By Nibras Suliman | Bloomberg
Surging egg prices and shortages in the US have created a big opportunity for vegan substitutes made with ingredients such as mung beans.
Vegan egg companies are boosting production, expanding distribution and planning to cut prices to take advantage as chicken egg costs hit new highs.
At Eat Just Inc., sales in January jumped by five times from the same period a year earlier. The company is ramping up production of its Just Egg products, which can be found at retailers such as Whole Foods and Walmart.
The closely held firm uses mung beans and canola oil in its egg alternative, which comes in liquid form and a folded version that can be toasted. At retailers, Just Egg sales have accelerated, with one major chain, which the company declined to name, posting weekly gains on a year-over-year basis as high as 70%.
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“This is probably the most important moment for a plant-based market,” Josh Tetrick, Eat Just’s chief executive officer, said in an interview.
With bird flu killing millions of egg-laying chickens, egg prices have been breaking records. The national average wholesale price rose to $7.34 per dozen last week, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture. That’s a 10% jump from a week earlier and another all-time high.
That’s reduced the big price advantage chicken eggs once had. A 16-ounce carton of liquid Just Egg, which is the equivalent of 10 eggs, retails for about $8.
“Consumers are often interested in trying new products, but are less likely to try novel products priced at a significant premium,” said Alex Frederick, an analyst for researcher PitchBook.
Availability is also becoming a competitive advantage. Egg shortages have been reported across the US, with lines forming outside stores. Meanwhile, restaurant chain Waffle House is adding an egg surcharge.
Tetrick posted on social media platform X this week that “reliable eggs are made from plants” with a photo of empty shelves. The only fully-stocked shelf in view had Just Egg products.
“We’ve spoken to a couple major retailers who think this might be the new normal, and by new normal, meaning continued consistent egg shortages and high egg prices because of the nature of bird flu,” Tetrick said. “This could be a permanent fixture of our food system.”
At Yo Egg, which uses soy and chickpeas, CEO Eran Groner said shortages of chicken eggs are pushing restaurants to look at eggless eggs as a kind of insurance policy. One of the company’s offerings — a sunny-side-up vegan egg — sells for about $1.80 per egg, according to a website that caters to the restaurant industry.
Groner plans to make the company’s products more appealing by cutting prices by about 10%, while expanding distribution and the its product lineup.
In the US, vegan eggs are estimated to account for less than $2 billion in annual sales, a sliver of the overall egg market, according to PitchBook. They started to gain traction around 2019 with a marketing pitch centered on health claims, such as lower cholesterol, and less impact on the environment.
Vegan eggs are part of a boom in investments into alternatives to animal food products. It’s a trend with varying responses by consumers.
Plant-based milk has become a stable and growing part of that sector. Meat alternatives surged earlier this decade thanks to companies such as Beyond Meat Inc. and Impossible Foods Inc. But after trying them, many Americans went back to animal protein.
The so-called great American egg shortage is the next big test.
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