Lab-grown meat lands on Hong Kong plates as Australian start-up Vow begins sales
The Aubrey at the Mandarin Oriental has introduced two dishes featuring Sydney-based Vow’s cultured Japanese quail
Hongkongers can get their first taste of cultured meat, also known as lab-grown meat, after an Australian food-tech start-up became the first producer of such products to start sales in the city.
The Aubrey, a Japanese bar and restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental, introduced two dishes featuring Sydney-based Vow’s cultured Japanese quail on Tuesday.
Hong Kong is the second market in the world where the product, sold under the brand name Forged, is available, following its launch in Singapore in April, according to George Peppou, co-founder and CEO of Vow.
“We are confident that Hong Kong’s regulatory framework will continue to support the safe introduction of cultured meat,” he said.
Cultured meat, sometimes called cell-based meat, slaughter-free meat or clean meat, among other terms, is produced by growing animal cells, not animals. It is neither vegetarian nor vegan, but real animal tissue.
Vow, founded in 2019, got the green light from the Singapore Food Agency to sell its products in the country in March 2024, becoming the third food-tech start-up in the market after US companies Upside Foods and Eat Just.
