution and is far less carbon-intensive to produce.

But Revo Foods’ 3D printed technology also allows it to stand out from other vegan seafood players in the alternative protein industry – it enables the creation of analogues that have complex whole-cut structures such as fillets, something that the startup is still working on developing for salmon and tuna. 

Existing plant-based seafood brands such as U.S. vegan tuna maker Good Catch, and Hooked, the Swedish salmon startup, currently use classical extrusion techniques to create products that can mimic the texture and taste of deconstructed fish such as shredded formats and chunks. 

Looking ahead, Revo Foods want to create an automated production line to use 3D food printing for a number of high-value plant-based seafood products, something it has described as a “gamechanger” for plant-based products to realistically mimic the whole-cut structure of fillets and steaks.

While Revo Foods is, to our knowledge, the first food tech to leverage 3D printing for plant-based seafood, other startups have created other whole-cut meat analogues using the same technology. Spanish firm Novameat, for instance, has developed 3D printed vegan “steak” as well as a cell-based meat prototype. 

Meanwhile, Israel’s Redefine Meat, supported by its latest US$29 million funding round, will soon launch its first 3D printed plant-based meat products on the market in the coming months, produced using its proprietary 3D Alt-Meat printers that digitally maps over 70 sensorial parameters into each animal-free analogue. 

All images courtesy of Revo Foods.