Cultured meat has officially hit the Australian restaurant scene! This exhilarating development wouldn’t be possible without the cutting-edge work of Vow, an Australian startup. Her company focuses on the niche of ultra-local specialty food products. In June 2023, it became the first company to see its cultured meat approved for sale in Australia. Vow is one of just three companies in the world to receive this approval. This accomplishment represents an enormous landmark for the cultured meat industry.
Vow’s cultured meat offering, consisting of quail cells, These cells are grown in a bioreactor — a massive stainless-steel tank, like what you’d find in a brewery. This innovative technology enables the multiplication of animal cells while circumventing the production of livestock animals through conventional farming. In closing, Ellen Dinsmoor, the new CEO of Vow, made a significant point. She affirmed that the company isn’t trying to substitute traditional meat—rather, they are seeking to deliver more thrilling alternative protein adventures.
“We see cellular agriculture and the technologies that sit within it as a way of complementing existing food supply chains,” Dinsmoor stated. What we produce is quite different in that it is not made from plants—we’re not attempting to replicate the taste and texture of beef and other meats we consume today. We’re not just growing different cells, but we’re taking cells from other animals, growing those cells, and then using that to create novel food products.
The entry of cultured meat into the scene is especially notable as the environmental impact of conventional meat production increases. Singapore became the first country in the world to approve the sale of cultured meat. These meat substitutes have been on offer there for more than a year. The response from consumers has been varied. Some people are attracted to it for ethical reasons and others for sustainability.
The Italian farm lobby has led strong opposition against cultured meat, calling it “Frankenstein meat.” Advocates say industrial farming is simply not sustainable on its own. To them, the urgency of accelerating global population and rising food demand calls for fresh solutions. Paul Wood, adjunct professor in biotechnology, shared his insights on navigating sustainability on this uncharted food frontier.
So you actually have to be running on completely renewable energy. Raising an animal out on pasture is a much easier task. This approach is thirteen times more labor intensive. Wood explained.
As Vow’s products gradually enter the market, some two dozen chefs in restaurants from Sydney to Perth have started using cultured quail on their menus. Chef Mike McEnearney’s establishment in Sydney is one notable example, serving cultured quail compound butter made from quail meat produced in Vow’s facility in Alexandria.
The cultured quail is rolled and combined throughout the butter. If you enjoy deeply chickeny quail flavors, they’re present in the texture of spreadable butter on sliced bread. It tastes really good—it’s nearly like a pâté,” McEnearney divulged.
Dinsmoor is open to a highly creative method of making cultured meat. He admits that it will never be better than the flavor or quality of real meat. She stated, “It’s unlikely, I think, to be better than a piece of meat.” This eagerness would likely be echoed by many of the diners who’ve tried their hand at the new culinary alternative.
“It’s pretty adventurous. It’s quite new in the industry, so I’m glad to have tried it,” said Angelo, a diner who recently sampled cultured quail. Another patron, Benjamin Heenan, expressed his enthusiasm for the innovative nature of such offerings: “I really like the innovative nature of it, and I think I’d be really happy to see it more on menus.”
Vow is still breaking new ground, having recently adopted unique approaches to developing new food products. Successfully scaling up animal cellular growth in bioreactors represents a significant change in the food technology landscape. This groundbreaking process offers tremendous opportunities for the future of sustainable food production.
This emerging category of food has quickly caught on in popularity across Australia. Consumer acceptance is mixed. Many simply view it as an upscale fun dining adventure. “Some just say it’s a new food experience,” Wood noted, highlighting the diverse motivations behind consumer interest in cultured meat.
