Rival Foods: the experience of eating meat, but without the meat.
Startup Rival Foods is working hard on the next generation of meat alternatives
Rival Foods is focused on creating the next generation of meat substitutes—not alternatives for processed and unhealthy meat products like burgers and chicken nuggets, but substitutes for so-called whole cuts, such as salmon fillets and roasts. “We want to offer the experience of eating meat, without the disadvantages of meat.”
These are the words of Birgit Dekkers, who founded Rival Foods in 2019 with Ernst Breel. Their goal: to bring a technology to the market that she had previously developed during her PhD at Wageningen University. Initially created for research purposes, this technology, known as shear-cell technology, has the potential to revolutionize the meat alternatives market.
In a nutshell, the technology can produce meat substitutes that have nearly the same texture as meat or fish, making them almost indistinguishable from their animal-based counterparts. This is remarkable because plant-based alternatives for whole cuts, such as steak or chicken breast, are not yet on the market. With a team of twelve people, Rival Foods is working hard on the machinery and processes to make this a reality—and, of course, on the final products themselves.

From left to right: Jan Meiling (Managing Director of StartLife and Venture Partner at Rival Foods during the 1st edition of Fastlane), Ernst Breel (Co-Founder of Rival Foods), and Birgit Dekkers (Co-Founder of Rival Foods).
The experience of eating meat
“Our technology can produce large pieces of meat alternatives—up to tens of kilos if needed,” says Dekkers. This opens up new possibilities: “It allows us to offer consumers the full experience of eating meat. Think of grilling a large cut of meat on the barbecue or carving a turkey at Thanksgiving.”
This experience is important, she continues: “Many people today are flexitarians. They are willing to eat less meat (and are often eager to do so), but they don’t want to compromise on what they’re used to. The experience of eating meat is a prime example—they’re not ready to give that up. We can offer that, but without the animal suffering and the environmental impact associated with meat consumption.”
Healthy alternatives
According to Dekkers, Rival Foods’ technology could fill a gap in the market. Many providers of plant-based meat substitutes—potential customers of the startup—are looking for ways to expand their product range. While they already offer alternatives for processed meat products, such as burgers, chicken nuggets, and shawarma strips, plant-based alternatives for whole cuts, with similar nutritional value, taste, and texture, are still largely unavailable.
“These brands are ready for the next step. They want to help consumers adopt healthier diets, but that’s hard to achieve with plant-based burgers and chicken nuggets, which are often high in fat,” Dekkers explains. “A chicken breast fillet, for example, is a lean and healthy piece of meat: it’s high in protein but low in fat. They want to offer a plant-based version of that as well.”
Large scale, competitive price
Rival Foods is working hard to make this a reality, but it will take some time before their plant-based whole cuts make it to our plates. “You first need to be able to produce them on a large scale before you can offer them at a competitive price. We’re currently developing the machines that can do this. After that, we can bring the products to market,” Dekkers explains. “Next year, the first consumers will be able to try our products. In a few years, we expect to offer them on a large scale.”
Fastlane programme
Rival Foods participated in the Fastlane programme. Along with other promising startups in the protein transition sector, they used this accelerator to work on the next steps in their scaling process. “Fastlane definitely helped us move forward,” says Dekkers. “It was especially interesting to go through the program with startups active in the same sector. We face similar challenges, so there’s a lot to learn from each other.”
One of the key areas Rival Foods worked on was improving organizational structure within the company. “As a startup, you’re very flexible, which is great, but sometimes that means a lack of structure and organization. Thanks to Fastlane, we’ve been able to integrate that structure into our operations, which now allows us to pursue our goals with more focus and clarity.”