The Evolution of Plant-Based Eggs
(the original article was updated in december 2022 )
As plant-based alternatives for animal products are becoming mainstream, consumers start demanding for more egg-like substitutes.
As a response to the demand, start-ups from all over the world have created interesting new products over the last few years that aim to mimic real eggs. Although a plant-based copy hasn’t been created yet, some products come pretty close replicating certain egg-like characteristics. As new product developments haven’t come to an end yet and the market is growing, we expect a lot to happen within the segment over the next few years. Plant-based eggs could become a real threat for the traditional egg industry, thus help reducing world-wide CO2-emissions and animal cruelties.
Together with ProVeg, we made a first step in mapping out plant-based egg labels and products available to consumers. The landscape picture in this article is one of the results.
In the months to come, we plan to further explore this upcoming market. In case we missed out any labels, please be so kind to let us know so we can name them in future versions of the landscape.
Before commercial plant-based egg replacers were largely available in supermarkets, people used various foods to substitute them, including fruits (bananas) vegetables (pumpkins), seeds (flaxseed, chea) and beans. Due to these home-made egg replacers, vegans and people allergic to eggs were able to also enjoy bakes that normally contain eggs.
Commercial Egg Replacers
Photo: Orgran (orgran.com/)
Over the last decades companies like Bob’s Red Mill (USA) and Orgran (Australia) developed commercial versions of egg replacers and managed to sell them on a global scale.
This kind of products typically come as powders. In order to use them, consumers add a certain amount of water after which they can add it to their recipes.
But Orgran and Bob’s Red Mill are certainly not the only egg replacement powders. In fact powdered baking applications are still the biggest segment within the plant-based eggs category today. Other examples are: Zona Cerealista and Spezia (Brasil), Morga (Switzerland), the neat egg (USA) Cultured Foods (Poland) and Hammer Mühle (Germany)
We saw that there is no one way to produce powdered plant-based eggs: looking at the ingredients of commercial egg replacement powder, we found varying combinations of ingredients being used, ranging from chick peas, locust beans and vegetable starches (potato, pea, corn, tapioca) to turmeric, Xanthan and Chlorella.
A new generation of plant-based Eggs
But the market is evolving rapidly: as more and more mainstream consumers look for non-animal products, a demand has arisen for products that do not only technically replace eggs, but also look, smell and taste like eggs. As a response, many new egg-like products are being developed. Among them, products that can be used for baking omelettes or as scrambled eggs.
Migros V-love hard boiled vegan egg
Last month, Swiss retail giant Migros launched a very realistic looking hard-boiled vegan egg. Being the first to successfully offer this type of egg replacement to consumers could prelude a new wave of innovations within the plant-based sector.
In general finding a product that has proper consistency and flavour, as well as the properties that cause binding, leavening, and moisture is still a big challenge. However with the plant-based egg market getting bigger every day, startups are establishing themselves worldwide to be among the first to provide a healthy, humane vegan egg. Here are just a few of those companies taking up the mantle:
Photo: Eat Just (ju.st)
Just Egg
Just Egg spent five years attempting to discover the perfect ingredient for their egg replacement. They finally landed on the Mung Bean, which gives the eggs the right consistency and flavor according to them. It can be used when making omelettes, scrambled eggs, waffles or frittatas As one of the plant-based egg market pioneers, Just Egg has a significant lead over its competitors, having been around since 2011 already. They can be found in Walmart and Whole Foods supermarkets across the US.
Photo: Zero Egg (ju.st)
Zero egg
This 2018 startup has a vegan egg substitute that replaces traditional breakfast eggs and eggs used in baking. Zero egg uses soy, potato, pea, and chickpeas, as their source of protein. Currently, they're one of the few companies that offer both liquid and powdered eggs to be used for both baking and cooking needs. They are now looking to expand their product lines by adding a precooked egg patty for breakfast sandwiches.
Oggs
Oggs are made out of Aquafaba (Water and Chickpea Extract) - a popular way of replacing eggs among vegans. The lack of additional ingredients makes Oggs one of the healthier vegan egg options. They can be used to make traditional breakfast eggs or can be used in baking. The natural whipping properties.
Photo: Crackd (crackd.com)
One of the newest plant-based eggs on the market, Crackd is a UK-based company providing locals with delicious vegan eggs. By using cold-pressed pea protein, nutritional yeast, black salt, and other ingredients they attempt to make their eggs tasty while not sacrificing other essential properties. Although only launching in 2020, they can be found in stores all over the UK already.
Photo: OnlyEG/ Floatfoods(floatfoods.com)
With their launch in 2020, OnlyEg is the first commercial Asian plant-based egg replacement. OnlyEg had a mission to make an egg substitute that looked just like the real thing. With their goal to put a dent in the 100 million chickens slaughtered each year and become part of the 2 billion eggs consumed each year in Singapore alone, they’re expected to take the market by storm. Their goal by 2030 is to become 30 percent of the entire egg market in Singapore. Althoug their eggs seem to be fully developed, they haven’t been spotted in Asian retail.
And the brands mentioned above are just a few examples: new companies from all over the world are queuing up to have their eggy products launched in the next few years. Among them: India-based Plantish , Israeli meat alternative company SavorEat, Unreal Food from the USA and Next Meats (Japan).
The Rise of The Plant-based Egg Empire
The plant-based egg market is growing consistently and is estimated to be worth at least €1.25 billion ($ 1.5 billion) in 4 years time, growing at a CAGR of around 6%. With rising health consciousness and changes in consumer lifestyles, plant-based eggs have evolved over the past decade. They are no longer a small corner of the market. Meanwhile their advance hasn’t gone unnoticed by the traditional egg industry. As some chicken-egg companies have started developing egg replacements of their own, it looks as though even they don’t want to put all their eggs in one basket anymore.