Page 9 - Food&Drink Business Magazine July-August 2020

how can we think about redesigning what meat can be? The culinary opportunity is the thing that really excites and drives me.”
PREMIUM ALTERNATIVE
Cultivated meat does not aim to compete with the traditional agriculture sector, instead adding to the range of choice that will be available for consumers, alongside plant- based options.
The goal is to start out as a premium alternative to meat, Peppou says, with Vow in constant communication with
“kindred pioneers”, including chefs and cuisine specialists, to experience, taste and create meals from the meat.
Among the challenges Vow faces is fostering bio-tech innovation here in Australia.
Noakesmith says, “Life science companies are generally created and positioned to partner with very big and incumbent companies, as well as the large research and education institutes, but Vow needs to move extremely fast.
“Seeing the industry evolve to support more rapid entrepreneurial endeavours
will ultimately contribute to the success of biotech and advanced manufacturing industries here in Australia.”
The next 12 months for Peppou and Noakesmith will see them focus on expanding the Vow team, as well as growing more food – “which we can safely say, is likely to have never been seen in a mainstream supermarket,” Noakesmith adds – and demonstrating their technology.
Vow has produced food prototypes from three different species, with this number set to
increase to five species by August. “In the last few months,
we’ve really switched gears, adding food production and the iteration of food products to our existing stack of R&D exploration.
“We’re understanding more about what impacts flavour, texture and everything from the colour to the nutrition,” says Peppou.
“This is really our life’s work now – how to link the biology of animal cells to the quality of food and the finished product, so we become the artists of the meat of the future.” ✷
LEFT: Vow Food co-founders Tim Noakesmith and George Peppou are leading the Australian contingent of cell-based meat development.
BELOW: Vow's pork prototype, Tuscan Pork Ragu.
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