The global push to develop lab-grown meat is taking an exotic twist in South Africa, where slaughter-free cuts of springbok, wildebeest and impala could soon be on the menu.

Mogale Meat Co has already produced Africa’s first cell-based chicken and is now developing a range of game meats without having to kill wildlife. While still in the research phase, the start-up says the first product could be ready this year, with commercial production planned within three years.

The company is targeting “the average meat consumer” who’s increasingly opting for free-range or organic products, but isn’t attracted to plant-based alternatives, said CEO Paul Bartels, a wildlife veterinarian who used his life savings to start the firm in 2020.

South African regulators haven’t kept pace with science, and there’s currently no classification for lab-grown meat, said Janusz Luterek, a lawyer specialising in food regulations at Pretoria-based Hahn & Hahn Attorneys. Meat is classified as “carcass” or part of an animal, rather than being “grown in a tank”, he said.

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The department of agriculture, land reform & rural development said there was no timeframe for approval. “Once sufficient information is built around cultivated meat or cellular agriculture, the department will not stand in the way of crafting legislation that focuses on the sale of cultivated meat,” it said.

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