Beyond Meat, a producer of plant-based meat alternatives, has announced it has partnered up with Marel to ramp up its product development operations.
The vegan food manufacturer has recently integrated Marel’s low pressure RevoPortioner into its innovation lab in California, where the company develops all its products.
Traditionally, the RevoPortioner is used to produce meat, poultry and fish items that are consistent in shape and weight. But at Beyond Meat’s innovation facility, the machine is used to form non-meat products.
“We have been keeping a clean eye on the growing meat substitute market and updating our technological knowledge accordingly. The RevoPortioner is uniquely designed to run at much lower pressures than competitive forming equipment, which allows us to deliver a fresher product with maximum quality protein texture and minimum waste,” said Ben Huisinga, Product Manager at Marel Further Processing.
Throughout the tests, Marel’s RevoPortioner technology has demonstrated significant benefits in retaining fiber orientation and product quality in non-meat products.
Beyond Meat’s product portfolio consists of plant-based chicken, sausage, crumbles (minced meat), and burgers. The company’s burger is assembled from of potato starch, coconut oil, pea proteins, and beet juice.
To meet rising demand, the company opened a second production facility in Missouri last June.
