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After years of chasing user growth, Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd now wants low-quality users off her service. Soon, people with grainy profile pictures or lacking a bio may be forced to leave the app unless they improve. Our product is people. The quality of someone’s experience, how they engage, find what they’re looking for, and monetize depends on the quality of who and what they encounter on the platform, Wolfe Herd explained on the companys earnings call on August 6. She outlined a strategy to create a healthier app ecosystem that involves categorizing users based on the quality of their profiles and pushing out people who are degrading the experience of Bumble. The almost 10-year-old-app has struggled in recent years to regain the momentum it had during the pandemic. In March, Wolfe Herd stepped back into the role as CEO, after ceding it to former Slack executive Lidiane Jones just over a year earlier. Wolfe Herd is now overhauling the app, reorienting it away from a growth-at-all-costs strategy and toward one that prioritizes a higher-quality user base and real connections. As part of that, Bumble is starting to separate the wheat from the chaff. Approve, Improve, and Remove On the earnings call, Wolfe Herd said the app will use AI and human moderators to sort users into three categories: Approve, Improve, and Remove. Approve users, according to Wolfe Herd, are ones who have adequately filled out their profiles, complete with multiple photos, and offer a clear picture of who they are. Improve users have incomplete profiles that could be refined to get more matches. Remove users are bots, scammers, people with multiple profiles, and those who have violated user agreement terms. Theyre also people whose profiles are inadequately filled out and who refuse to improve them. Roughly 10% of Bumble users fall into the Remove category, while the majority fall under the Improve category. “They’re not bad people,” Wolfe Herd said of the Improve members. “They’re not nefarious members. They have no clue how to build a profile. These could be extraordinary people that when you meet them in real life you’re like, How are you single? But when you look at their Bumble profile, they have one photo, they’re wearing a ski mask, and they have no bio. There’s no chance for them on our product in that construct.” Bumble is launching new features to help. The company recently introduced a dating app concierge that offers AI and human advice to help users fill out their profiles. This month, it plans to unveil an AI-powered coaching hub that will give users tips and actionable steps to make their profile more attractive and engaging. If they follow those tips, they may end up in the Approve category. If not, they could get the boot. (The app is also improving its identity verification tools to get bad actors off the platform.) A return to quality Fewer better is always going to win when it comes to connection and relationships, Wolfe Herd explained while laying out the strategy. If you were to swipe through 100 people [who] you never wanted to meet, you would walk away feeling very, very disappointed. But if you were to go through even just 5 or 10 or 15 . . . very high-quality profiles, and everyone was actually quite interesting to you, you would feel very, very compelled to return. Wolfe Herd is banking that getting more users into the Approve category will eventually help the company make money. She noted that Approve users monetize at approximately double the rates of people in the Improve category. The average revenue per user on Bumble has dropped 15% since 2021. For the second quarter of 2025, total revenue decreased 8% year over year, and paying users decreased 11% compared to the same period last year. Everything we build is grounded in real-world outcomes, not endless engagement, Wolfe Herd said on the companys Q2 earnings call. As part of this, the company is winding down the digital marketing that it began during the pandemic. That practice attracted a slew of new users who diluted the apps dating pool and diminished the user experience, according to Wolfe Herd. The Hinge playbook In this regard, Bumbles approach mirrors Hinges playbook. Though parent company Match Groups second-quarter revenue was flat overall, Hinges revenue jumped 25% to $167.5 million, beating analysts expectations. Match Group CEO Spencer Rascoff said the company plans on investing $50 million in part to fund Hinges geographic expansion to Latin America and Europe. Hinge has succeeded largely by creating an experience that focuses on showing users quality matches and getting them off the app to form lasting connections. To do this, the app has introduced friction in its user experience, putting limits on swipes and implementing penalties for ghosting to improve user behavior. Hinge is also using AI to refine its matching algorithm and launch new features like notifications to encourage users to keep up conversations with matches they are interested in. Hinges monthly active users rose nearly 20% in the first half of 2025. In getting users to improve their profiles, Bumble is taking another cue from Hinge, which has a more extensive sign-up process than other dating apps. It requires users to answer a series of questions and sets a minimum requirement for the number of photos uploaded to their profile before theyre able to swipe. In their Q2 earnings calls, both Rascoff and Wolfe Herd suggested that building algorithms and features that foster lasting connections is key to attracting younger users. Tinder has launched double-date options and college-specific features to help foster connections in lower-pressure environments. Bumble is doubling down on Bumble BFFa separate app to help users find new friendsand plans to launch more off-platform experiences to increase serendipitous connections. A lot of the exact product solves that we are so maniacally focused on right now are specifically the issues Gen Z has with online dating, Wolfe Herd said on Bumbles earnings call. For example, they don’t want to feel like they swipe endlessly through people they’re not interested in. They don’t want to feel judged. They don’t want to feel rejected. They don’t want to feel like they’re talking to someone that is not actually who they say they are.
