Spanish company uses 3D printing to print veggie steaks

A start-up company in Barcelona is using 3D printing technology to create vegetarian “steaks”.

With the growing demand for plant-based alternatives to meat, the start-up company Novameat is hoping their veggie “steaks” will reach the mass market next year.

According to business development manager, Alexandre Campos, Novameat plans to sell its “steaks” to consumers and also to businesses such as restaurants that are keen to produce plant-based meat.

The company developed its technology in 2018 and showed how its newest 3D printer produced food at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress (MWC), Reuters reports.

“It didn’t have the feeling of a traditional steak but I was positively surprised because I did not expect that the texture would be so well achieved,” said Ferran Gregori, who sampled one of the printed “steaks” at Novameat’s stand at MWC.

Novameat uses 3D technology to try and test recipes and they use capsules to introduce ingredients because that is cheaper than mass production, said Campos.

Once success has grown, the company can then produce on a larger scale using bigger 3D printers and manufacture up to 500kg of the fake meat per hour.

Campos claims that the plant-based industry would keep growing at double-digit rates in the foreseeable future and that it is also better for the environment.

“(We seek to) replace animal meat for something that is better for the planet, ourselves and animals,” Campos said.

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