Spanish Start-up Makes Realistic Steak from Peas and Seaweed

Plant-made faux meats are all the rage lately, offering a healthy and eco-friendly alternative to real meat. However, whereas ground meats like hamburgers have been easy to recreate, creating whole cuts of meats has been a bit more complicated.

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Realistic looking 

Now, Spanish startup Novameat has revealed a new plant-based steak that is “the first to mimic simultaneously the texture and the appearance of an animal whole muscle cut, in this case a beef steak," according to the Spoon. The new product is called Steak 2.0 and it has been 3D printed from peas, seaweed, and beetroot juice.

“I started with steak I think because it is the holy grail of plant-based meat,” Giuseppe Scionti, founder of Novameat told the Guardian. “It is the most difficult.”

Scionti added that the firm is still experimenting with the taste but that he expects a final formulation within the next few months.

The 50g steak costs about $1.50 to make, similar in price to real steak. However, Scionti is planning to drop the cost when the process is scaled up.

A good product

If Novameat can achieve all this, then they definitely have a product that will sell, and sell well. Eight months ago, we reported how plant-based meat maker Impossible Foods was struggling to keep up with the demand for its product.

David Welch, at the Good Food Institute, an institution which creates alternatives to animal products, told the Guardian: “To meet the growing global demand for meat with more sustainable plant-based products, we need to deliver the taste, texture, and appearance that meat-eaters want.”

He added that new advancements such as those made by Novameat are useful: “They give plant-based meat manufacturers a wider array of tools to mimic all types of meat and seafood.”

What do you think of plant-based alternatives? Are they a growing industry that is here to stay or just a passing fad?