First commercial production plant developed for Redefine Meat’s alternative meat concept

Redefine Meat uses 3D printing technology to create plant-based products which offer the taste, texture and aroma associated with traditional meat products. Originating in Israel, the company chose the Netherlands for its first production facility supplying European, Middle East and African markets. The demand for plant-based meat is growing fast and the company wanted its new site ready for production within 12 months.

To achieve this, Redefine Meat approached Royal HaskoningDHV for help. We provided all the support the company needed, from the business case to manufacturing and operational consultancy as well as managing construction and procurement. Many of these activities were run in parallel to achieve very tight time schedules.

“We started by defining Redefine Meat’s requirements. From a financial perspective, a greenfield site made sense but, because of the timescale, it was necessary to redevelop an existing factory,” said Koen van Beekveld, Business Case Consultant at Royal HaskoningDHV. “With a suitable location identified – which happened to be a former meat processing factory – we undertook due diligence and provided estimates for the value of processing equipment and utilities that could be used in the new operation.”

Making the leap from lab scale to commercial production

One of the challenges was creating a commercial scale operation for what had until then been a laboratory process. To address technical and design issues that arose, we produced lists of questions and organised workshops to examine every stage of the process. It was not just production that was being scaled up. Redefine Meat needed to expand its own organisation.

With the purchase of the factory complete in early November, Redefine Meat wanted the first production room ready within the six weeks before Christmas. “When clients are serious about timing, we find ways to realise their needs,” Koen explained. “In this case, we carried out engineering, procurement and management together which enabled us to meet the Christmas deadline. This was a significant accomplishment.”

Similar success was achieved in completing the entire production site, supported by effective project management and clear information flows. During the project, requirements for the business case were still being defined while engineering, procurement and construction were under way. To ensure we aligned with our client’s requirements throughout, the design and engineering team facilitating the EPCM only worked on areas where there was clarity. Any questions which had not been finalised were referred back to the business case team to trigger further analysis or workshops enabling our client to reach a decision. This maintained speed and focus to deliver a re-purposed facility offering commercial scale production of a brand new food process within our client’s challenging deadline.