Usually Australia hangs back while other nations play around with novel tech… but not this time!
Australia has just become one of the first countries to approve lab grown meat for consumption, alongside Singapore and the U.S., but will space steak catch on?
Actually, it’s foie gras.
Sydney-based startup Vow has developed a cell-cultured foie gras that will be appearing in high end restaurants soon, though we’re not sure when it’ll land on shelves.
Frankenstein’s monster vibes.
Known as “lab-grown” or “cell-cultured” meat, the creation process is very Mary Shelley. Cells are taken from an animal, living or dead, and bathed in a nutrient rich broth within a bioreactor, where they multiply much like cells in the body.
Vow’s faux gras is made from cells extracted from Japanese quail, and according to Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ), poses no toxicological, nutritional or allergenic concerns and is therefore fit for human consumption.
And the taste?
Identical to the real thing, say discerning foodies, with all the rich, buttery, umaminess that makes foie gras famous… without force feeding a goose.
"Like the best foie gras I’ve ever had... but cleaner." — Food critic from The Guardian Australia
Cultured meat’s key selling points.
There are a few main arguments for cultured meat, including:
🐄 Animal welfare – slaughterhouse-free meat may appeal to vegans and ethical eaters.
Environmental concerns – going “alt meat” may be seen as a way to sidestep the carbon footprint of conventionally farmed meat.
🥕 Food security – with droughts, floods, fires and climatic mishaps ravaging supply chains, lab-grown meat may offer resilience.
🥩 Consistency – no more variations in taste, texture or shelf-life!
👀 Curiosity – some people might turn their nose up at lab schnitty, while others will be desperate to try it for the novelty value.
Here come the challenges.
At this early stage, producing cell-cultured meat requires a lot of energy, making it both expensive and disappointing from an environmental perspective (chicken and pork significantly outperform it, while beef is pretty much on par).
We can’t give you a price check but cultured meat will be on the menu in just a handful of high end restaurants for now. Based on overseas cost, consumers can expect to pay hundreds of dollars per kilo.
Will it shank the meat industry?
Something as novel and disruptive as lab made meat certainly has the capacity to shake up the sector, but it hinges on so many things!
The biggest challenge will be getting consumers on board the meat spaceship. Would you want to be the first to try something so highly engineered? Is it safe? What are the long term consequences?
Scaling cultured meat production will be essential taking it from curiosity to commodity and lowering those hefty overheads.
If so, it could jostle higher-cost ethical options like organic, pastured meats, because those consumers are keyed into environmental concerns, and lab grown meat may turn out to be an even savvier option.
Supply chains may be fundamentally rejigged if meat grown in bioreactors, possibly in urban/industrial areas, becomes a popular alternative, changing the supply and delivery landscape.
The take home
In the short term, it looks like alt-meat will stay fairly niche, and if anything, complement existing options and diversify consumer choice. With the bottom falling out of cultured meat funding (because investors are beguiled by AI), there are extra challenges for this fledgling industry that is, for now, more quail than golden goose.
👉🏽 Are you chomping at the bit to try cultured meat? Why or why not? Keen to hear your thoughts on this matter of national interest #throwanothersteakonthebiodigestor