Green Rebel Foods, an Indonesian-based alternative meat start-up, unveiled today that it has developed a plant-based whole cut steak, as well as an alternative chicken steak (h/t Green Queen). According to the company, this is the first whole-cut alternative steak option in Asia.
The Beefless Steak is made from a combination of soy protein, shiitake mushrooms, coconut oil, seaweed flour, and contains 12 grams of protein in a serving. The Chick’n’steak is not listed on the company’s website yet, so less information is available for this product; however, it is known that soy protein is the primary ingredient used. These two new innovations join Green Rebel’s wide portfolio of plant-based alternatives, including products like chickpea sausages, shroom balls, Chick’n katsu, and beefless black pepper chunks.
Plant-based steak is not just for vegetarians or vegans; there are several reasons why someone might want to avoid steak. Beef is generally considered the worst offender of all meats when it comes to releasing carbon emissions, and for every kilogram of beef produced, 60 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions are released. Additionally, steak is a red meat that if eaten often, can increase the risk for heart problems and certain cancers.
People still love steak, whether it be for the succulent, juicy texture or for the fact that it is in many ways a status symbol. For those who don’t consume meat, there is not really a whole cut, plant-based steak option on the market readily available for consumers to purchase. Meati trialed its mycelium-based steak last year at a few restaurants but has yet to make its products commercially available. MeaTech 3D announced this past May that it has plans to develop a whole cut cell-based steak, but did not offer a concrete timeline on this. In February 2021, Aleph Farms shared that it had created a cultivated 3D-bioprinted ribeye steak, though the company did not say whether or not it had plans to commercialize this product anytime soon.
Green Rebel’s Beefless steak is now available for purchase on its website (only for those living in Indonesia), and one package costs Rp 75.000 (~$5.26 USD), while the Chick’n’steak will be added to the site in July. ABUBA Steak, a chain with 29 locations in Indonesia, and Pepper Lunch, a fast-food steak house, will incorporate the alternative steak products into several menu items this month.
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