3D meat printer MeaTech completes trial ahead of schedule

  • 24 August 2020
  • Foodservice
The Israeli publicly traded start-up has printed a layer of meat by combining fat and muscle engineered from bovine stem cells
Aerial shot of a 3D printed meat
Footage from MeaTeach showreel, which can be watched in full below

Israeli foodtech start-up Meat-Tech has completed its first 3D-printed meat trial. Its scientists created a layer of meat by combining muscle and fat using proprietary technology.

Headquartered in Ness Ziona, about 29-minute drive south Tel Aviv, Meat-Tech told local news website CTech that the milestone achievement comes ahead of schedule and that its next goal is to produce a 100-gram steak.

Meat-Tech isolates somatic stem cells from a bovine umbilical cord and grows these cells inside of a bioreactor. The cells are then differentiated into fat and muscle and converted into edible ink suitable for use in the company’s 3D food printer that was developed in-house.

The trial is the first successful result of Meat-Tech’s technology, which includes sourcing and selection of stem cells with the capacity to turn into meat and fat tissue, creating the edible ink with the ability to provide the meat-like texture and the combination of fat and muscle through the 3D printing process.

Sharon Fima, Meat-Tech co-founder and chief executive, said: “This is another step on the path to meeting the company’s vision of building a plant for the growing and manufacturing of 3D-printed cuts of meat without needing to slaughter or harm any animals, a technology which could dramatically reduce air pollution, loss of energy sources and the loss of vast areas currently used for raising livestock for slaughter.”

Fima is a well-known additive manufacturing expert and the founder of Nano Dimension, the maker of a multi-layer 3D printer for the electronics industry. Nano Dimension is traded on Nasdaq with the ticker NNDM.

Meat-Tech became a public company through a reverse merger with Ophectra Real Estate listed on the Tel Aviv stock exchange. The transaction was completed in January this year. The company is traded with the ticker METC.

In June, Meat-Tech announced its plan to enter Nasdaq. The company made the announcement after raising NIS 20 million ($5.8 million) in a private placement from investors including Israeli retailer Rami Levy, Israeli meat importer Adom, and institutional investors including Mor Investments, Psagot, Clal, Meitav, among other private investors.