You can not call it steak, given the new French rules, but it does not seem to make a problem. Umiami, the French meat startup "non meat", has opened a 38 million Euro factory in France. The producer of vegetable meat substitutes has just inaugurated it in Alsace: it is a plant of 14,000 square meters that will produce products of "fake meat and fish". 

According to the startup, the plant is a "world novelty", focused exclusively on the large-scale production of meat and fish fillets based on vegetables: the plant uses the exclusive "umisation" texturing technology of the company. On an area of 3.7 hectares, the hi-tech food factory employs 53 employees and boasts an annual production capacity of 7,500 tons: a quantity that Umiami expects to increase in the future, bringing it to 20,000 tons. 

The investment was supported by 7.5 million Euro from France 2030, 1.5 million Euro from the Grand East Region and 1.5 million Euro from the European funds Edrf. Before launching the plant, Umiami carried out three years of development and increased production, previously undertaken in a research center in the Paris region.

The "umisation" approach has been developed to accurately replicate the taste and texture of whole and thick pieces of meat or fish, preserving their nutritional integrity: Umiami vegetable fillets, based on a simple recipe with less than ten ingredients, do not contain texturing agents or additives and allow the brand to meet the growing demand for clean brand products within the category.

"The inauguration of this first factory marks a crucial moment in the path of Umiami, after years of development of a unique technology, and illustrates the ambitions of the SME plan and industrial start-ups that we are supporting -explains Nicolas Dufourcq, executive Director of Bpifrance, one of the investors together with Astanor Ventures and Redalpine-. In addition to the challenges of reindustrialization in the Alsace region, the company is developing innovations that will help promote our agri-food skills, taking into account the challenges of a low-carbon transition, and we are proud to have supported it in the various stages of its development".