• Both companies installed the world’s first plant-based food bioprinting plant on an industrial scale in Tudela (Navarra), and came together to become one of the most cutting-edge companies in the sector.
• The first product to be produced will be vegetable bacon and it will hit the market by Foodys-Cocuus before summer. After this launch, they prepare the production of prawns, salmon, octopus, foie or plant-based tuna, among others.
• An international cutting-edge technology that, when taken to an industrial scale, offers a before and after in quality, flavor and price, with new references for a category avid for superior products.

Foodys and Cocuus have announced today the signing of an alliance that consolidates them as two of the most cutting-edge companies for the development, industrialization and marketing of plant-based products on the international scene. The two companies from Navarra have just signed an agreement for the industrialization and commercialization of plant-based products from 3D bioprinting.

Last March, the first of a series of 3D bioprinters developed by Cocuus for the industrial manufacture of meat and fish analogues was implemented at the Foodys facilities in Tudela (Navarra). State-of-the-art facilities that in 2023 have received the IFS “high level” quality recognition and will be the first plant-based food bioprinting plant on an industrial scale in the world.

Launch of bacon Q2 2023

The 100% vegetable bacon is the first reference to be produced and its sale is expected to reach the national market before summer by Foodys Cocuus. It will be done in refrigerated trays of 120 gr. at a very “competitive” price. A superior product, with much less fat, without gluten or soy and with all the flavor and texture of its analogue. And, after this launch, they prepare the production of plant-based prawns, salmon, octopus, foie gras or tuna, among others.

“This is the first of a series of products that are clearly superior to those known in the category to date. This industrial printer is unique in the world and will allow us to produce 1,000 tons of 100% vegetable bacon per year. We will be able to produce more sustainable and nutritious food with vegetable-based animal protein analogues”, explains Gonzalo Agorreta, CEO of Foodys.

“Without a doubt, we are facing a technology that will forever change the way in which we produce healthy, tasty and sustainable food for the world on a scale. This technology aspires to revolutionize food science through disruptive solutions for the industry”, adds Patxi Larumbe, founder and CEO of Cocuus.

A global problem

The technology developed by Cocuus and its production, now industrialized and marketed by Foodys, will revolutionize the way we eat in the future. It is being encouraged that by 2050 in Spain the consumption of meat and fish of animal origin is considerably reduced, being a trend that can become law. In this sense, the vegetable alternative is decisive to reduce livestock farming and intensive fishing with its derived environmental problems. In addition, it can be a way of feeding a population that does not stop growing.

“There are no cows for 10 billion people, they assure us. By managing to make production plants with bioreactors and bioprinters, from which meat or fish comes out without the need for cows or fish to enter it, we will solve a great problem in the world. In addition, the fabrics that come out of this technology will not have traces of chemicals or heavy metals”, says Larumbe.

This type of food also has a more modest objective: on the one hand, targeting vegetarians and vegans who yearn for the special pleasure that eating meat generates, and, on the other, all those people who increasingly associate their diet with their own health.

Navarre at the international forefront.

The union of both companies places the Foral Community at the forefront of the international vanguard in innovation, production and marketing of plant-based foods. “Navarra has always been a power in agri-food R&D and, now, it will be here where plant foods from 3D bioprinting are produced for the first time in the world on an industrial scale,” says Lucas Irisarri, Foodys Marketing Manager.

About Foodies

Foodys is a Navarrese company created in 2017 and belonging to the ENHOL Group that was launched to respond to the challenges presented by the future of food from sustainability and innovation. It has four different business units: Foodys Agrotech: mixed and sustainable hydroponic cultivation of high-value vegetables; Foodys Plant Based: development and commercialization of vegetable meat and fish analogues; Foodys Factory: industrial manufacturing of plant-based products for own brand and third parties; and Foodys Innova: research into new ways to obtain healthy, tasty and sustainable food.

About Cocuus

Cocuus is a technology company from Navarra, founded in 2017, that offers a wide variety of solutions for the agri-food sector. It specializes in the development of technology for the production of safe, nutritious and healthy food. The company includes two Food Engineering and Research divisions to develop technological solutions for the sector. These divisions offer products and services that include: 1) Research and Development of new Plant Based and Meat Based foods; and 2) Development, installation and start-up of the engineering and software necessary for large-scale food manufacturing.