Sometimes, Josh Tetrick will test strangers in the dairy corridor. He will give a conversation with a colleague in the grocery store and asks whether they have heard about “this egg made of plants?” It may refer to the golden yellow boxes in the form of milk cans that sit on refrigerator shelves, not very far from egg boxes. In general, he finds that people do not know what he is talking about. “Most people will be like,” what? “
Tetrick indicates the product to – which, not by chance, is called – only called EGG. It is a liquid vegetable egg alternative made of Mung Beans, and is a member of the legumes family, and is designed for a scramble just like a real chicken egg when cooking on heat. (The company also sells frozen pies that can be heated in a roasted oven and a frozen breakfast.) Next to his best friend Josh Palac, Tetrick only eaten the food that was eating only, which was previously known as Hampton Creek, which only developed an egg of the test. In a recent call with Grist, Tetrick described the products – which are supposed to look, taste and cook like real eggs – as “definitely strange”.
But recently, Tetrick says that the Eat Just team hears from restaurants and chefs overcoming strange to inquire about becoming new clients – partly because bird flu has sent egg prices in January and February in the United States. On the national level, the average cost of dozens of large eggs increased to about $ 5.90 last monthBy more than 100 percent from the previous year, according to the data of the Work Statistics Office. In expensive cities like New York and San Francisco, dozens of eggs It can cost $ 10 Or more. Presse sparked prices in some bakeries, lunch spots, and bodgas bacones that are closed and cheese-have made some buyers and consumers more open to alternatives.
Tetrick said that EGG sales only now Five times higher From this time last year, the majority of its customers are common. It seems that the latest outbreak of bird flu has done what the advocates of environmental protection and animal rights activists have dreamed of for a long time: the Americans have made curious about vegetarian eggs. It is a development that can indicate how consumers learn to adopt a gradual environmental options.
The environmental benefits have long been documented for not eating meat or dairy. A A quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions It comes from the way we grow and produce food; Including, cattle – which includes animal raising eggs and dairy products – is responsible for about a third.
But the brands that tried to benefit from the climate condition to eat a plant -based protein It failed to win over customers. Beyond meat Struggle To reach profitabilityWhile the CEO of an impossible food company says the industry has done.Poor job“From the attractiveness of consumers.
Egg production Low environmental impact From raising beef and other forms of animal protein – however Feed is increasing to place chicken It still requires a large amount of land and resources. Eat Just only claims that making eggs based on the pads is much lower than the ground and water than traditional chicken eggs. But Tetrick said that its most effective marketing strategy highlights the benefits of eating a “healthier protein” for breakfast. For example, only eggs contain zerl milligrams of cholesterol at every meal Large chicken eggs contain about 180 milligrams.
Eat only
Over the years, at Tetrick, which also includes a subsidiary GOOD MEAT company, which is planted with meat Criticize To exaggerate its environmental claims and sales numbers. In 2016, Bloomberg Businessweek stated that the company – then called Hampton Creek – Remove the climatic benefits of vegetarian munology The product, only May, from its website after an external review found it was inaccurate. In the past, Bloomberg reported that Hampton Kreik had instructed contractors To re -share vegetable mayonnaise From stores. Tetrick said that re -purchases were for quality guarantee purposes only, but in 2016 alike Ministry of Justice and Securities and Stock Exchange Committee In inquiries in the company to inflate its sales numbers. The following year, Both the investigation has been dropped.
Those who are in the plant -based industry say that once good plant alternatives like real meat and cost the same or less, sales will rise. Entrepreneurs and defenders focused on technology development, supply chains and economies required to reduce the price of animal -free protein products. But the current situation with vegetable eggs indicates that the change can also happen when the animal -based option becomes more expensive. Prices differ from store to store and area to the area, but on the online store for Manhattan West of Whole Foods, one carton from 16 ounces of eggs, equivalent to about 10 small eggs, costs $ 7.89. Meanwhile, dozens of eggs, depending on the brand, work from about $ 7 to $ 13.
Tetrick said that newly interested customers are currently speaking to Eat are not motivated by climate change or animal care. Their point of view, in his words, is that they are tired of the inability to predict the prices of eggs up and down. He added that this discontent “may be the most effective lens for change.” Earlier this month, Eat has just launched a campaign in New York City, which announces vegetable breakfast sandwiches, which were sold in Bodgas, as.Plan for saving birdsThe company A website boasts“We are in stock.”
The founders of vegetable egg companies argue that the root cause of prices for meat, eggs and dairy products is not a single disease or policy, but the way the United States provokes animals. “When the animals are crowded together in really narrow spaces, they will get sick,” said Tetrick. “This is not Trump’s mistake. It is not Maga’s mistake. It’s just biology.”
2023 a report The United Nations Environmental Program was martyred with alternative proteins-the meaning of plant foods, as well as products planted with meat and products derived from fermentation-as a means of reducing the risk of spreading animal diseases origin. Human consumption of animals requires many antibiotics, which raises the risk of creating antibiotic -resistant pathogens. It also creates perfect conditions for viruses for spreading, developing and crossing into new types. Reducing global demand for animal protein can significantly reduce these risks. Or, as Tetrick said, “You can pack the Mong pills in small small spaces everything you want. They don’t get the influenza.”
Hema Reedy, who developed the brand boiled eggs by Wundreegs during the Covid-19 pandemic, presented a similar criticism of the industrial agriculture of animals. “If the chicken is crowded together, it will follow the disease,” she said. “The only solution,” I assumed, “is to change the way we visit. This is a big step. It is like moving Titanic.”
Made of Wundreeggs of almonds, cashews and coconut milk are currently sold In stores and connected. Like Tetrick, Reddy says she has heard from many newly interested restaurants in the past few months. But it is reluctant to extract long -term conclusions, on the pretext that the consumer behavior does not change quickly. She said that many people want to eat eggs, they miss eggs, “and” they will wait for things to improve. “
Zeng Hui / Xinhua via Getty Images
But for some of the adoption of vegetable egg alternatives, the bullish trend of chicken eggs abandoned it is clear. Chef Jasson Hall, director of food services at Marine Contra -Lay School in the Gulf region, uses only eggs for years. “They allowed delicious egg flavor,” Hull said. It exchanges regular eggs for the vegetable version in baked goods such as cookies, cakes and fast bread, as well as in dishes such as fried rice. He said that there is almost no difference. Although he has long fans of the brand, the rise in egg prices has proven the validity of his decision. “Especially with egg prices at the present time, I will not use chicken eggs for bread, fried rice, or things like that any time soon,” he said.
Hall said that some of his peers, especially those in other parts of the country, may be less open around vegetable egg alternatives. But high costs may make them reconsider. He said the other chefs “restore it, for sure.” “The high prices of eggs are a kind of forcing this warm -up.”
Wholesale egg prices It goes down from MarchAccording to the US Department of Agriculture data, this momentum can be short -term. But it may be just a matter of time before the next price is high. “Because the virus is everywhere in many different environments … it is difficult to imagine that the virus completely disappears at this stage,” said Maurice Besky, associate professor of the cooperative extension at the University of California, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
Reddy insisted that taking advantage of a cost -cost living crisis to enhance her product does not sit with it properly, and that she prefers to allow consumers to reach their own conclusions about what is appropriate for them. But if the bird influenza continues to increase the production of eggs in the United States, this may mean that the economic state of dairy news may become more clear over time. Regardless of what is happening in the future, Reddy said: “I really think it is time now for egg alternatives to shine“