on an exclusive level At a New York sushi bar last week, a handful of media and politicians devoured a menu of sushi rolls, Peking duck tapas and mushroom salad. But what made this menu unusual was the only ingredient that appeared on the dishes: foie gras made from quail cells brewed in a bioreactor. The event, hosted by sushi chef Masa Takayama, was a launch party for Australian cultured meat company Vow, which will sell its foie gras in several restaurants in Singapore and Hong Kong.
The food was delicious (one dish included a mound of black truffle), but that was mostly the point. Vow and his CEO, George Peppou, are considering cultured meat as a luxury product, an unusual position for an industry where many founders are motivated by animal welfare and go toe-to-toe with mass-produced meat. But while growing meat in the lab remains incredibly expensive, Peppou is trying to turn the industry’s Achilles heel to his advantage.
“I feel like the obituary has already been written for our industry,” he says. “But just because Californians can’t do something doesn’t mean something can’t be done.”
That something is producing cultured meat and making a profit. The great challenge facing the industry—along with prohibitions and lack of cash venture capital—It is very difficult to grow animal cells in bioreactors. It is difficult to obtain reliable figures, but a research work Using data provided by companies in 2021, the cost of cultured meat ranges between $10,000 and $68 per pound, depending on production methods. Many startups say they have slashed production costs since their first experiments, but prices are still much higher than factory-farmed chicken. around $2.67 per pound.
The two best-funded startups in the sector, Eat Just and Upside Foods, have launched cultured chicken products. But Peppou, who relies on his reputation in the industry as something of a provocateur, says that approach makes no sense. “Making chicken was always a terrible idea,” he says.
The basics of cultured meat are expensive. The business of growing animal cells outside their bodies is typically the domain of medical researchers and pharmaceutical companies. Animal cells grown in culture are used to make vaccines and medicines, which are sold in small volumes at sky-high prices. The cultured meat industry needs some of the same ingredients to grow the cells it wants to sell as meat, but unlike the pharmaceutical industry. industry, needs to produce huge volumes of cells and sell them at supermarket prices.