Rebellyous Foods Finds Automation, Cost, and Quality Benefits in Plant-Based Meat Production System

The Mock 2 lowers Rebeyllous Foods’ manufacturing costs across several areas. Lagally says the company’s most significant cost reductions come from automating labor-intensive processes, reducing energy consumption, minimizing physical space needed, and eliminating the need for a chilled working environment.  

Rebellyous made quality a priority with the Mock 2. The system contains precise digital control systems that manage recipes, temperature, and ingredient mixing. This results in products maintaining consistency in texture, flavor, and appearance.  

“The continuous production model minimizes product variation, guaranteeing uniformity even in large batches. Additionally, we have a quality control expert who conducts multiple product reviews per shift, checking for consistent flavor, texture, breading color, and moisture levels,” Lagally explains.  

Furthermore, the Mock 2’s patented chilled equipment inhibits the growth of microorganisms, which are a major cause of food safety risks. This reduces the risk of foodborne illnesses and ensures that the final product is safe for consumption. In addition, the Mock 2’s closed system, fewer operators, and continuous production design mean there are fewer food safety risks overall. 

“Expert sanitation is paramount in our operation. Mock 2 was designed with easy sanitation and efficiency in mind. Large pieces of the equipment can be disassembled easily to be run through an industrial dishwasher and reduce the need for manual labor, improving working conditions for our team,” Lagally says.  

Future developments

The above image shows Mock 2's electronic measuring unit (EMU).Imaged provided by Rebellyous Foods

Since the Mock 2 production system’s installation in September 2024, Rebellyous has refined the system to operate more smoothly and with less downtime.  

“Our engineering team continues to refine the Mock 2 based on learnings, increasing rates of output while maintaining the quality of our products. We are currently working on better automation and data processing since so much data is collected on any one run of the Mock 2,” Lagally states.  

However, the Mock 2 is not the company’s only development. Rebellyous plans to further grow its product offerings.   

“Separately, we continue to innovate with product development, offering new plant-based options to our customers based on feedback for items they’d like to see on their menus,” says Lagally.  

Alternative protein manufacturing could become a staple in the food processing space, as increasing amounts of consumers develop preferences for more sustainable products. Rebellyous Foods is helping meet demand while developing and using technology that could have a wider impact on the food manufacturing and plant-based processing industries. 

“The need to replace meat on a large scale grows by the day.  As climate change bears down on the planet, and a growing world population requires ever-increasing levels of protein, our planet simply cannot sustain increased animal meat consumption or even maintain the status quo,” Lagally states. “At Rebellyous, we are developing industrial-scale tools to make plant-based meat production feasible on a large scale so that everyone will have access to quality, affordable plant-based meat.”