Steakholder Foods, an Israeli cultivated meat company, has introduced the world’s first plant-based, 3D-printed eel using its innovative line of 3D meat printers. The move comes as the global eel market, valued at $4.3 billion in 2022, grapples with issues such as overexploitation and the risk of extinction.
The current iteration of the 3D-printed eel by Steakholder Foods is entirely plant-based, but the company has plans to incorporate ethically harvested eel cells once it becomes economically feasible. The manufacturing process involves a distinctive blend of materials and a precise layering technique to closely mimic the texture and appearance of real meat.
Arik Kaufman, the CEO of Steakholder Foods, hailed the launch of the printed eel as a groundbreaking moment in the seafood industry, highlighting the vast potential of their DropJet technology, specifically designed for fish and seafood printing.
Steakholder Foods envisions scaling up production to an industrial level, providing cost-effective alternatives to wild eel while maintaining the flexibility to produce various printed products. The technology employed allows the company to significantly reduce the ingredients used in its products compared to conventional plant-based alternatives.
Kaufman emphasized that their technology is designed to empower partners to generate products on a potential industrial scale of hundreds of tons monthly, not only at lower costs compared to wild eel but also offering the flexibility to create a range of printed products using the same production line.
The global eel market is currently grappling with challenges such as overexploitation and the threat of species extinction. In response to a surge in demand for seafood and supply constraints, alternative seafood sources utilizing advanced technologies like 3D printing are being explored as potential solutions, notwithstanding challenges such as price and customer acceptance. Other players in the cultivated seafood space, including Konscious Foods and Good Catch, are also making strides in addressing these challenges.
