With the advancements of food 3D printing, more and more companies are exploring meat and fish alternatives with the ultimate goal to play their part in the ethical and environmental issues surrounding conventional animal husbandry. Not to mention that sales of plant-based meat grew 45 percent over 2020 and this niche is now worth $7 billion.
The latest company that we’ve discovered in this niche market is SavorEat, an Israel-based company that provides a platform that would enable to create plant-based products. The company that describes itself as “more than just a meat alternative”, has been developing a Robot Chef Food 3D printer that simultaneously extrudes and cooks plant-based proteins.
The team explains that its platform can produce a range of products such as plant-based burgers, and in the long-run kebabs, steaks and more. Furthermore, based on selected settings, it would be possible to create customized plant-based meat such as a burger with higher fat content, or even three dishes at once, every five minutes.
As part of a partnership with foodservice company Sodexo North America, SavorEat has launched a pilot program that will enable select universities in the USA to test out its machine from 2022.
According to a press release, “Sodexo will examine the robot chef system and the first product developed by SavorEat, a plant-based protein burger, within higher education institutions across the U.S. In parallel, both parties are working on reaching an agreement for the distribution of SavorEat products.”
Before university students dive into the pilot program, initial alt-meat products will first be examined and Sodexo will provide an accurate feedback before the start of the pilot program at the chosen universities.
SavorEat hopes to receive more exposure and interest from its target audience of 20-30-year-olds once its machines will be installed at universities. The company would have observed that, almost half of this target group said they are flexitarians which will likely make up a large percentage of the firm’s customer base if and when the products are commercialized. (A flexitarian is a person who has a primarily vegetarian diet but occasionally eats meat or fish.)
Last but not least, Sodexo and SavorEat are looking forward to launching other pilots, a step that SavorEat sees as pivotal prior to the commercialization of its technology and products within the US market.
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