How far are we from cultivated meat at supermarket prices?

Cultivated meat is grown from animal cells in bioreactors rather than raised on farms. Australia and New Zealand approved cultured quail cells as a food ingredient, and the Food Standards Code was amended in June 2025. The sources reviewed do not publish a measured production cost for cultivated meat, so price parity with supermarket meat has not been shown.

The tech tree

Everything recorded on Vrulum that this future needs, oldest foundations at the top and the goal at the bottom. Lines show what each step requires.

What it takes: Cultivated meat at supermarket prices Unlocked Being researched Locked

2025Food safety approval for a cultivated productDone Unlocked.
Date not recordedLow-cost growth media at production scaleNot started Locked.
Date not recordedBioreactor scale-up to large volumesNot started Locked.
Date not recordedPublished measured production costNot started Locked.
Date not recordedCost at or near supermarket pricesNot started Locked.
Date not recordedWidespread supermarket salesNot started Locked.

GoalCultivated meat at supermarket pricesGoalRequires: Cultivated meat, Precision fermentation, Food safety approval for a cultivated product, Low-cost growth media at production scale, Bioreactor scale-up to large volumes, Published measured production cost, Cost at or near supermarket prices, Widespread supermarket sales. Locked.

The road so far

1 of 6 steps done.

Done · 18 Jun 2025Food safety approval for a cultivated product
Food Standards Australia New Zealand approved cultured quail cells as a novel food ingredient for Vow Group Pty Ltd. The FSANZ Board approved the application at its 26 March 2025 meeting, and the Food Standards Code was amended on 18 June 2025. [1][2]
Not startedLow-cost growth media at production scale
Growth media is a cost item for cultivated meat. No source reviewed shows low-cost growth media used at production scale.
Not startedBioreactor scale-up to large volumes
No source reviewed shows cultivated meat produced in bioreactors at commercial volume.
Not startedPublished measured production cost
No measured commercial production cost per kilogram has been published in the sources reviewed.
Not startedCost at or near supermarket prices
Cultivated meat has not been shown to be sold at prices near conventional supermarket meat in the sources reviewed.
Not startedWidespread supermarket sales
No source reviewed shows cultivated meat sold widely in supermarkets. This step would need approvals in more markets, larger facilities and published prices.

Why it matters

Price is a central test of whether cultivated meat could replace a meaningful share of farmed meat. That would bear on the land and emissions linked to animal farming.

What stands in the way

Only cell-cultured foods assessed as safe can be sold, and the approval reviewed here covers cultured quail cells only.
No source reviewed gives a measured production cost, so the gap to supermarket meat prices is not quantified.

Signals to watch

A published measured production cost per kilogram from a commercial plant, not a model.
Peer-reviewed techno-economic studies that use measured media prices and facility data.
Further regulator approvals of cultivated products in other countries, with the approved product named.
Named retailers listing a cultivated product at a stated price per kilogram.
Commercial batches using low-cost growth media at a stated volume.

Sources

government report
A1269 - Cultured Quail as a Novel Food
Food Standards Australia New Zealand, 18 Jun 2025.
government report
FSANZ Board Communique: 26 March 2025 Meeting
Food Standards Australia New Zealand, 26 Mar 2025.

Last reviewed 21 Oct 2026.