San Francisco based food-tech start up company, Hampton Creek Foods is on a mission to develop sustainable, plant-based replacement for eggs.
Backed by the likes of Bill Gates and other prominent investors based in the area, the company says that the development of a plant-based egg substitute would conserve energy, reduce pollution, minimise related disease outbreaks (bird flu) and reduce the occurrence of factory-farmed bird operations, The Huffington Post reports.
Just Mayo mayonnaise, Hampton Creek Foods’ first product is currently selling successfully at the US supermarket chain, Whole Foods Market. Other plant based egg, poultry and meat alternatives are also continuing to gain popularity as they have minimal environmental impacts compared to meat and egg production which requires large amounts of land, water and crops to produce.
In order to create the product which the company says can be used in omelettes, baking and a host of other cooking applications – Hampton Creek’s biochemists have analysed up to 1,500 types of plants from over 60 countries to find the perfect substitute.
“Our approach is to use plants that are much more sustainable — less greenhouse gas emissions, less water, no animal involved and a whole lot more affordable — to create a better food system," said Hampton Creek’s CEO, Josh Tetrick
Anand Sanwal, CEO of NY based venture capital firm CB Insights, says that the sustainability angle that Hampton Creek Foods is modelled on is a strong growth area.
"There's nothing to indicate that this will be a trend that will end anytime soon," says Sanwal, CEO.
"Sustainability and challenges to the food supply are pretty fundamental issues."
Faculty co-director of the Berkeley Food Institute at the University of California, Berkeley – Claire Kremen, said that the main challenge in promoting plant-based animal product alternatives is to convince people to consume them.
"The biggest challenge is that people who consume a lot of meat really like meat, and to convince them to try something different may be extremely difficult," said Kremen.
However not everyone is sold on Hampton Creek’s latest offering, including the American Egg Board.
"Our customers have said they're not interested in egg substitutes. They want real, natural eggs with their familiar ingredients," said Mitch Kanter, executive director of the American Egg board-funded Egg Nutrition Center.
Kanter also adds that the industry has developed initiatives to reduce water usage and greenhouse gas emissions and that hens are now living longer live through better health and nutrition.