The Best Way Forward for Plant-Based? Stop Copying Meat, Says One Startup

With sales of meat analogues continuing to drop, some plant-based companies are moving away from replication and betting on new product formats. Revo Foods is one of them.

“The plant-based industry had a dogma that if you replicate meat 100%, consumers will come, and I don’t think this is true anymore.”

Those were the thoughts of Robin Simsa two weeks ago. He is the founder of Austrian vegan seafood maker Revo Foods. People care less about a one-to-one replica, and instead want a good protein source prepared in an attractive way.

Simsa was speaking to Green Queen to mark the launch of the startup’s newest product, El Blanco – Inspired by Black Cod, made with mycoprotein, fermentation, and 3D printing.

His words were a sign of things to come. Today, the firm has introduced The Prime Cut, described as a “new class of performance nutrition that doesn’t try to imitate meat – and doesn’t need to”.

“We believe the next generation of food shouldn’t be about replacement – it should be about enhancement,” says Niccolò Galizzi, head of food tech at Revo Foods.

The startup is diving head-first into the consumer demand for functional foods, in a landscape where Europeans are becoming less trusting of the food system. Some alternative protein players are shifting strategic gears and hoping their customers will join them.

Plant-Based 3.0 is about nutrition, not replication

The Prime Cut marks a departure from Revo Foods’s lineup of seafood analogues – and, for that matter, the lineup of most meat-free companies.

“Most plant-based products still live in a ‘meat vs vegan’ world. We wanted to move beyond that, by stopping to copy and start creating,” explains Galizzi. “The Prime Cut isn’t here to replace steak – it’s built to fuel people who want to live longer, think clearer, and move better.”

It labels the innovation as the first product of the Plant-Based 3.0 generation, designed with targeted nutrition in mind, instead of a focus on mimicking animal protein. This is despite a survey of 7,800 Europeans last year revealing that taste is the most important factor when it comes to their daily food choices, cited by 87% of respondents.

Health wasn’t far behind, though, with 81% of consumers finding it important. That said, this attribute is more critical for flexitarians (28% of whom called it an influential factor in their food choices) than omnivores (20%).

This bodes well for Revo Foods, which says The Prime Cut isn’t intended for vegans or carnivores specifically, but “a third group” who are looking for foods that “help them perform better, live longer, and feel stronger”.

The shift towards healthy eating in Europe is driven by Gen Z, 45% of whom say they want to buy more healthy food this year, and one in three are willing to pay a premium for such products. But what does healthy mean to them? According to McKinsey, high protein and low calories.

The Prime Cut contains 8g of protein per 100g, and an identical amount of fibre. This will appeal to the 30% of Europeans who would like to eat more protein, and 38% who want to increase their fibre intake.

Aside from the high protein and fibre content, Revo Foods is focusing on micronutrients. Thanks to microalgae oil, the new product covers the daily recommended intake of omega-3 fatty acids, as well as containing folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12.

A wider shift towards functional plant-based foods

These nutrients are preserved through Revo Foods’s patented 3D extrusion process, which eschews the high-heat treatment common in other food manufacturing methods. The use of mycoprotein, meanwhile, provides the natural umami flavour consumers desire even in health-first products.

Only a third (35%) of Europeans feel fermented and plant-based products like Revo Foods’ products contribute positively to their health, while 28% feel the opposite. Their main complaints revolve around the use of additives and long ingredient lists (cited by 56% of respondents).

The Prime Cut isn’t exactly what you’d call clean-label (compounded by the fact that the term doesn’t have an established definition) – it has over a dozen ingredients. But the company is leading with the health claims on the front of the packaging, highlighting the protein, fibre, vitamin, and omega-3 content to focus on “what the product delivers rather than what it avoids”.

Retailing for €4.19 per 110g pack, it’s now available at Billa, Gurkerl.at, Kokku, Prokopp and other select retailers across Europe, with Revo Foods suggesting the product doesn’t belong in the traditional plant-based aisle – rather, it should be placed alongside functional foods like protein snacks or health supplements.

It’s not the only plant-based meat or seafood company making this play. Cult-favourite British brand This has been teasing a new tofu-like “superfood” that would have more nutritional value than anything else currently available on the market. The product is set to launch later this month, at a time when tofu and tempeh are outpacing meat alternative sales.

“As consumer awareness of environmental and ethical concerns surrounding meat consumption grows, we’re seeing continued interest in plant-based products, particularly with a lean towards health-focused choices and an ingredients list people recognise,” This CEO Mark Cuddigan told Sifted last year.

This health-forward, clean-label shift can be seen in the US too. New York-based Actual Veggies doubled its revenue in 2024 thanks to its line of plant-based burgers. Instead of mimicking meat, the brand puts vegetables front and centre and recently displaced a legacy veggie burger brand on the menu of Eurest, a corporate caterer that serves some of the country’s largest companies.

“Actual Veggies isn’t trying to mimic meat. We’re celebrating vegetables,” co-founder and co-CEO Jason Rosenbaum told Green Queen. “People are looking for food made with real, recognisable ingredients – not ultra-processed meat alternatives… Whole-food plant-based options are no longer niche – they’re becoming the standard.”