Shining World Protection Award Recipient: Redefine Meat – Advancing Vegan Food Technology, Part 1 of 2

Today, we honor Redefine Meat, an Israel-based start-up company which utilizes 3D printing technology to produce realistic plant-based steaks. The company’s revolutionary approach brings alternative meat to a whole new level. Made from natural, sustainable sources, their cruelty-free steaks closely replicate the appearance, texture and flavor of animal meat. Mr. Eshchar Ben-Shitrit, founder and CEO of Redefine Meat, started his company with a vision to make a positive change in the world. “The vision of the company is to replace meat. So it’s not bringing 3D printing to people’s home. Because if you look at an industry that has a problem, the food industry has many problems. What’s the biggest problem for the food industry, for the world? Animal as a source for food. What’s the biggest issue within? That is beef. So we want to have a platform that solves the problem that we need beef to make steaks. People want to buy meat, so we are giving them meat. We’re not giving them dead animals. If the meat can come from a different source, everybody will be happy to serve.” “But unfortunately or fortunately, most people in the world did not decide to stop eating meat. They still eat meat every day. And this is the market that we need to educate. But we need to serve them a different kind of meat.” With great mainstream appeal, Redefine Meat is cruelty-free, healthier, has 95% less environmental impact, and will be more affordable than animal meat when it reaches the market. “We have no cholesterol, and this is easy. When you look at an animal, when you slaughter an animal, people don’t understand that you have food pathogens that exist in a cow, and it’s almost impossible not to have them go to your meat. In our case, we don’t have any of these pathogens.” “But in April this year, we served over 200 dishes as meat to people that didn’t know that it’s meat, in restaurants and in a hotel.” For their outstanding innovation, Redefine Meat won the 2018 Food Accelerator Network Program competition. “So it was sort of, the starting point of us not only being a technology company, but a part of this food technology movement. Smarter companies in the meat industry, they embrace this innovation. So instead of saying, ‘What you’re doing is not meat, I am, I’m doing meat for 500 years, it’s our tradition.’ He says, ‘I have a know-how on how to get meat to chefs, what chefs want.’ You have a new kind of meat, let’s collaborate. Instead of competing, let’s collaborate.”