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E-Commerce
When it comes to designing a safer football helmet, Jason Neubauer knows what he’s up against. “You can make a very safe helmet that ranks No. 1 for performance,” he says. “But if the players don’t like the way they look in it, it really doesn’t matter. You’re not going to protect anyone.” What Neubauer and his team at Schutt Sports have built with the F7 Pro could be one of the safest helmets ever produced. It’s certainly one that players are gravitating toward. Since the F7 Pro launched this spring, it has become the fastest-adopted helmet in NFL history. While Aaron Rodgers may not be a fan, an All-Pro roster that includes Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, CeeDee Lamb, and Travis Hunter (the two-way star taken No. 2 overall in this year’s draft) will kick off the 2025 season donning the sleek F7 Pro, which earned a top-5 ranking in the NFL and NFL Players Associations rigorous 2025 helmet performance testing. New helmet models don’t really peak in their adoption rate until about the third year, Neubauer says. It takes a while for players to get comfortable with a new look. Neubauer has spent more than 25 years developing sporting goods, focusing on extreme sports before shifting to football helmet design in 2016. Hes one of the masterminds behind the F7 Pro, whose innovations fundamentally reimagine how helmets protect against the defining threats of modern footballthe high-speed collisions that make highlight reels, and the thousands of smaller impacts that accumulate over a career. [Photo: Schutt Sports] What the NFL does right The NFL has caught plenty of flak forwell, almost everything. But its historical approach to player safety is high on the list. Over the past decade, however, the league has done what any smart company does in the digital age: dive into data. To better understand how and when head and neck injuries occur, the NFL compiles detailed reports on every head and neck injury sustained in practice or games. The league tracks actual on-field impacts using sensors and cameras, documenting the speed, location, and type of every hit. This information is then shared with helmet manufacturers so engineers can discern what they’re building to protect against. This data-driven approach is working. Preseason concussions dropped by more than half from 2017 to 2024, from 91 to just 44. This granular data informed the F7 Pro’s overall design philosophy. The information showed not just where and how hits occur, but also the timing, force distribution, and frequency patterns that traditional helmet design hadnt accounted for. Armed with this data, Neubauer’s team could optimize protection at a fundamental levelrethinking everything from materials to architecture rather than just adding more padding. [Photo: Schutt Sports] F7 Pro innovation: 3D-printed lattice Traditional football helmets work like old-school steel car bumperssolid structures that conduct the full force of impact, transferring it to the passenger. The F7 Pro works more like a modern car bumper. Its outer shell uses a custom material blend designed to flex under impact, while a layer of 3D-printed lattice beneath the shell does the real work. Research from Tulane University’s physics department found that a large defensive lineman hitting a quarterback generates impact forces equivalent to a car hitting a brick wall at 18 to 20 mph. You’ve got two guys who are 220 pounds running at a very fast rate and hitting each other, Neubauer says. You can’t get rid of that energy, so you need to slow it down to the slowest rate you can to minimize the forces on the brain. The F7 Pros lattice does exactly that with a network of microscopic shock absorbers, each smaller than a pencil tip, all working together to distribute an impact across thousands of tiny columns that buckle and bend in controlled sequences. “The physical nature of buckling and bending is what’s slowing the impact down, so you don’t feel all the force at once, but you feel it over that offset distance, Neubauer explains. Instead of each hit unfolding as one blunt force, the impact is more like a controlled demolition. [Photo: Schutt Sports] F7 Pro appeal: Lighter, sleeker, safer By using 3D printing to integrate various functional elements into a unified design, the lattice eliminated eight separate plastic components that traditional helmets required. The result is a seamless design that is lighter on players’ necks while enhancing protection, something traditional manufacturing couldn’t achieve. Schutt developed its lattice technology in-house rather than licensing existing solutions. Out there in the world right now, there are quite a few different lattice technologies that companies could choose from, Neubauer says. It’s literally like a drop-down menu. That would have been a lot easier for us to do. But we found that we were able to get a better-performing, lighter-weight result by doing it ourselves. Weight reduction is critical because players’ heads and necks endure thousands of impacts over a season, and every ounce of helmet weight adds to fatigue and long-term neck strain. But it also allows for a sleeker profile, addressing something equally important: The helmet looks damn good. Players have to want to wear it, and when stars like Jefferson and Chase sport the low-profile design in prime time, other players notice. It’s functional vanity at its finestsafety technology that doesn’t