An Israeli food and beverage manufacturer has been experimenting with a futuristic new kosher snack, utilizing with the same technology operated by food scientists from NASA to create astronaut food and to develop instant coffee.
Strauss Group Inc.’s latest snack, Astro, is a nutritional cube consisting of freeze-dried and pressed fruits, vegetables and grains.
“In a global perspective, Strauss is a very small company with limited resources; when we develop products for the global market, we can compete through finding some ingenious patent others don’t have,” Strauss Group chief innovation officer Shahar Florence told the Israeli financial news site Calcalist.
Strauss Group is Israel’s second-largest food and beverage manufacturer, whose brands include Sabra, which produces dips such as hummus, and Elite confectionery and chocolate. It manufactures kosher products, which helps the company stand out from its competition.
The development of Astro comes as Israel became the first to launch a privately funded mission to the moon, in addition to becoming the fourth country to launch a lunar spacecraft, on Feb. 21.