As a Global Meat Shortage Looms and Consumers Turn Away From Meat, Nova Meat Reveals 3D Printed Pork

During a week when the world is experiencing supply problems which have seen Tyson boss John Tyson stating in the NY Times that the “food supply chain is breaking,” Italian bioengineer Giuseppe Scionti tells vegconomist that his startup Nova Meats has developed realistic 3D plant-based pork with the texture and appearance of pork meat.

The 3D printed product, created by the same team that made the world’s first 3D printed steak, has been named “pork skewer 2.0” and has been created in “a moment of the need for flexibility and adaptability in the proteins market. [During a] global disruption in pork meat supply, we decided to develop a  specifically a skewer prototype.” Scionti tells us that he and his team have developed this working remotely, using biomimetic micro-extrusion technology, through custom 3D printing machines.

We are undoubtedly living in interesting times when it comes to the market for conventional meat. The demand for plant-based pork is surging in Asia, and right now we are potentially just weeks from international meat shortages, given the closure of slaughterhouses in US and Brazil. At the same time, as we have seen in these weeks of pandemic, sales of plantbased meats are soaring, as consumers are more interested than ever in healthy plantbased alternatives. Even mainstream outlets like the Financial Times are reporting that the pandemic is causing a global shift towards plantbased living.