Meet Israeli start-up that prints vegan-friendly fish products

While many companies offer alternatives to actual red meat, one new Israeli start-up company seeks to offer an alternative to those who abstain from animal products and wish to enjoy a prime cut of plant-based fish. Israel-based food products development company “Plantish” aims to save the ocean’s delicate fabric of life by using plant-based materials to develop a substitute with the same appearance, texture, taste and nutritional values as real fish products. "A fish is the most hunted animal in the world,” says Ofek Ron, the company's founder, CEO and an avid vegan. ‘Unless we do something, in a few dozen decades there will probably be no more fish in the sea.” Plantish was founded by Ron, alongside other like minded individuals, including Dr. Hilla Elimelech, Dr. Ron Sicsic, Dr. Ariel Szklanny, Eli Zinal and Eyal Ziller - all of whom have made it their goal to revolutionize the fish industry the same way companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods revolutionized the alternative meat market. According to Ron, Plantish’s first product will be a prime cut of plant based salmon - one of the most popular fish in the world - with the company already eyeing the development of additional alternatives, including additional kinds of fish and even seafood such as shrimp and calamari. The way the product is made, explains Elimelech, the head of the company's R&D, is by “reverse engineering the actual fish.” “Then we come to the lab and take certain substances from plants - for example soy protein, fat, water, omega 3, omega 6 - to create the composition we reassemble into a fish configuration using a 3D printer,” says Elimelech. “3D printing is the name of the game. We want to rebuild the structure of the fish precisely,” she adds. Unlike other companies that focus on fish alternatives, such as Wanda Fish, Sea2Cell and Forsea - all of which develop lab-cultured fish products by sampling several animal cells and raising them in the laboratory - Plantish has made it its goal to be completely plant based. "We want to lead the trend of plant replacement in Israel," says Ron. "It may be that in the future that we will integrate lab- cultured fish into our own technologies, we are already talking to companies developing such products in Israel and thinking about how to integrate their cells within our sixth, seventh or eighth generation,” he added. In order to better understand the benefits and limitations of the company’s salmon product, as well as reach the precise and desired taste, Plantish enlisted the help of well known chef Nir Tzuk - who created three distinct, salmon-alternative based dishes. And while testers admitted that the taste and look of the dishes wsa spot on, the texture of the plant-based salmon left something to be desired. “Indeed, the most challenging thing is the texture," admits Elimelech, "here lies most of our efforts." Plantish adds that its product will reach restaurants around the country in approximately two years, and then land in supermarkets a year later.