Startup putting lab-grown meat on more Aussie plates
Stuffed on a plain cracker, it’s the ideal way to let the rich, umami flavor of Vow’s smoked Japanese quail shine.
So says Matt Wilkinson, production manager at the Australian startup, which received a jar of the lab-grown creation at Christmas to rave reviews.
It’s been nearly nine months since the food tech company’s cultivated meat received the green light from regulators in Australia and New Zealand.
Japanese smoked quail pate, foie gras and parfait have been featured on fine dining menus across the country ever since and are now served in dozens of venues around the world.
Although the products may not be to everyone’s taste, Mr Wilkinson says the response has been generally positive.
“We’re getting really good feedback,” he said during a public tour of the company’s Sydney facilities during Climate Action Week.
After securing tough regulatory approvals to bring lab-grown meat to market in his home country, Mr Wilkinson said expanding the reach of “Tattooed” products because they were branded was a priority.
It can now be found at boutique local markets and purchased online, but it may take some time to reach major supermarkets.
Company founder and CEO George Peppou says the premium market is specifically targeted to build social acceptance and improve offerings.
“Chefs who push boundaries, diners who seek new experiences—they are not only your first customers, but also your best growth partners,” he says.
Lab-grown meat cannot yet compete with established farming practices, but Mr Peppou says the economics improve with each cycle.
To make cultured meat, cells taken from sample animals are placed in bioreactors and fed with nutrients to grow.
To help them proliferate rapidly, the cells need to be kept at the correct temperature, shaken gently, and monitored closely.
The 20,000-litre main reactor, which resembles a brewery fermentation tank, now has a production capacity of 250 tonnes per year.
Creating new meat products rather than trying to compete directly with chicken, beef, and other common proteins is another guiding principle.
The team has tried growing everything from crocodile cells to peacock cells, but unlike Japanese quail, not all of them offer the taste, texture or scalability.
More promising products are in the works, including the company’s first design focused on improved nutritional value, which will be released soon.
Other uses of cultured cells are being explored, with potential applications in cosmetics and other industries.
Vow is coming of age as the alternative meat market, dominated by products made from plants, faces negativity.
Interest increased in the 2010s as the environmental footprint of animal protein came into focus, but demand for meat products never quite lived up to great expectations.
Mr. Peppou said his company never wanted its products to be seen as alternatives to meat.
“We wanted it to be on the menu because it’s really delicious and interesting,” he says.
Focusing on quality food has helped Vow begin to build this reputation, with the goal of gradually making cultured meat more accessible and providing a complementary source of sustainable protein.
“The sustainable food system I believe in is not one where people stop eating meat,” Mr. Peppou says.
“It’s a place where meat eaters have more interesting options.”
Demand for meat is expected to increase by 40 to 100 percent by 2050 as the world population approaches 10 billion, but livestock currently takes up 80 percent of agricultural land.
These figures fuel the company’s quest for sustainable protein.
Preliminary results of the life cycle analysis show that the greenhouse gas profile of farmed quail is approximately 90 percent lower than beef and should be reduced further.
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