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The world is getting hotter, and resources are shrinking. With 8 billion people to feed, the need for alternative protein sources has never been greater. We need food that’s more efficient, sustainable, and secure.
Israel is leading the charge. The country is home to over 250 food tech startups. According to the Good Food Institute, Israel tops the global charts in plant-based protein investment and ranks second only to the U.S. in overall alternative protein funding.
And the market is booming. Meat substitutes are projected to hit $11 billion globally by 2030.
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INNOVATION ON THE BAR
(ILTV)
Just last month, the Israel Innovation Authority gave Jerusalemites a taste of the future—literally. As part of its “Innovation on the Bar” series, it brought one of Israel’s top food tech companies, Redefine Meat, to Mike’s Place in the City Center. Guests got to hear from the CEO, learn about the company’s cutting-edge technology—and sample some of its surprisingly delicious products.
“I stopped eating meat, and I wanted to go back to eating meat, and I wanted to create a steak that I can eat and that would be good for the planet,” said Redefine Meat CEO Eshchar Ben-Shitrit. “We are building the world's biggest meat company that doesn't need to kill any animals.”
He added that the company "combines my passion of making great meat without killing animals with the opportunity to build a new company from Israel that will transform a very, very evil industry that is bad for the planet, bad for animals and bad for people.”
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Israeli President Isaac Herzog and wife Michal visit the Redefine Meat lab in Rehovot
(Wikimedia Commons)
Food tech is a deep-tech industry, requiring heavy investment in both technology and infrastructure. That can make it difficult for private investors to see a clear return.
While Ben-Shitrit believes that in 15 years Redefine Meat will be a multi-billion-dollar company, not all investors have that kind of patience. That’s where the Israel Innovation Authority stepped in—providing the company with its first funding to launch its R&D.
Once Redefine Meat began scaling, selling, and generating revenue, it became much easier to attract additional investment.
Moreover, Ben-Shitrit said Israel is more open to food innovation than many other countries around the world. For example, last year, Israel became the first country to grant regulatory approval for cultured beef. And perhaps more unexpectedly, the rabbis are on board too.
“Israelis are into food and love trying new things,” Ben-Shitrit said. “The Israeli consumer is more open to innovation. And of course, we have the benefit that you can eat a cheeseburger or you can eat a steak with Rochefort cheese for the first time, and it's kosher.”
Does everybody like it?
“We're still trying to convince consumers that eating our product is better for them than eating animal meat,” Ben-Shitrit explained. “If they don't know it's not meat, they love it. When we tell them it's plant based meat, they say, ‘No, I am a meat eater.’ So convincing people to make this leap of faith and to see that they will love it is much more difficult than we expected. It's more difficult than the technology.”
ILTV decided to judge for itself, starting with one of Redefine Meat’s steaks that Ben-Shitrit said was similar to picanha. It was juicy, rich, and deep in flavor.
“As you bite, you break down the fibers, and you release more and more of this moisture from the blood, then the richness from the fat,” Ben-Shitrit explained as the meat was tasted. “We broke down meat to components. We don't create a steak. We create separately, muscle, fat, blood and connective tissue, and then through additive manufacturing, what people sometimes refer to as 3D printing, we build this complex structure.”
Ben-Shitrit says the meat cooks just like animal meat and is priced similarly to premium organic cuts, making it accessible to most consumers. It’s now available in major grocery stores across Israel and in retailers throughout Europe.