As demand for plant-based alternatives to meat rises, Barcelona-based startup Novameat is using its 3D printing technology to manufacture vegetarian “steaks” that it hopes will reach the mass market next year. Novameat plans to sell its “steaks” directly to consumers and to businesses such as restaurants interested in producing plant-based meat, business development manager Alexandre Campos told Reuters on Tuesday. The Spanish company, which developed its technology in 2018, was showing how its latest 3D printer produced food at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress. “It didn’t have the feeling of a traditional steak but I was positively surprised because I did not expect that the texture would be so well achieved,” said Ferran Gregori, after trying one of the “steaks” printed at Novameat’s stand at the world’s largest telecoms gathering. The company uses 3D technology to test recipes, introducing ingredients through capsules because it is a cheaper process than mass-producing, Campos said.