Spanish Plant-Based Startup Novameat Takes Beef Alternative to Blended Meat Category

Novameat, a Spanish startup known for its pulled plant-based meat products, is expanding its horizons by offering its beef alternative for blended meat applications.

As blended meat takes over European supermarket shelves, plant-based meat producer Novameat has become the latest to open its spores to the category.

The Spanish startup is now selling its pulled vegan beef to meat manufacturers, positioning its proprietary protein texturisation technology as a scalable bridge for these ‘balanced proteins’.

By embedding the ingredient directly into conventional mince, burger and meatball supply chains, the company says it’s enabling meat processors to innovate and add fibre-rich products without requiring any new equipment or a total shift in consumer behaviour.

“We aren’t moving away from plant-based; we are expanding into the massive infrastructure of global meat processing. Manufacturers are facing high beef prices and ESG pressure,” Berta Maeso, marketing manager at Novameat, told Green Queen.

“Our balanced protein ingredient allows them to optimise their existing lines immediately, while massively reducing meat consumption. It’s about meeting the industry where it is today to build a more resilient and sustainable protein supply for tomorrow.”

Designed for plug-and-play integration into meat lines

At the heart of Novameat’s innovations is its MicroForce technology, which uses standard food industry equipment with some patented tweaks to achieve the same fibrous texture as 3D printing on a much larger scale.

It enables the startup to produce shredded meat analogues without additives such as methylcellulose and carrageenan, which are associated with negative consumer perceptions in Europe’s clean-label era. The balanced protein ingredient is made from just five ingredients: water, pea protein, sunflower oil, seaweed extract, and natural aromas.

It’s designed for seamless “plug-and-play integration”. It behaves like animal muscle during the grinding and forming stages, eliminates the need for rehydration, and has high thermal stability and superior liquid retention – so manufacturers can adopt this strategy with their existing production lines with zero capital expenditure.

Swapping part of the beef with plant-based alternatives offers several advantages to these companies. Every kg of Novameat’s ingredient carries a carbon footprint 99% lower than conventional beef. It also helps improve the nutritional value of burgers, mince, and the like, thanks to better-optimised fibre-to-protein ratios.

“By introducing dietary fibre – a nutrient naturally absent in animal meat – and simultaneously increasing total protein density, we are upgrading the nutritional profile of the world’s most consumed meat formats,” said Novameat founder and CEO Giuseppe Scionti.

“We are enabling the incorporation of more protein and fibre, with less saturated fats, sugar, and salt, and achieving practical production cost efficiencies for meat processors,” he added.

Novameat in talks with leading meat processors for blended beef

Novameat has raised over $25M to date, most of which came in a Series A round in 2024. Maeso didn’t respond to questions about the company’s fundraising plans, though she did reveal strong commercial partnership potential: “We are currently in active pilot stages with several leading meat processors in Europe.”

She added: “Throughout 2025, we continued to scale the foodservice distribution of our standard plant-based portfolio, specifically our pulled (beef, chicken, pork and lamb styles) category.”

Maeso outlined how Novameat’s strategy has evolved from offering a direct product range to producing high-performance ingredients.

“While our pulled and cold-cut lines are already established in the food service sectors of Spain, Italy, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland, our balanced protein Ingredient is currently in industrial testing with major meat processors in these key markets, providing them with a plug-and-play, high-performing ingredient for hybrid meats,” she said.

“Our 2026 strategy focuses on the industrial rollout of our balanced protein ingredient and the plant-based pulled range applications as an ingredient in industrial settings,” she continued.

“While we continue to expand our foodservice presence, our priority is moving this new ingredient from late-stage pilots into full-scale production lines with major meat producers and food manufacturers,” Maeso stated. “We are now actively selecting new manufacturing partners to expand this balanced protein integration across Europe.”

Blended meat has taken European supermarkets by storm, with Lidl, Aldi, Albert Heijn and Colruyt Group all selling own-label versions in markets including the Netherlands and Belgium. For these retailers, it’s a chance to accelerate the protein transition and meet their climate goals.

Novameat is among several plant-based startups around the world selling their ingredients to meat manufacturers for these products, including The Better Meat Co, Nosh.bio, Fable Food, and Joyn Foods.