make you look like you’re wearing a fishbowl. [Photo: Schutt Sports] A new era of customization In 2021, helmet manufacturer Viciswhich had been acquired by Certor Sports, Schutt’s parent companyintroduced the first position-specific helmet, the Trench model, designed for linemen. It focuses on protecting against the thousands of smaller hits that accumulate from play after play in the trenches. Schutt followed up with quarterback models that prioritize back-of-head protection because quarterbacks are frequently slammed to the turf when sacked and can’t brace themselves. The F7 Pro’s variants optimize protection based on real impact data. And as the data gets more intuitive, new position-specific helmets will likely enter the market, with Schutt and Vicis leading the way. Its OctoFit system lets players customize foam pod combinations based on their unique head shapes. So a process that once required custom ordering and waiting for delivery now occurs in the locker room in real time. Its AiR-Lock system is activated by a small push button located on the back of the helmet. Remember the old Reebok Pumps? The AiR-Lock is similar. Players can pump their helmets up for a tighter game fit, then release pressure to be more comfortable in practice or during walk-throughs, adjusting helmet security without using tools or having to leave the field. This combination of position-specific protection with real-time fit adjustment represents where helmet design is heading: equipment that adapts to how players get hit based on how they experience the game, while catering to their individual comfort preferences. The future of protection Virginia Tech has an independent helmet testing lab that serves as the industry’s safety standard, evaluating helmets and assigning star ratings that guide consumers. When the university updated its protocols in July 2025, 77% of helmets that previously received five-star ratings were downgraded (from 26 to just 6), signaling that safety standards are evolving at every level. And as the NFL helmets evolve, high school and youth gear will follow. Schutt is partnering with national youth and varsity organizations to gather impact data similar to what the NFL provides, studying how younger players get hit and what protection works best for developing bodies. “The types of impacts that kids aged 8 take are very different from an NFL athlete,” Jeremy Erspamer, CEO of Certor Sports, says. “And we as helmet manufacturers need to understand that and develop technologies that specifically keep players at each level safe.” Schutt is set to launch a new youth helmet this fall, according to Erspamer, which will also be five-star rated. The number of concussions in the NFL decreased 17% from 2023 to 2024, reaching a historic low last season, while preseason concussions fell more than 50% from 2017 to 2024. The F7 promises to continue that momentum in 2025 toward a safer game for players at all levels. We believe it’s the best helmet out there at the elite level, Erspamer says. But what we also know is that in three years, we’re going to have even better technology. So we’re excited about where we are, but we’re even more excited about where we continue to go.
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E-Commerce
On a hot, oppressively muggy summer day in a city like New York or Atlanta, when you crank up the AC, it might not feel like its working well. Thats because conventional air conditioners arent optimized to deal with humidity. Your AC will run longer as it tries to deal with both heat and moisture in the airand if the humidity stays too high, your home can feel clammy or sticky even if the temperature is dropping. Because humidity makes the air feel hotter, you might not feel much cooler even as your electric bill climbs. But what if you could save 90% of the cost of your air-conditioning electric billsand actually be cool during a sweltering summer? That’s the promise of a new kind of AC technology that deals with humidity more effectively; its just coming out of testing and into commercial development. Though the technology exists, you’re going to have to wait (but not too long) before you can have it in your home. The innovations, from a handful of startups and larger companies, can save huge amounts of energy and provide more effective temperature control. As the planet gets both hotter and more humid, new tech can help more people afford to stay cool. It also can help the grid so blackouts are less likely in a heat wave. And with less energy use, it can help tackle the cooling paradox: the fact that the growth of conventional air-conditioning is a major source of emissions, forcing us to rely on ACs even more. The problem with legacy AC New technologies take different approaches to solving the same challenge. The air-conditioning problem really is a humidity control problem, says Russ Wilcox, CEO of Trellis Air, an air-conditioning startup spinning out tech that was originally developed by Harvard researchers. Standard air conditioners remove humidity and cool the air at the same time. When hot, wet air passes over cold coils inside the machine, it condenses, like beads of water on a cold drink. But because the system’s main goal is to cool, on a very humid day, you need to turn the temperature way down to remove enough humidity to try to feel comfortable. The AC has to run longer, guzzling more energy. Rooms can end up either cool and clammy or too cold. In some large spaces, like