Planteneers has extended its range of meat alternative product applications available to customers through its collaboration with filling and portioning system manufacturer Handtmann.

Planteneers has been collaborating with Handtmann for a year to enable customers to offer plant-based steaks or fillet strips with fine marbling and an authentic fibrous texture.

Now, the product application range has been extended with cost-optimised steak varieties, bacon, cooked ham and carpaccio. Planteneers will present the cost-optimised steak concept at this year’s IFFA event in Frankfurt, Germany.

In developing the further applications, Planteneers said it focused on products with high sales potential in the European markets. Florian Bark, senior product manager at Planteneers, said customers can now be more flexible in designing their product lines.

“After the launch last year we received lots of positive feedback on our offerings,” he commented. “The quality of the plant-based steaks, with their marbling and fine fibre structure, was very well received by customers. This resulted in requests for further options. We got to work and developed new application possibilities for the marbling unit.”

Manufacturers can develop bacon, ham, carpaccio and steak products with Planteneers’ FiildMeat P and FiildMeat S solutions, and a forming and marbling unit for the Handtmann filling and portioning systems. The flexible coextrusion system creates the desired plant-based products, of which the size and shape can be adjusted to customer desires alongside the definition of fat layers.

Depending on the fat ratio and the machine setting, asymmetrical fat marbling is possible, Planteneers said. A coarse fat structure and fine fat marbling can be produced together or individually.

The Handtmann system enables a throughput of over a tonne per hour, allowing manufacturers to turn out large quantities of plant-based steak and cold cuts to meet demand from larger trade partners.