3D-printed vegan salmon hits the European market

• Revo Foods is the first company to sell 3D-printed vegan salmon fillets, now available in Europe.
• Some $400 million has poured into startups making seafood from plants and fish cells.
• Entrepreneurs said alternative seafood could reduce overfishing and microplastic pollution. 
• This article is part of Insider's weekly newsletter on sustainability. Sign up here.

The market for 3D-printed products includes homes, furniture, and footwear. Now we can add salmon to the list, at least in Europe.

The foodtech startup Revo Foods in September became the first company to sell 3D-printed vegan salmon filets in select grocery stores in Vienna, Austria, and opened an online shop that ships the product to most European countries this month.

"It flakes very nicely into layers just like salmon," Robin Simsa, the CEO of Revo Foods, told Insider. "It also has a similar taste, but like any meat alternative, it's not 100% the same."

This marks a milestone for the nascent alternative-seafood industry, which is testing an array of ingredients and technologies to make products that don't harm ocean ecosystems. Some startups are developing plant-based options, while others are growing fish cells in a lab. For its part, Revo Foods' 3D printer layers "mycoprotein" made from mushroom roots with plant-based fats to mimic the texture of real salmon.

Investors have poured upward of $400 million into the alternative-seafood startups in recent years — including $7 million in Revo Foods. But no company is making massive amounts of it yet. And the biggest question remains largely untested: Will people buy it?

Over the past several weeks, Simsa said Revo Foods' vegan salmon has sold out within hours of hitting store shelves. But many of the comments below a YouTube promotional video were critical of the premium price and the idea of printing food.

Revo Foods sells 130 grams, or about 4 ½ ounces, of its vegan salmon for 7 euros, or about $7.

"Why would I eat fake salmon that's more expensive than real salmon?" one commenter asked. Another said they'd rather be in a nuclear apocalypse than eat the vegan filets. The reactions were more positive on Instagram, however.

Simsa said the price will drop as Revo Foods automates more steps in the process outside of 3D printing and produces larger volumes. He acknowledged that people are skeptical of the technology but said it isn't unlike other industrial machinery that already makes chocolate and snacks. Barilla is already selling 3D-printed pasta.

There's also the sustainability angle.

Salmon is considered one of the healthiest things to eat and fish in general have a much lower carbon footprint than beef, a well-known contributor to the climate crisis because of methane emissions from cattle and the vast amount of land required to raise them.

Still, around one-third of global fish stocks are overexploited, according to the United Nations. And fishing nets are a major source of ocean microplastics, which scientists say are increasingly being found in humans.

"Ultimately, people want to be excited about a product. We have to capture their imaginations," Christopher Bryson, the CEO of New School Foods, told Insider. His startup is developing its own plant-based whole salmon filet using a novel freezing technology and has raised $12 million.

"If people made decisions based on health and the planet, we'd all already only be eating tofu," Bryson said.