Vow, an Australian start-up, made headlines recently when they launched their cultured quail product. This accomplishment places Vow among just three companies globally to receive regulatory approval to sell cultured meat products. This high tech piece of food production is taking place in a factory across the harbor in Alexandria, an inner ring suburb of Sydney. This regulatory approval from Australia’s food safety authority, FSANZ, was granted in June after having successfully debuted in Singapore last year. Now making its way into some of Australia’s top restaurants. They have plans to increase its availability by the end of the month, though!
Unfortunately, despite all the excitement surrounding this new product from Vow, it runs into some heavy duty opposition. The Italian farm lobby has denounced cultured meat as “Frankenstein meat.” In turn, countries such as Italy and France—and some U.S. states—have instituted phased bans on its sale and consumption. This backlash illustrates the cultural anxieties that still exist about the ethics of cultured food, and the freakishness, perceived or real, of this product.
Co-founder Ellen Dinsmoor, now Vow’s Chief Operating Officer, explains that Vow does not want to compete with, or mimic, existing meat products. “So what we make is very unique in that it’s not plant-based; we’re not trying to recreate beef and other meats we eat today,” she stated. Vow does it differently, though, taking a novel approach in harvesting cells from animals. They then cultivate these cells in a nutrient-rich substrate to develop breakthrough new food products.
IPBI Cultured quail meat has attracted interest, and not just because it’s a novelty. Right now, there’s about a dozen restaurants around Australia serving this thing © 2018 Matt Kunkel. To get more in-depth with the episode. By the end of the month, a dozen more will have signed on! Quesabravada. Diners who have sampled the dish call it a daring journey. One diner remarked, “Pâté, like a smokey pâté. Really unusual taste but quite nice, I’d definitely have it again.”
Culinary professionals, ranging from chefs to activist-motivated culinary entrepreneurs, find this new and exciting niche in the food industry fascinating. Mike McEnearney, a prominent chef, expressed his excitement: “My first time in 35 years of cooking that I’ve seen a new category come to market. It’s really exciting. It is brand new food.” He further described the texture and flavor profile of the cultured quail meat as “incredibly strong and creamy with a texture of butter,” likening it to pâté.
Vow’s cultivated meat has made its way into a growing, sustainability-minded market. During this time, agricultural production needs to increase by about 60 percent to feed the growing global population. Vow’s tasty, high-tech cultured meat is starting to look like the solution. It reduces the overall footprint on the land and reduces greenhouse gases associated with ag activities such as tillage.
That’s a pretty energy-intensive process,” said one industry expert. “You really need to be using totally renewable energy.” Second, this sentiment underscores the tricky tightrope policymakers and implementers must walk in food production while trying to achieve broader sustainability goals.
Vow’s cultured quail meat solves ethical concerns about animal welfare, which is an appeal of many alternative proteins. It too has major environmental consequences. For the consumers that find this attractive, the attraction comes in not wanting to cause animals suffering while producing food. On the one hand, many people see it as an opportunity for exciting new culinary experiences.
The release of Vow’s product follows a challenging approval process of over two years. This thorough analysis serves as a reminder that safety and quality must remain at the forefront of the evolving cultured meat sector.
Vow’s approach is radically different from conventional, lab-grown or cultured meat production. The company has focused on using one specific cell type in producing its cultured meat. This meat develops in environments that are almost identical to those inside of living creatures. Dinsmoor explained the harvesting process: “We take actual cells from animals and we grow them in what I think of as a nutrient broth… At the end of the day, you can harvest those cells out.”
Vow is making strides to resolve the challenges associated with bringing cultured meat products to market. In this extremely polarized market, the company finds itself in simultaneously opportune and dangerous waters. The company’s efforts will contribute to a broader conversation about the future of food production and its impact on society and the environment.
