Is This the End of Meat Imitation? Revo Foods Bets Big on Function, Not Familiarity

In a quiet but seismic shift, Austrian food-tech startup Revo Foods has just released “The Prime Cut” - a 3D-printed mycoprotein product finally answering a question industry insiders are beginning to ask out loud. What if the future of alternative protein isn’t meat-like at all?

Source: REVO FOODS & PFN

Forget the endless quest for bloody burgers and rubbery chicken substitutes. Instead, “The Prime Cut” steers into something else entirely - functionality. Nutrition. Clarity. And that rarest of qualities in the plant-based aisle total originality.

The timing couldn’t be better. Just weeks after the CellAg New Zealand Symposium, where international experts gathered to dissect the state of cultivated and alternative proteins, a provocative idea emerged from consultant James Ryall (as featured on PlanetFood.News) - the sector’s biggest mistake may be its obsession with making new proteins taste like and look like old meat. His argument? Consumers don’t want mimicry - they are wanting meaning. Food that does something.

That’s exactly what Revo is now serving up. “The Prime Cut” is crafted from mycoprotein - a fermented fungi base rich in complete amino acids, fibre, and vitamins like B6, B9, and B12. Infused with algae oil to boost omega-3 levels, it’s a lean, brain-supporting, gut-friendly, performance-enhancing slab of next-gen nutrition. In other words: Plant-Based 3.0.

While most alt-protein startups still chase the ghost of steak, Revo Foods is betting the next wave of consumers will care less about nostalgia and more about what their food can do for them. The company’s own food tech head, Niccolò Galizzi, describes the target user as someone who wants to “live longer, think clearer, and move better” — not just “eat meat, but vegan.”

Source: REVO FOODS - The Prime Cut serving suggestions.

And crucially, this isn’t lab fantasy. The product is already hitting shelves across Europe, from Billa to Kokku, retailing at €4.19 a pack. But don’t expect to find it nestled among the usual soy sausages. Revo is pushing for placement next to functional foods and protein bars - positioning “The Prime Cut” not as a meat alternative, but as a smarter alternative full stop.

This pivot towards performance-based food fits squarely into the wider narrative emerging across future food innovation. Consumers aren’t just ditching animal products for ethical or environmental reasons anymore, they’re looking for food that earns its keep. Food with real functionality. Food that works harder.

So is this the end of fake meat? Maybe not yet. But Revo’s latest release suggests something more interesting - the beginning of food that isn’t pretending to be something else. Just smarter, cleaner, and entirely its own thing.

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