AUSTRALIA SIGNS OFF ON CULTIVATED QUAIL AS VOW MAKES HISTORY WITH WORLD-FIRST FSANZ APPROVAL

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Well, it’s official. Australia has just greenlit its first-ever lab-grown meat and it’s not beef, chicken or kangaroo. It’s quail. Cultivated quail, to be precise. And the company behind it? Sydney’s own Vow, the biotech disruptor with a flair for the exotic and a taste for the future.

Source: PFN VOW Headline Graphic

Yes, you read that right. After two years of bureaucratic paper-shuffling, scientific scrutiny, and polite public consultations, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has finally given Vow the thumbs-up to serve its cultivated Japanese quail to consumers. This isn’t a trial or a whisper of what’s to come, it's full-blown regulatory approval. Australia just joined the very short list of countries officially welcoming cultivated meat to the dinner table.

And while the rest of the world’s still arguing about labeling and whether it should be called “meat,” Vow’s been quietly raising quail, without the quail. No feathers, no slaughterhouses, no cages. Just cells grown in pristine, stainless-steel bioreactors. It’s meat, Jim, but not as we know it.

What’s next? According to Vow’s CEO George Peppou, the rollout will be slow, deliberate, and nothing short of delicious. “We plan to launch on our home turf in Australia, like we did in Singapore, where we’ve been selling and serving consistently for over a year,” he said. The focus? High-end restaurants and elevated fast-casual spots first. Retail shelves come later.

Source: VOW - Cultivated Japanese Quail Parfait

But don’t expect to grab a cultivated quail burger at your local servo just yet. This is about prestige, presentation, and proving the point cultivated meat can be luxurious.

Of course, this isn’t just a win for Vow - it’s a major milestone for cellular agriculture across the Tasman too. Because FSANZ approvals cover both Australia and New Zealand, Vow’s cultivated quail is now cleared for sale on both sides of the ditch. While New Zealand hasn’t produced any homegrown cultivated meat products yet, companies like Opo Bio are laying the groundwork by supplying the animal cells that power this entire industry. This announcement might just be the nudge needed to shift New Zealand from cell science to full-scale product innovation and bring locally grown lab meat that much closer to Kiwi plates.

So yes, Vow’s quail is approved. The future is officially plated which also bodes well for Aussies other major cultivated meat player, Magic Valley.

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