CULT Food Science Applauds Regulatory Approval of Cultivated Foie Gras and Breakthrough in Cost Parity for Cultivated Chicken

a pioneer in the investment, development, and commercialization of cellular agriculture technologies and products, congratulates Australian startup, Vow, for becoming the first cultivated meat company to satisfy the Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety requirements and for launching their Forged Gras product in restaurants across Hong Kong.

Alongside this achievement, CULT is pleased to share updates on the remarkable progress of Israeli startup Supermeat and Czech biotech company Bene Meat Technologies, each contributing to a more sustainable, animal-friendly food system.

Key Takeaways:

• Vow has earned regulatory approval in Hong Kong for their lab-grown foie gras. This marks the first regulatory approval in Hong Kong for a cultivated meat product.
• Supermeat has achieved a breakthrough in cost parity for its cultivated chicken. Recent advancements in yield and speed allow SuperMeat to produce a pound of chicken for USD$11.79, on par with pasture-raised premium chicken in the U.S.
• In partnership with the Czech Technical University and the University of Nottingham, Bene Meat Technologies recently completed a life cycle assessment study showing that cultivating 1kg of meat only required 3.1 square meters of land and produced 5.28kg of CO2 emissions.

Vow
Vow has recently launched Forged Gras – a revolutionary twist on the delicacy, foie gras – making it the first and only company actively selling multiple cultured meat products in multiple markets. Vow's innovative twist on this highly sought-after but frequently banned dish marks the beginning of a new generation of food. Unlike traditional efforts to replicate existing foods, Vow is pioneering new products that bring the unimaginable and otherwise impossible to the table. Forged Gras pays homage to this delicacy, but it's not foie gras as we traditionally know it—it's the first "fatty liver" experience to be sourced from a tiny Japanese quail and crafted without any animal intervention, setting a bold new direction for the future of food.

SuperMeat
This Israeli startup which produces chicken meat composed of muscle and fat directly from animal cells, has announced advancements in both yield and speed which allow Supermeat to reduce its cost to produce cultivated chicken to USD$11.79 per pound. This is on par with pasture-raised premium chicken in the U.S. and marks a key step in commercializing cultivated chicken.