 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Cultured meat |
| Founded | 2019 [1] |
| Founders | George Peppou, Tim Noakesmith |
| Headquarters | Sydney , Australia |
Area served | Singapore [2] |
Key people | George Peppou, CEO |
| Products | Forged Parfait, a cultured meat product from Japanese Quail DNA [2] |
Number of employees | 65 |
| Website | eatvow |
Vow is an Australian company that grows cultured meat for commercial distribution, [3] and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia. [4]
Vow was founded in 2019 [1] by George Peppou (CEO) and Tim Noakesmith (CCO). [5] [6] In July 2019, Vow demonstrated a kangaroo dumpling, the first non-farmed meat demonstrated using cultured meat technology. [1] [7] In August 2020 they demonstrated a further five species in partnership with Australian chef Neil Perry. [8] During 2020, the company was criticised for plans to produce zebra meat. [9]
In August 2021, the company announced they were developing hybrid products containing cultured meat and ingredients produced using precision fermentation technology. [10] The company said that work was being done in the areas of chicken, crocodile, kangaroo and water buffalo meat. [11] During an interview on The Drum in January 2022, the company announced that their first product would be crocodile and would be launching in Singapore. [12]
In November 2022 Vow announced they are launching Morsel, which is cultured Umai Quail. [13] In 2023, it developed a "mammoth meatball" as a publicity stunt, which was put on display at Museum Boerhaave. [14] The meatball was made from portions of lamb, mammoth, and African elephant DNA, piecing together DNA similar to the mammoth genome, then grown in a sheep muscle cell. [14]
Australian and New Zealand regulatory bodies began reviewing Vow's cultured meat products for approval in December 2023. [15] In April 2024, Singapore was the first government to approve the meat for commercial sale. [16] That month, Vow began selling its first commercial product there, Forged Parfait, made with Japanese quail cells. [17] [2] On 7 April 2025, Vow quail became the first cultured meat product to be officially approved for sale in Australia and New Zealand. [18] In mid-June 2025, Vow expected to be serving its cultivated quail in restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne "within weeks". [19] [20]
Vow develops, manufactures, and markets cultured meat products that are grown in large vats, similar to a brewery [21] in a four-week process. [22] As of June 2025, all of its commercial products are based on cells from a Japanese quail. [23] Vow uses a cell sample from connective tissue in the Japanese quail that contains both fat and protein. [24] The cells feed on a vegetarian broth of vitamins, amino acids, and minerals in a bioreactor. [22] [24] [25] The cells are moved into larger vats as they multiply, eventually being in a 20,000 liter bioreactor. [24] The cultured meat is then cooked and combined with other ingredients. [24]
Vow focuses on creating new meats, rather than copying mass produced meats like chicken. [26] Vow sells and markets a pâté, a foie gras, [27] an edible tallow candle, [23] and a smoked butter spread. [28] [29] The meat cells are mixed with other ingredients. For example, the pâté contains butter, shallots, tapioca starch, wine, garlic, and other spices. [24] [26]
As of June 2025, Vow has 35,000 liters of bioreactor capacity. [30] It operates the largest food-producing bioreactor in the world at 20,000 liters, called Andromeda. [23] [31] In June 2025, it harvested 2,000 pounds of cultured meat. [25]