Israel's SavorEat launches personalized plant-based 3D printed burgers

Israeli foodtech firm SavorEat on Tuesday launched a plant-based burger system personalized to each customer, one of the first companies to use 3D printing technology to cook food.

Typically, vegan burgers from companies like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat are frozen and later cooked on a grill.

SavorEat's technology, however, are made on site by a self-contained 3D printer with three cartridges containing oils and other ingredients. Customers can choose how much fat and protein they want in each burger, which takes about six minutes to cook.

"It's a mix of innovation of meat alternative and digital manufacturing where we can also cook the product," Racheli Vizman, SavorEat's chief executive, told Reuters.

She said the firm's burgers are made with a combination of potato and chickpea and pea protein.

The patties will initially be served at Israeli burger restaurant chain BBB at some of their 100 locations across the country.

Consumer demand for alternatives to meat has grown in recent years, with the US plant-based meat market poised to cross $2.6 billion in 2027. Last year, the industry in the US was valued at $1.6 billion.

Alternative meat startups raised more than $3 billion 2020.

SavorEat (SVRT:Tel Aviv) shares got a bump on Tuesday's news, rising 11 percent on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. 

Another Israeli alternative meat startup made headlines in September when it was announced that Hollywood actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio had invested in Aleph Farms. The investment was made as part of Aleph Farms’ $105 million Series B funding round in July.

Israeli startup Redefine Meat last month announced that it will begin offering 3D-printed plant-based “meat” products at select high-end restaurants in Europe.