Forma Foods has developed a 3D printing tech to produce animal-free meat products. It’s a startup incubated at Tecnológico de Monterrey which replicates plant-based meat such as muscle tissue, fat proteins & other connective tissue parts. Besides transforming the food sector, Forma Foods contributes to efficient food consumption, health care & environmental protection.
It offers an alternate solution for traditional meat production while maintaining the taste & texture of real meat. Using this tech, Forma Foods can ease access to enriched protein in remote regions, while considering environmental issues linked with conventional livestock farming.
The chaotic printing approach
They curated a new model named “chaotic printing,” where microstructures are developed by emoting the structure of animal tissues to make their plant-based products resemble traditional meat including texture, flavor & overall look. They are designed based on famous Mexican meals like arrachera & carne al pastor with recipes like pea protein, oriental prebiotic fiber & coconut oil to replicate muscle, connective tissue & fat portions.
Grissel Trujillo, CSO at Forma Foods says, “These chaotic flows have nothing to do with disorder or turbulence, they produce microstructures in a fast and mathematically predictable way; they generate fine thin layers that mimic the architecture of animal tissues. Eating an arrachera taco isn’t the same as eating a sausage or ground beef taco. We must imagine future needs and develop new products that are necessary today & will be more in the years.”
The shift to plant-based products
The focus on lab-based meat shifted over plant-based choices because of the high price range of animal cell-based methods. With Tec de Monterrey’s assistance & expert research from MIT & Harvard, the firm has developed 3D-printed scalable & affordable vegetable products.
“We integrate technological elements previously used (for other purposes), using them in an innovative way that creates a drastically different and proudly Mexican technology. With a growing demand for food and limited resources, innovative solutions such as printing plant-based meat are essential for the future,” explains the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Mario Moises Alvarez.
Forma Foods is a Mexican tech innovation focused on solving global food requirements despite having limited supplies. The startup also targets vegan customers & people who are looking to eliminate their meat consumption due to their health, ethical, or environmental conditions.
Author: Nagarjun M
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