(Zero Hedge)—Is this what’s beyond Beyond Meat?
Australia just gave lab-grown meat the official thumbs-up, approving the sale of cultivated Japanese quail and joining the elite global club of… three. That’s right—only Singapore, the U.S., and now Australia are on board with selling meat that’s never had feathers, feet, or a heartbeat, Bloomberg wrote last week.
Sydney-based startup Vow is behind the venture and says it’ll start serving up foie gras, parfait, and other fancy dishes made from quail cells in select restaurants within weeks. This follows a long-overdue tweak to the country’s food standards code, years in the making.
The science behind it? Cultivating animal cells in vats instead of raising entire animals, allegedly to save the planet and spare some lives. Noble goals, sure. But the cultivated meat industry hasn’t exactly been thriving. Funding is drying up, scaling remains a headache, and the political pushback—especially in the U.S.—has turned into a sideshow.
“While other markets face regulatory uncertainty, Australia is embracing innovation and consumers are ready to try something new and delicious,” Vow CEO George Peppou said, clearly feeling good about being the new kid on the bioreactor block.
Vow’s lab-grown quail will show up under its Forged brand at places like NEL in Sydney and Bottarga in Melbourne. Meanwhile, in Singapore, where Vow already operates, the company claims 200% month-over-month growth. Though when your starting point is a couple of upscale restaurant menus, that math isn’t exactly hard to beat.
Production is still a drop in the bucket compared to the real meat market, but Vow promises to hit 10.8 tons a month by year’s end. The company’s managed to raise more than $70 million from investors including Blackbird, Square Peg, and Peakbridge—suggesting at least some people are betting that cell-cultured quail is more than a novelty.
Still, whether diners will bite—or keep biting once the novelty wears off—remains the real question. It’s one thing to get approval; it’s another to convince people their $45 foie gras came from a vat and not a bird, and that’s a good thing.
Why One Survival Food Company Shines Above the Rest
Let’s be real. “Prepper Food” or “Survival Food” is generally awful. The vast majority of companies that push their cans, bags, or buckets desperately hope that their customers never try them and stick them in the closet or pantry instead. Why? Because if the first time they try them is after the crap hits the fan, they’ll be too shaken to call and complain about the quality.
It’s true. Most long-term storage food is made with the cheapest possible ingredients with limited taste and even less nutritional value. This is why they tout calories so much. Sure, they provide calories but does anyone really want to go into the apocalypse with food their family can’t stand?
This is what prompted the Llewellyns to launch Heaven’s Harvest. They bought survival food from multiple companies and determined they couldn’t imagine being stuck in an extended emergency with such low-quality food. They quickly discovered that freeze drying food for long-term storage doesn’t have to mean sacrificing flavor, consistency, or nutrition.
Their ingredients are all-American. In fact, they’re locally sourced and all-natural! This allows their products to be the highest quality on the market, so good that their customers often break open a bag in a pinch to eat because they want to, not just because they have to due to an emergency.
At Heaven’s Harvest, their only focus is amazing food. They don’t sell bugout bags, solar chargers, or multitools. They have one mission – feeding Americans in times of crisis.
What they DO offer is the ability for people to thrive in times of greatest need. On top of long-term storage food, they offer seeds to help Americans for the truly long-term. They want them to grow their own food if possible which is why they offer only Heirloom, Non-GMO, Non-Hybrid, Open-Pollinated seeds so their customers can build permanent food security on their own property.
