SavorEat of Israel has developed technology to deliver freshly-made plant-protein burgers and is poised to market them in the United States via Sodexo foodservice company.
Its technology uses 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 news agency.
All of the competitors, such as Maple Leaf’s Impossible foods and Beyond Meat’s products are frozen.
Vizman said SavorEat’s burgers are made with a combination of potato and chickpea and pea protein.
"There is a growing segment of people called 'flexiterian' -- people that are actively trying to look for meat alternatives to reduce their meat consumption," Vizman said, citing about one-third of the U.S. population.
Oded Shoseyov, chairman and chief scientist of SavorEat, said the firm is also working on a plant-based version of a pork breakfast sausage for the U.S. market.