a movie theater, overcooling sometimes means that the heat comes back on, despite the fact that its sweltering outside. There are more than a billion air conditioners in use now, responsible for a carbon footprint thats around twice as large as that of aviation, and around a third of the electricity they use is for dehumidification. Emissions are also quickly growing as more people buy air conditioners. By 2050, the number of units in use around the world is expected to triple, causing emissions from air-conditioning to potentially double to 2 billion tons of CO2 per year. How the new tech works Cutting-edge AC tech deals with humidity separately from temperature. Trellis, for example, uses a membrane to filter water vapor out of the air before cooling it, an approach that is far more efficient than a typical air conditioner that expends energy cooling both the air and the water inside it. That gives us a huge edge in energy for dehumidification, Wilcox says. And we do it with an engineered plastic film, which means its a pretty passive, simple, reliable, potentially very cost-effective way of dehumidifying. Blue Frontier, a startup that has raised more than $36 million from investors including Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, uses a salt-based desiccant to store energy that can later be used when electricity prices are high. During peak hours, the system uses the desiccant to remove humidity. (It’s like a battery, but instead of storing electricity it stores drying power.) The technology can reduce electricity use by 50% to 90%. Transaera, which raised an $8.2 million round of seed funding in November 2024, uses a type of material called a metal-organic framework (or MOF) with a microscopic tinker-toy-like shape. MOFs are “really powerful because they allow us to target a specific moleculeyou make the pores just the right size for that molecule to go in, says Ross Bonner, cofounder and CTO of the Massachusetts-based startup. In our case, we have tuned them for water. Transaera uses the material to coat a substrate, and then can add it to a standard air conditioner. Depending on the climate, it can cut energy use by around 40%. AirJoule, another startup, uses metal-organic frameworks along with waste heat to efficiently dehumidify and cool the air (and to produce pure water that can be used elsewhere). Data centers are target customers. Industry veteran Carrier has partnered with the startup to incorporate the tech into its own equipment. Two large AC manufacturers, Chinas Gree and Japans Daikin, have developed super-efficient air conditioners that use different sensors and controls for humidity and temperature. Its really smart design and smart controls, and the ability to sense and respond to real-time conditions, that enables them, says Ankit Kalanki, who works on the carbon-free buildings program at the nonprofit RMI. The designs from Gree and Daikin also use the most efficient components possible, from heat exchangers to compressors. Both companies won the Global Cooling Prize, a contest that launched in 2018 to encourage innovation in air conditioner design. Proven tech Over the past few years, the companies have been proving that the technology works. RMI recently partnered with Gree and Daikin to test their units in real-world conditions in India. They rented seven apartments in a city outside Mumbai and pitted the new designs against the most efficient ACs and mini-splits currently on the Indian market, looking at how much power it took to stay below 80 degrees Fahrenheit and 60% humidity. Earlier this year, after nine months of testing under different weather conditions, they published the results: The new tech cut energy use by 60%. Transaera began testing a prototype of its tech on a large commercial building in Houston last year. Our approach was, okay, we have this technology, weve proven it out in the lab, we want to put it through its paces and really see if it can perform and do what we say it can do, says Bonner. So we found the most punishing climate that weve been in. Last summer, when they went on the roof of the building for the installation, they measured the surface temperature: 140 degrees. It was so hot that the installers had to wear knee pads so they didnt burn themselves. After months of testing in Houstons ultra-humid weather, where a typical summer day might have a heat index of 110 degrees, the AC has been saving even more energy than projected. Now Transaera is working with a manufacturer to make a full-size prototype for testing. The path to market If you need a new window air conditioner, you can’t yet go to the store and buy one of the new designs. So far, the first product to come to market is a commercial one. Blue Frontier launched a 15-ton “dedicated outdoor air system” (or DOAS) unit earlier this year. Selling first to commercial customersfrom medical centers to schools to restaurantsmans that the company can have the biggest climate benefit with each unit it sells. “The conventional technology DOAS are the ‘gas guzzlers’ of the industry,” says Daniel Betts, founder and CEO of Blue Frontier. The standard tech of this type is very inefficient and energy-intensive. Blue Frontier’s version also offers energy storage so the units can run for four to six hours with little electricity use; that lets building owners make better use of renewable electricity and lower electric rates at certain times of day. The technology can also be used in smaller