The vegetarian burger that he will produce and cook himself in the restaurant

In a few months you will be able to enter one of the BBB branches, order a plant-based hamburger that will be produced exactly according to the consumer's requirements - weight, fiber, fat level. The materials from which it is made will be assembled without human contact at the moment of ordering, and then the hamburger will also be grilled inside the device * This is what Prof. Oded Shusiov of the Faculty of Agriculture at the Hebrew University and the chief scientist of the foodtech company SavorEat promises in an interview with the scientist website. 

In a few months you will be able to enter one of the BBB branches, order a plant-based hamburger that will be produced exactly according to the consumer's requirements - weight, fiber, fat level. The special thing is that the hamburger will not come from a freezer and will not be fried by a kitchen employee. The materials from which it is made will be assembled as needed at the moment of the order, and then the hamburger will also be fried inside the device and from there directly to the table (if by then they restore the ability to sit in restaurants). This is what Prof. Oded Shusiov of the Faculty of Agriculture at the Hebrew University and the chief scientist of the foodtech company SavorEat (Savorit) which recently entered trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange at a value of approximately NIS 170 million, promises in an interview with the website Hidan.

the customer, and creating products that do not contain various allergens (eg gluten), preservatives and/or genetic and other changes. Also, the company's technology should enable high food safety and a long shelf life that requires convenient logistics and storage conditions at room temperature.

SavorEat is the first portfolio company of the Millennium Food-Tech R&D partnership, which invested about 2.5 million dollars in it about three months ago. Millennium Food-Tech is making a quick profit, with its holdings valued at more than three times the value of the investment. The company's total fundraising before the IPO amounted to approximately 5.5 million dollars, of which approximately 3 million dollars were provided by the Mor and Meitav Dash investment houses.

Company SavorEat Established in 2018 by Racheli Weisman who serves as CEO, Prof. Oded Shusiov who serves as Chief Scientist, and Prof. Ido Breslavsky. In addition, SavorEat has a team of senior consultants and leading partners, including the chain of hamburger restaurants BBB. The company's technology originates from research done at the Hebrew University's Faculty of Agriculture, and according to an exclusive license for commercialization from the application, the university's commercialization company.

The company is developing a unique technology for the production of meat substitutes, which combines materials in an innovative formulation from plant sources, a smart robotic system that enables the production of meat substitutes through XNUMXD printing and roasting the product using advanced cooking methods.

"The uniqueness of SavorEat is expressed in the ability to produce and cook products that follow the unique taste and texture of meat (including fat, muscle and tissues). The company has submitted applications for patents in several countries, including the USA, Europe and Australia, for the unique production method of XNUMXD printed food. The company believes that among the important advantages offered by the technology it has developed are the optimization of the supply chain and customization of the product to the diner's preferences, all without human contact. The first product that the company focuses on developing is a hamburger from plant sources. The technology developed by the company should enable a productive horizon for additional sustainable products." Prof. Shusiev explained.

Not cultured meat

Prof. Shusiev wishes to explain that this is not a cultured meat trend, which is still in its infancy, but rather an improvement of processes in the field of plant-based meat substitutes. "In order to make a product that recreates the experience of meat, you need to take care of a fibrous material, and put it through a process of applying high pressures. After that it is necessary to add protein and fat to the system.

The solutions that exist to this day from Tivol and the like - make use of gluten protein whose combination with the fibers makes it possible to create a fibrous structure for the schnitzels. The Beyond Meat company made another breakthrough when it succeeded in recreating red meat, and Impossible Meat continued and developed with the help of hemoglobin, myoglobin and another component a protein that simulates the hemoglobin in the blood and is responsible for the red color and texture when grilled. In fact they took the gene responsible for the production of hemoglobin in living things and injected it into yeast. "

What does Saborit's solution add?

"The problem is that you have to make sure that the texture of the hamburger is not uniform, it's not a hot dog, it has fatty areas and areas that are more fibrous. The technology we developed is based on cellulose - cellulose, the most common plant material that we produce in a special way and depending on the amount of water we allow it to be as hard as we want."

Doesn't it bother you that the person can't digest the cellulose?

"In the end, the cellulose makes up only one percent of the final ingredient. There is nothing in our products from animals nor allergenic substances, especially since we do not use gluten as an ingredient to build the fiber."

Eliminate the supply chain

But beyond the technological development of a hamburger that will have a real meat experience, Savorit will cause another revolution - the elimination of the supply chain.

Since we provide the ingredients for making the hamburgers in cartridges at room temperature that are kept for long periods, and that we actually produce the hamburger on site, there is no need to build factories, produce hamburgers and transport them frozen. Besides the savings in the supply chain, this also allows us to provide much more variety - in fact, each diner receives exactly the percentage of fat, fiber, as well as the weight and thickness of the hamburger he wants and not just a choice between a limited number of mass-produced options.

According to Prof. Shusiev, the saving on the need for refrigeration continues inside the restaurant, of course, and will save energy expenses for restaurants, and eliminating the need for a grillman also contributes to health, but also answers the existing plight of grillmen, kitchen workers prefer to do anything other than standing by the hot grill all the time.

Who are the potential consumers?

The consumers of these products are vegetarians and vegans. Actually, they make up a small part of the population - about 10%, but many of them are concentrated in Tel Aviv. The vegetarian and vegan community also has a large influence on a much larger group of people who eat meat but diversify once or twice a week with vegetarian meals for health, animal welfare and environmental reasons. They are called Flexiterians and at young ages they even make up 70 percent of the population.

Why did you choose to do the pilot in Tel Aviv, since the whole world is open to such experiments?

Since Tel Aviv is the capital of vegetarians and vegans, SavorEat signed a cooperation agreement with the BBB chain, which includes consulting in product development and installing the systems in the chain's kitchens as part of the development process. The installation of the systems constitutes a first pilot of its kind in Israel and will allow the company to test their marketing outside of Israel."

When?

"Apparently towards the summer, we have to complete the development, less in the field of meat substitutes and more in the mechanical field - to make sure that the machine is tough and will withstand the difficult conditions of the restaurants. In the future we may see these machines in coffee corners in high-tech companies. It will take a long time before it reaches homes."