Brief: Aleph Farms unveils ribeye steak produced using 3D bio-printing

• Aleph Farms has unveiled what it describes as the world’s first slaughter-free ribeye steak using 3D bioprinting technology and natural building blocks of meat, which includes real cow cells without genetic engineering and immortalization.
• Aleph Farms, which counts Cargill and Singapore’s VisVires New Protein as funders, claims its new technology literally prints actual living cells that can then be incubated to grow, differentiate, and interact to achieve the key texture and substance of a ribeye steak.
• With this achievement, Aleph Farms now claims it has the ability to produce any type of steak. 

Why it matters:

The alternative protein universe is predominated by burgers and nuggets, which have certainly captured consumers’ appetites. But moving into other types of protein alternatives will help the space further penetrate the supermarket meat case and make a broader impact. Muscle cuts of meat have been a more challenging substance to replicate compared to burgers and nuggets due to the structure and mouthfeel that they require.

This isn’t Aleph Farms’ first steak debut. In November 2020, it debuted another ribeye steak that was thin-cut and produced using a different type of technology. With this new technology, however, Aleph Farms plans to expand its portfolio rapidly.

“We keep on hearing how 3D structures and complex cuts are a decade down the line but that this is really a major leap forward for the cultivated meat industry,” said Yanniv Dorone, senior associate at AgFunder, AFN’s parent company.