Meala's Clean-Label Protein Can Replace Conventional Binders in Blended Meat

In a blind panel, a burger with 42% beef and Meala’s protein as its binder showed no significant difference from all-beef on beef flavor, as European retailers widen their blended ranges

HAIFA, Israel, November 4, 2026 – Meala FoodTech’s clean-label texturized protein technology helps food manufacturers reduce the meat in blended products while maintaining their functional and sensory properties. A single ingredient takes over the job of a conventional binder.

Lidl reported in 2025 that one in four burgers it sold in Belgium since June was a blend of 60% beef and 40% plant protein. Albert Heijn launched 15 blended meat and dairy products the same year. The Food System Innovations report Balanced Proteins found that European retailers have priced blended beef up to 33% below conventional beef. In ADM’s Alternative Protein Landscape Report (July 2025), 75% of millennials said they were interested in trying blended or hybrid products.

For manufacturers, the challenge is the formulation. The extender that replaces the meat does not bind well on its own, so many recipes rely on methylcellulose (E461). That adds another additive to the label just as many manufacturers are trying to use fewer.

Meala FoodTech has developed a proprietary protein texturizing technology that transforms plant proteins into multifunctional, clean-label ingredients. By delivering essential functionalities such as binding, gelling, and water retention, Meala’s solution enables food manufacturers to simplify formulations and reduce their reliance on conventional binders and hydrocolloids. In blended meat applications, the technology helps address one of the category’s key formulation challenges: maintaining the structure, texture, and sensory qualities consumers expect from meat. Already commercially available in Europe through Meala’s partnership with dsm-firmenich under the Vertis™ PB Pea brand, the technology offers manufacturers a scalable solution for developing the next generation of blended meat products.

“Blended meat only works if consumers cannot detect the reduction, without compromising on taste and texture,” said Hadar Ekhoiz Razmovich, CEO and Co-Founder of Meala FoodTech. “Processors who are already reducing the meat in their products should be able to give them a cleaner label as well. In the New Sense panel, a single texturized protein did the binding and kept the burger close to beef in flavor and in chew.”

The panel, run by sensory research firm New Sense, tested plain 120 g patties with no bun, sauce or spices. Ten trained super-tasters compared all-beef with two blends of 58% extender and 42% of the same beef.

The Meala burger showed no statistically significant difference from all-beef on beef flavor, overall flavor intensity, bitterness and sourness. Its non-meat off-notes were significantly lower than the methylcellulose blend’s, its chew was closer to beef, and it was the most-liked of the blended formulations tested. It did differ significantly from beef in darker browning and internal color, lower juiciness and lower fatty texture (all p < 0.05).

Nir Goldstein, CEO of The Good Food Institute IL, says “More and more retailers and food service providers in Europe are enriching their meat offerings with plant-based proteins and fibers. Competitive taste, price and nutritional offering are key for this trend to scale. Plant proteins that bind, taste and perform like meat on a production line are much needed. Collaboration across the industry will get us there faster.”