After years of hype and speculation, the future of food is finally landing on Australian plates—and it’s not just for the sci-fi crowd.
Lab-grown meat, once the stuff of TED Talks and tech expos, is about to make its debut in some of the country’s most exclusive restaurants.
So, what does this mean for your next dinner out, and could it one day be part of your weekly shop? Let’s dig in.
A decade in the making: The arrival of cultured meat
For more than ten years, lab-grown meat has been touted as the next big thing in sustainable eating.
Now, after a rigorous two-year approval process, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has given the green light to Vow, a Sydney-based food tech startup, to sell three innovative products made from cultured Japanese quail cells.
These aren’t your average chicken nuggets—think whipped pâté, foie gras, and even an edible tallow candle, all crafted from quail cells grown in a lab.
If you’re picturing a petri dish with a tiny drumstick, think again. The process is more like brewing beer than Frankenstein’s monster.
Vow’s products will soon be gracing the menus of high-end establishments such as Bottarga in Melbourne and Nel in Sydney, following a successful run in Singapore where demand has reportedly soared by 200 per cent each month.
How does lab-grown meat work?
Cultivated meat, also known as cultured or cell-based meat, is made by taking a small sample of animal cells and nurturing them in a nutrient-rich environment until they multiply and form muscle tissue.
The result? Real animal protein, but without the need to raise or slaughter animals. It’s a process that’s both scientifically fascinating and, as it turns out, quite tricky to get right.
Vow is only the third company in the world to receive approval to sell lab-grown meat for human consumption, joining the ranks of US-based Eat Just (makers of ‘Good Meat’ chicken, available in Singapore) and Upside Foods, which has approval in the US but isn’t yet selling to the public.
Why start with quail?
You might wonder why Vow chose Japanese quail as their starting point. According to CEO George Peppou, smaller species are easier to cultivate, and quail cells were among the first to thrive in their bioreactors.
Over the years, Vow has experimented with cells from around 50 species—including, in a nod to Jurassic Park, a giant meatball made from woolly mammoth DNA. But for now, quail is the star of the show.
What’s it like to eat lab-grown meat?
Curious about the taste? Early tasters describe the whipped pâté as velvety, savoury, and rich—almost indistinguishable from traditional chicken liver parfait, but with a uniquely fluffy texture that’s hard to achieve with conventional methods.
The foie gras, on the other hand, is a little less convincing, with a bouncy texture and a milder flavour than the real thing.
But that’s intentional: Vow’s team found that many people find the strong, offal taste of traditional foie gras off-putting, so they’ve toned it down to appeal to a broader audience.
And the edible tallow candle? It’s a quirky addition—designed to melt so you can dip your bread into it, though apparently, the flavour is all in the wick!
The science behind the scenes
Vow’s Sydney factory is home to ‘Andromeda,’ the world’s largest food-grade bioreactor. This seven-metre-tall contraption, which looks like something out of a steampunk novel, is where the magic happens.
The process is complex, but Peppou insists it’s only ‘incrementally more complex than beer brewing’.
In fact, several of Vow’s staff are former brewers, alongside biomedical and aeronautical engineers (including a former SpaceX CTO—because why not?).
The result is a pale pink, homogenous ‘goo’ of cultured cells, which is then transformed into gourmet products through a combination of culinary and manufacturing wizardry.
Achieving consistent, high-quality textures is easier with these homogenous mixtures than with more complex cuts of meat, which is why Vow’s initial offerings are pâtés and spreads rather than, say, a lab-grown quail breast.
The business of cultured meat
Getting to this point hasn’t been cheap. Vow has raised around $80 million from major investors, including Blackbird and Square Peg Venture.
Their focus on capital efficiency has paid off, but not without sacrifices—earlier this year, the company laid off 20 per cent of its workforce to concentrate on bringing products to market.
Despite a record-breaking single harvest of 538 kilograms of cultured meat, this is still a drop in the ocean compared to Australia’s annual chicken production, which clocks in at hundreds of thousands of tonnes.
Scaling up to mass-market levels will require not just more investment, but also advances in technology to bring costs down and improve taste and nutrition.
Will lab-grown meat replace the real thing?
Not anytime soon. For now, lab-grown meat is a high-end novelty, designed to intrigue adventurous diners and spark conversation.
Peppou is candid about the challenges: ‘If I want to eat a beef burger, I’ll eat a beef burger, which tastes really good. And if I don’t want to eat a beef burger, because I want to eat sustainably, I’ll eat a carrot.’
The key, he says, is to offer something genuinely new and exciting—not just a more expensive, less tasty version of what’s already available.
That’s why Vow’s marketing focuses on taste and innovation, rather than ethics or sustainability. The goal is to create products that are different, not just alternatives.
What about the future?
The arrival of lab-grown meat in Australia is a milestone, but it’s just the beginning. Other companies are working on synthetic dairy and egg products, though none have reached the market here yet.
The big hurdle is cost: while pharmaceutical companies can justify huge upfront investments for high-value drugs, the food industry’s slimmer margins make it harder to scale up new technologies.
Still, the potential benefits are enormous. Cultured meat could reduce the environmental impact of farming, improve animal welfare, and offer new culinary experiences. But for now, it’s a treat for the curious and the well-heeled.
Would you try it?
So, what do you think? Would you be willing to sample lab-grown pâté or foie gras at your next special dinner? Do you see a future where these products are part of your regular diet, or does the idea leave you cold? We’d love to hear your thoughts—share your opinions and experiences in the comments below!
The future of food is here, and it’s up for tasting. Bon appétit!
Also read: Your favourite $5 pantry staple is about to get more expensive—here’s why
