By Lorrie Baumann
Demand for a vegan product that scrambles like a real egg has exceeded the expectations of its maker. “We’ve never had a launch like this on a product. Stores are selling – one sold 700 in the first week. Another ordered 500 and sold out in a week. The volumes are just through the roof,” says CEO and Co-founder of Follow Your Heart Bob Goldberg about VeganEgg.
Goldberg is no stranger to product launches. Follow Your Heart products include Vegenaise, an egg-free, dairy-free mayonnaise alternative and Vegan Gourmet cheese alternatives. “But there was a missing piece. No one had come up with a good replacement for an egg, although there were substitutes that could be used in baking,” Goldberg says. “A lot of people made tofu scrambles, which was a way of filling that gap, but not really well…. The challenge was an authentic representation of what eating scrambled eggs was.”
After several years of thinking about the problem, Goldberg learned about research with microalgae three or four years ago. By manipulating growing conditions and feedstocks, scientists were able to manipulate the algae to make a lot of different effects, from fiber to vegetable oils to complete protein foods. “The particular product that we use does not use genetically engineered algae because that’s against our ethic here,” Goldberg says. “Everything we do here is non-GMO.”
VeganEgg came out of that research, in which the scientists found that in addition to creating plant-based foods that did a good job of replicating the experience of eating animal foods, they were making foods that are sustainable in ways that other foods aren’t. For instance, 100 VeganEggs can be made with the same water that’s required to produce just one chicken egg, Goldberg says, adding, “A lot of chemical fertilizer and pesticides are used to grow the chicken feed necessary for egg production. All of that is avoided with a plant based egg substitute. Even the water in the process is recycled…. It’s a very sustainable product, leaving aside all of the issues having to do with animal welfare and factory farming, which is an issue for a lot of people.”
The product appeals, not just to committed vegans, but also to those who are thinking about ways to remain omnivorous but still reduce the amount of animal products they’re eating for a variety of reasons. Follow Your Heart’s target market for VeganEgg includes people who care about a wide range of issues: people who are looking for a healthier diet, people who are concerned with animal welfare and humane treatment of animals and people who are concerned about the environmental degradation from the way that much of our food is produced, Goldberg says.
He adds that, just as many people who eat meat and don’t necessarily have any intention of eliminating meat from their diet have become interested in meat analogs as a way of reducing their dependence on meat, he expects that there are those who avoid eggs for health, religious or ethical reasons but who’d still enjoy the experience of a fluffy omelet or breakfast scramble if they could have it without guilt. “People moving from the typical western diet to a diet that’s really wholly plant-based is so far down the road that there will be long time in which people in transition will be looking for foods that are familiar,” he says. “At that point, they may say they don’t need that. But we’re a long, long way from getting there.”
VeganEgg is manufactured in California. It’s gluten free, allergen free and cholesterol free, and it provides both calcium and fiber. It’s also shelf-stable with a six-month shelf life. It comes as a pale yellow powder packed in a package made of recycled paper that resembles an egg carton. To prepare a scrambled “egg,” the user mixes two tablespoons of the powder with half a cup of ice-cold water and whisks it into a yellow batter that’s ready for the skillet. “Just adding cold water is easier than cracking an egg,” Goldberg says. “Unless you’re really good at cracking eggs.” A 4-ounce package that substitutes for a dozen eggs retails for $6.99 – $7.99.
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