residential units, but that will come later. “It’s just a matter of picking a market entry strategy that makes sense to us and that helps our community the most,” Betts says. Gree and Daikin, the Global Cooling Prize winners, initially aimed to bring products to market in 2025. Their technology is ready, says RMIs Kalanki, who is working with the companies on commercialization. But it isnt likely that the ACs will be in stores this year. From a technical feasibility standpoint, I think that has been proven through the testing, he says. So its more about commercial viability now. One challenge, Kalanki says, is that international standards for residential air conditioners dont yet measure the energy used to remove humidity. Were working very closely with the international standards organization to really bring dehumidification into the conversation, he says. This needs to get reflected so we can reward the products in the right way and industry has the right target to design for. Though customers will be able to save money over time on electric bills, the up-front cost of the units will be higher, making them a little more challenging to sell. Institutional buyers, who purchase in bulk, could help jump-start the market, Kalanki says, noting, “That demand signal is going to be very critical for manufacturers to make those early investments. More commercial options are likely to be available sooner. AirJoule plans to be on the market next year. Transaera is now working with a manufacturer that will be able to produce its commercial units at scale after the current pilots end, and is already in conversations with customers. The technology has the biggest advantage against conventional products in a commercial application, Bonner says, but the company also plans to later make residential ACs. (It’s already made a viable prototype.) Trellis, which launched last year, is at an earlier stage and hasn’t yet started testing prototypes. The process will take time. “I think we have a lot of ambition of how we can manufacture this cost-effectively in the supply chain and make a robust product,” says Wilcox, noting that the team previously worked together on the development of the screen for the Amazon Kindle. “But we also appreciate that it takes some years to really make something robust enough to ship all around the world.” The startups recognize the urgency of their work, as the need for ACs and their impact continues to grow. “I’m always impatient,” says Bonner. “We can go faster, and we need to go faster. And we have a responsibility to future generations to make the difference that we know we need to.”
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E-Commerce
AI skeptics have found a new way to express their disdain for the creeping presence of artificial intelligence: through slurs. Out on the streets and in stores, people have begun harassing robots they encounter in the wild. (Anyone else feel a bit sorry for the robot?) Online, the internet has revived a Star Warsinspired insult, clanker, with Google Trends data showing a spike in searches for the term in early June. @semdenpriv original sound – semdenpriv POV: Me at the clanker rally in 2088, one TikTok user joked. Keep your oily soulless clanker hands away from my delicious human food, another X user wrote in response to a clip of Elon Musks Optimus robot dishing out popcorn at the Tesla Diner (not a sentence I ever thought Id write). Keep your oily soulless clanker hands away from my delicious human food https://t.co/DXF7JNKD0W— EckhartsLadder (@EckhartsLadder) July 20, 2025 The term has also been picked up by politicians. Sick of yelling ‘REPRESENTATIVE’ into the phone 10 times just to talk to a human being? Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) posted on X last month. My new bill makes sure you dont have to talk to a clanker if you dont want to. Sick of yelling REPRESENTATIVE into the phone 10 times just to talk to a human being? My new bill makes sure you dont have to talk to a clanker if you dont want to. pic.twitter.com/9aUv478gSP— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) July 30, 2025 While some direct their insults at the technology itself, others target those using AI systems. On one thread, suggestions for users of the xAI chatbot Grok included Grokkers, Groklins, and Grocksuckers. Meanwhile, on TikTok, someone coined sloppers for people becoming increasingly overreliant on ChatGPT. @intrnetbf shoutout to Monica. Incredible command over the English language original sound – intrnetbf The trend reflects a broader mood. Concerns about AI among U.S. adults have grown since 2021, according to the Pew Research Center. More than half (51%) say they are more concerned than excited about the technologys rise, with worries ranging from AI taking away jobs to chatbot addiction. Still, some see embracing new slurseven those aimed at robotsas problematic, especially when they echo existing racial slurs or stereotypes. @thebrookboys This bout to be the biggest fear for all Dads in year 2050 #meme #clanker #robo Bell Sound/Temple/Gone/About 10 minutes(846892) – yulu-ism project Others simply fear theyll regret their words later. As one X user wrote: I dont want to have to look a robot in the eye in fifty years and be like, you dont understand it was a different time star wars did give us a slur for robots (clankers) but i dont use it bc i dont want to have to look a robot in the eye in fifty years and be like you dont understand it was a different time— anna !!! (@frogs4girls) July 20, 2025
