Eshchar Ben-Shitrit's world changed when his oldest son was born five and a half years ago.
当他成为父亲时，他意识到自己现在在为家人和儿子塑造世界中发挥了更大的作用。他做了曾经认为不可能的事情：他放弃了肉。
虽然本·希特里特（Ben-Shitrit）改变了他在盘子上的东西，但他告诉《食物潜水》（Food Dive）他的口味没有改变。他仍然真的想吃一条好牛排。这就是为什么他的第二个儿子在两年半前出生的那天，他辞去了3D印刷界的产品经理的工作。此后不久，他创立了一家解决这个问题的公司：创建可以用3D打印机制成的植物牛排。
His company, Israel-based Redefine Meat, has done just that. Last month, the company announced the Alt-Steak — a plant-based product with the texture, flavor and appearance of the real thing — would be在一些高端餐厅进行了测试今年晚些时候在以色列，德国和瑞士。该公司计划从2021年开始在欧洲和2021年底在欧洲的餐馆广泛使用Alt-Strea。
Redefine Meat has worked with butchers, chefs, food technologists and flavorings company Givaudan to create a product that replicates the look, taste, texture and cooking behavior of steak. The company says there are more than 70 sensorial parameters incorporated into the product. The company's proprietary 3D printers take three plant-based ingredient blends — known as Alt-Muscle, Alt-Fat and Alt-Blood — and put them together to create a multi-layered plant-based steak.
the company, which raised$6 million in a funding roundlast year, has been working to disrupt the meat industry since its inception.
Not only isBen-Shitrit准备吃他公司生产的牛排，但他也认为消费者想要它。自公司成立以来的几年中，他说，他看到消费者对肉类替代品和生产技术的态度发生了很大的转变。
“我认为现在人们会随着气候变化和... covid-19的理解，突然……3D打印肉的概念对他们来说很有意义。”Ben-Shitrittold Food Dive. "When we started, which was not so long ago, it didn't make sense. People told me, 'So why do weneed meat not coming from an animal? Why would somebody want something that looks like meat?' And today, it's more, 'How efficient is it going to be? Is it healthy or not? Is it affordable or not?'"
实际问题的实际解决方案
Just a few years ago, 3D printing was seen as the next big thing in food technology. Trendwatchers said it could be used to amp up personalization of food, creating customized snacks, confections and decorations.
Fast-forwarding to today, the technology exists, but is not in wide use. Trends have moved more toward functional ingredients, alternatives to products that come from animals, and enhancing taste and texture.
the vast potential of 3D printing in the food world is part of what drew Ben-Shitrit to creating plant-based steaks.
他说，为了成功，使用3D打印”需要特定于问题来解决问题。在3D打印肉中，您可以解决问题。想着小吃，好的。对于巧克力，实际上并不是一个问题。”
3D printing is really the only way to create a plant-based steak, he said. A conventional meat steak has different textures and juiciness, as well as fats that marble through different cuts. And even if a flavorist can perfectly replicate the taste of a steak, the appearance, texture and experience of eating steak are necessary for anything to serve as a convincing substitute.
Several other plant-based food companies that don't use 3D printing have tackled steak substitutes, and in some parts of the world, there are many choices on the market. European consumers can find杂货店的许多选择，包括荷兰制造商Vivera和一家来自无害食物, a store brand at U.K. vegan grocer GreenBay. In the United States, bothBeyond MeatandImpossible Foods已经说他们正在努力开发牛排。
“When we started, which was not so long ago, it didn't make sense. People told me, 'So why do we need meat not coming from an animal? Why would somebody want something that looks like meat?' And today, it's more, 'How efficient is it going to be? Is it healthy or not? Is it affordable or not?"
Eshchar Ben-Shitrit
Founder and CEO, Redefine Meat
重新定义肉设计使用的打印机the three plant-based ingredients that mimic different components of steak and can print in dots tinier than a millimeter. They are used to create a multi-layered matrix that reproduces a conventional steak. Ben-Shitrit said the printer has made a single piece of meat that weighs about five pounds. It can produce a steak in about an hour, he said.
It took a lot of time and R&D to get to a product that is good and replicates a steak, mostly because eating is the most complex human behavior, Ben-Shitrit said. There is texture, scent, flavor and sight involved. The company put together high-tech machines and algorithms to try to determine the perfect balance of all of those aspects. A couple of months ago, Ben-Shitrit said, they found something that worked.
“It's an持续的优化周期so many parameters," he said. "This is where we use our technology. ...the computer, the algorithm, canlive with far greater complexity than what human minds can live with. If we just [designed meat ourselves], it would take us数百万年。”
许多食品科学家,以及传统的肉butchers, were vital in the development of the Alt-Steak. Redefine Meat's scientific team dug deep into the chemistry of what makes steak. The company has then found plant proteins that form the same amino acids, creating close to the same profile of the meat itself, fatty acids and blood in the red meat.
the ingredients to make up Alt-Steak components are relatively common plant-based ones. The main ingredients are soy and pea proteins, coconut fat and sunflower oil, natural colors including beetroot, water and natural flavors. Ben-Shitrit said that despite the chemistry deep dive used to create the ingredients, the company has not formed any novel ingredients — mainly so there are no impediments in getting to market, he said. New ingredients take time to be cleared by regulators.
Eating is believing
本·希特里特（Ben-Shitrit）说，不仅是植物性的，而且还比其常规替代方案更健康。它没有胆固醇，脂肪较少，饱和脂肪较少，纤维更多。而且，他说，暴露于抗生素或与肉有关的污染的潜在危险。
但是，他说，大多数吃牛排的人都不会这样健康。他们是出于享受而做的。
“But I think it is a healthy option," he said.
So far, Ben-Shitrit said his company has had a good relationship with conventional meat. Redefine Meat is working with several conventional butchers, both to get cuts, textures and blends right and for wisdom on how to make the best products. Ben-Shitrit said the company and the idea of plant-based steak has so far been embraced by the butchers.
“they don'tsee it as a threat.they see an opportunity there, and they also think that this will happen," Ben-Shitrit said.
Alt台式的成分和技术使其具有与高质量的基于动物的牛排相当的市场价格，而Ben-Shitrit表示，这就是他的目标。Ben-Shitrit说，与CPG基于CPG植物性的肉不同，生产商正在努力与传统版本的价格平等，以推动消费者采用，而Alt-Steak的目标是愿意为用餐体验付费的消费者。他还专注于产品质量而不是生产经济，这推动了高价。
Perfecting the Alt-Steak and growing it in foodservice is Redefine Meat's sole focus right now. Ben-Shitrit said the company is not going to be working on any other kind of meat in the near future. He said the company experimented with tuna filets in the past, but they haven't done extensive work on that product. Any other products are a couple of years away.
“What we're trying to achieve is to have a product in the market and to have a big presence to have an impact, and also to support the company," he said. "And we believe that focusing on beef now makes a lot of sense. It's so big, it's so challenging. The opportunity's so big. So why confuse ourselves?"
