Ahead of Singapore Approval, French Startup Hosts Tasting for Cultivated Chicken

French cultivated chicken startup Vital Meat showcased its ingredient in a public tasting in Singapore, where it expects regulatory approval “very soon”.

With a market launch on the horizon, Vital Meat organised a cultivated meat event in a Singapore restaurant to give consumers a taste of its future-friendly ingredient.

The Nantes-based startup teamed up with Hue, a modern Thai eatery owned by chef Neo Jun Hao, for the tasting, which featured three dishes championing Singaporean culture.

“Hue will be one of our launch partners, and we’re currently in discussions with several other restaurants and food players,” Vital Meat CEO Etienne Duthoit told Green Queen.

It marks the “first step” towards the company’s commercial launch, having filed a regulatory dossier to the Singapore Food Agency in November 2023. “The regulatory process in Singapore has been moving smoothly, and we’re confident in its progress,” Duthoit noted. “We remain hopeful for approval by the end of the year.”

The company’s regulatory expert Claude Rescan added: “We are going through the questions and answers process with scientific experts from SFA and so far, the discussion is very smooth and is going well.”

Cultivated chicken dishes impress diners

Vital Meat uses pharmaceutical technology to turn cells from fertilised chicken eggs into a cultivated meat ingredient, which it will supply to manufacturers and restaurants to combine with plant-based ingredients for hybrid meat.

For the tasting at Hue, Jun Hao curated three dishes to celebrate local flavours and palates. Diners were treated to cultivated chicken skin chips, a golden, crispy snack; handmade ravioli filled with Vital Meat chicken and Singaporean spices, served in a cultivated chicken broth; and cultivated chicken rice, a national favourite.

“Our ingredient comes in the form of a paste that can be used as it is or processed according to the final recipe,” Vital Meat CEO Etienne Duthoit told Green Queen. “For example, chef Jun Hao, who developed the recipes for our tasting event, prepared a powder from our product and used it to reinforce his broth”He also prepared a batter to create the famous chicken skin.”

He added: “Chef Jun Hao enjoyed working with our product due to its amazing taste and versatility which allows it to be processed in a variety of ways to suit different recipes.”

The ingredient was blended with standard ingredients in each dish. “In the espuma dish, it was mixed with potato and milk, while for the chicken rice, it was combined with rice, garlic, ginger, salt, sesame oil and other spices essential to Singaporean cuisine,” said Duthoit.

“Our ingredient stands on its own in terms of nutrition and taste, without the need for additives or flavour enhancers. Fun fact: Some guests thought flavouring was added to Chef Jun Hao’s broth – they couldn’t believe our product had such a true-to-nature chicken taste.”

The event convened investors, industry stakeholders, government officials from Singapore, and representatives from France, who were given leaflets describing the story behind the collaboration.

Calisa Lim, senior project manager at the APAC Society for Cellular Agriculture, wrote: “The cultivated chicken powder was mixed with flour and pan-fried into a crispy, crunchy chicken skin (very, very yummy and you can’t go wrong with fried chicken), the brown stock seasoned with cultivated chicken powder made a good umami chicken soup with a hint of sweetness (feels just like a warm embrace), and a classic chicken rice featuring plant-based meat slices that soaked up all the chickeny goodness.”

Vital Meat goes for ‘accessible’ over ‘upscale’

Vital Meat’s decision to host the tasting at Hue – a welcoming, accessible establishment – instead of a high-end, Michelin-starred eatery, as has been the case with most cultivated meat tasting menus globally, was a deliberate decision.

“We deeply appreciate Chef Jun Hao’s talent and innovative approach to cuisine, which aligns with our vision for cultivated meat. As a promising young chef, he represents the new generation of consumers who are aware of the changing food landscap – whether for environmental, animal welfare or health reasons – and the growing range of alternatives available to them,” said Duthoit.

“Holding the tasting at Hue also reflects our commitment to making cultivated meat accessible to everyone, not just for ultra-premium dining experiences. By partnering with Hue, we’re showing that our product is intended to be part of everyday meals.”

This is also why it’s relying on the hybrid approach, helping it bring down costs. The powdered format also allows chefs and manufacturers to easily incorporate the chicken into different recipes.

“We are steadily closing the gap with traditional meat. To lower the cost of our cultivated chicken, large-scale production is essential. And achieving that requires consumer interest and feedback. So we (and our clients too) are taking things step by step,” he said. “A first touch base with consumers and the market will help us refine the product and the needed communication to meet market demand.”

Vital Meat is working with cell culture media producer BioWest, whose customised serum-free media enables the startup to manufacture its cultivated chicken in 250-litre bioreactors, each capable of producing several kgs of product at a time.

Moreover, it has a pilot facility near Nantes, where it runs 2,000-litre bioreactors on a daily basis. “With each production, we are seeing significant cost improvements. It is very encouraging,” Camille Chevalier, communications manager at Vital Meat, told Green Queen in May. “We are confident to get to price parity in a few years.”

The startup has partnered with food companies in anticipation of its regulatory approval in Singapore, which was the first country to allow the sale of cultivated meat. It’s also the only nation where you can currently buy or experience these foods, whether it’s Good Meat’s chicken in retail or Vow‘s cultivated quail in restaurants.

Aside from Singapore, Vital Meat has also applied for approval in the UK, where the regulatory framework around novel foods is being overhauled to speed up authorisations and help companies get to market faster. “We can’t wait to start commercialisation in Great Britain; chicken is one of the most consumed meat over there,” Duthoit said in May. “We are now preparing our launch in 2025 and looking for food partners.”