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E-Commerce
In the late 2010s, cultured meat was everywhereand yet nowhere. From Reddit to major magazine covers, articles touted the latest advances in “lab-grown meat,” promising cruelty-free, environmentally friendly steaks at your local supermarket. The hype was palpable. One 2019 report predicted cultured meats would halve the number of cows on the planet by 2030, disrupting the world’s oldest industry by delivering ethical meat with negligible environmental impact that tasted identical to traditional meatand at a fraction of the price. [Photo: Vow] That promise of rapid disruption terrified conventional animal agriculture stakeholders. Under pressure from these livestock constituents, lawmakers in multiple states have banned this new protein source entirely. Florida and Alabama passed bans in 2024, with more states following. Indiana imposed a manufacturing moratorium with steep fines, Nebraska prohibited its production and sale, and Montanas governor signed legislation to ensure consumers could “continue to enjoy authentic meat.” In June, a Texas ban became law, with the state’s agriculture commissioner touting the “God-given right” to pasture-raised meateven though the vast majority of what Americans eat comes from industrial feedlots. But here’s the irony: Lawmakers are fighting a version of cultured meat that never materialized. Today, while you can eat cultured meat at more than 60 venues in Singapore and Australia, and cultured seafood at two restaurants in the U.S. at the time of this writing, it’s far from the rapid disruption that was forecasted. More than a decade after the world’s first cultured hamburger was announced, the hype has virtually disappeared.The reality of how and why this all transpired is complicated. However, we would argue that what we’re witnessing isn’t industry failure, but the natural evolution of a transformative invention finding its true market fit. Cultured meat technology works; what needed adjustment were the timelines and business models that promised too much, too quickly, and to replicate conventional meats that people already enjoy en masse.Rather than viewing this as a setback, some in the industry are discovering something potentially more valuable: sustainable, scalable pathways to market that don’t require displacing existing agriculture but can grow alongside it. As the industry turns the page to a new chapter, once uncertain regulatory pathways are now established in multiple countries. [Photo: Vow] The technology itself continues to advance. Production yields are improving, costs are declining, and new species beyond traditional livestock are proving viable for cultivation.More importantly, early market success demonstrates genuine consumer appetite. In Singapore, where cultured meat has been available the longest, restaurants report strong repeat customers and growing demand. In Australia, where cultured meat became available at dozens of restaurants in recent weeks, initial sales and demand for the items are taking off. Forged Cultured Japanese Quail Whipped Pate [Photo: Vow] This suggests cultured meat purveyors arent just scratching a theoretical itch, but delivering real value and excitement that consumers recognize and seek out.This reality is leading to a strategic pivot that may actually benefit both the industry and consumers: innovation over imitation. Rather than trying to perfectly replicate a chicken wing or rib-eye steakproducts that traditional animal agriculture already produces and consumers are accustomed tocompanies that are finding success are creating entirely new culinary experiences that excite chefs and diners alike. Forged Cultured Japanese Quail Foie Gras [Photo: Vow] Take Japanese quail, a species that demonstrates cultivated meat’s unique advantages. Traditional quail foie gras is impossible to produce commerciallythe birds are so petite that conventional methods are prohibitively labor-intensive, and the production process itself remains controversial. Japanese quail, however, proves remarkably well-suited for cultivation technology, enabling the creation of previously undoable delicacies like foie gras, whipped pâté, and even edible tallow candles. Forged Cultured Japanese Quail Tallow Candle [Photo: Vow] And Vow can make a lot of it. The company recently completed the largest cultured meat harvest in history: more than one metric ton of quail. And it projects it will have the capacity, by the end of 2025, to harvest up to 130 metric tons annually. While that’s still minimal compared with the 12.29 million metric tons of beef American farmers produced in 2023 and 2024, it is proof that cultured meat can offer consumers genuinely new choices and advance consumer acceptance. Its an illustration of how the industry can position itself as expanding culinary possibilities while avoiding potential conflicts with traditional agriculture.Rather than letting politicians dictate what should be on our plates in order to protect incumbent industries, we should trust consumers to decide for themselves. When given the freedom to choose, consumers are embracing these innovations as exciting additions to culinary experiences, the evidence suggests. Thats a decision best left to diners, not lawmakers.
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E-Commerce
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