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Sydney-based cultured meat company Vow is making foie gras socially acceptable again and back on restaurant menus globally with the launch of its latest product Forged Gras, giving it an edge as the first company delivering a range of cultured meat products in multiple markets.
The New York City launch of Forged Gras, which is described as a “revolutionary twist on the delicacy foie gras”, follows the company’s launch of Quailia Forged Parfait in Singapore earlier this year – with the two products laying the foundations for the company’s Forged premium culture meat brand.
“At Vow, we’re paving a new path for food by using innovative technology to address real challenges around foods that people want but can’t access,” says Vow’s CEO George Peppou.
“The launch of Forged Gras continues our mission to bring scarce or never-before-seen foods to millions but does so in a way that seeks to innovate, not imitate.
“By fostering culinary imagination, we aim to create something entirely new, unconstrained by the tradition of even the oldest delicacies.”
The production of foie gras has long been a concern for animal welfare proponents due to the force-feeding of ducks and geese to produce the correct fatty content of the liver.
However, Vow says a recent survey it undertook of 1,000 American meat eaters showed that only 8 per cent had tasted foie gras, citing a lack of availability as a primary barrier. Only 5 per cent of those surveyed said that ethics was the reason for not trying it.
Vow says its “innovative twist on this highly sought-after but frequently banned dish marks the beginning of a new generation of food”.
“Our focus as a company is to invent new types of meats that you have never experienced before,” says Peppou.
“We’re hoping to put foie gras back on the menu for many chefs and menus around the world.
“With cultured meat we can offer chefs entirely new meats unlike anything they have ever plated before. We’ve taken that really subtle and really unique flavour that you get from cultured Japanese quail and turn it into that rich, really delicious fatty liver experience that you would expect from foie gras.”
Like Forged Parfait, Vow is producing Forged Gras from Japanese quail with the product crafted without any animal intervention and “setting a bold new direction for the future of food”.
Vow, which notably created a meatball from the DNA of the extinct woolly mammoth, secured regulatory approvals in Singapore earlier this year for Quailia, a cultured meat product derived from Japanese quail, following a rigorous regulatory assessment over more than a year.
Since launching in April with the Forged brand sold in Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau, Peppou says Vow has served more than 10,000 portions of culture meat products with 96 per cent of customers saying the products exceeded their expectations.
For the launch of Forged Gras, Vow gave chef Masa Takayama of Bar Masa/Masa NYC creative control to design an “extraordinary, never-been-plated menu featuring Vow’s foods”.
Vow was founded in 2019 and has since raised US$56 million ($85.25 million) over three rounds to bring its products to the market.
“Vow is different to all other cultured meat companies because we have never set out to replicate the meat that farmers produce so well,” says Peppou.
“We’ve set out to use this new technology to invent food that is unlike anything you have ever experienced before.
“Whilst Forged Gras is really sustainable and doesn’t require any rearing of animals, it’s really just an incredible new food experience for everyone to enjoy.”
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