Singaporeans Still Prefer Chicken, But Cultivated Meat Is Catching Up

Scott Mathias
Aug 28
1 min read

Singapore was the first country to legalise cultivated chicken, so you’d think everyone would be rushing to swap out their satay sticks. Not quite.

A new study in Nature shows conventional chicken and duck still rules the roost in Singapore, followed by plant-based meat, with cultivated meat trailing third in consumer acceptance. That doesn’t mean the lab-grown stuff is a flop, but it does show old habits and trusted flavours still carry more weight than futuristic proteins, even in a city-state priding itself on food innovation.

The gap is important. Singapore has positioned itself as the global test kitchen for new proteins, but the numbers reveal just how much cultural and culinary trust matters. Plant-based has had more time to normalise, while cultivated still sits in the “science experiment” zone for many eaters. The key challenge? Moving cultivated meat from novelty to everyday noodle shop ingredient and that means pricing, taste, and a hell of a lot of storytelling.

For the rest of the world watching Singapore as the canary in the cultivated chicken coop, the message is clear: regulation alone doesn’t guarantee adoption. Consumers have to want it on their plates, not just tolerate it.

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