Meatless meals just got a bit… meatier, because you can now order vegan filet mignon steaks online.
Plant-based meat brand Juicy Marbles has created its first line of vegan, whole cut steaks. The company is giving the public a chance to try the meat-free steak through its “steak-testing program.”
With a hefty price tag of nearly $150, U.S.-based customers can order the soy-based, vegan filet mignon on Juicy Marbles’ website.
In an email, Tilen Travnik, the company’s CEO and co-founder, told LIVEKINDLY that the raw, unseasoned, plant-based meat will “enable home-chefs and professionals to create a wide variety of recipes.”
“Raw plant meats will diversify the plant-based sector and bring it closer to a traditional culinary context,” he adds. “Meaning, they will enable people to continue culinary traditions and have a wholesome, diverse diet.”
Vegan Filet Mignon
The vegan filet mignon isn’t the first meatless steak on the market.
Earlier this month, Israeli food technology company Aleph Farms successfully cultivated a slaughter-free ribeye steak using 3D bioprinting technology. However, the cultured meat is not technically vegan—the steak uses living animal cells.
Meati Foods, founded by food tech startup Emergy Foods, makes realistic vegan steak and chicken breast from fungi. Plant-based meat brand Vivera also offers a vegan steak.
But what sets Juicy Marbles apart from other brands is its vegan tenderloin isn’t 3D printed or made in a lab. The company uses its own meat grinder, called Meat-o-matic Reverse Grinder™ 9000. The grinder mimics the muscle texture of animal-derived beef by layering soy protein into linear fibers.
Juicy Marbles’ chief brand officer, Vladimir Mickovic, tells LIVEKINDLY that the vegan filet mignon will help fill a void for whole cuts of plant-based meat in the vegan food sector.
“Plant meats are currently associated with burgers, sausages, and chunks. There aren’t whole cuts of plant meat available. And that is a huge chunk of what meat-lovers want to eat,” Juicy Marbles’ chief brand officer, Vladimir Mickovic, tells LIVEKINDLY.
He adds: “So, having steaks available really addresses this hole. A steak is an iconic piece of meat. It’s hard to imagine a world without steaks, so a plant-based steak is a must for the market.”
