Latest news with #EatJust
Mint
a day ago
- Business
- Mint
Food-tech is here to feed the world without devouring it
Picture this: 295 million people face severe hunger right now. Meanwhile, traditional farming consumes 70% of global freshwater, emits 11 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually and is responsible for 90% of deforestation worldwide. Every year, we lose about 12 million hectares, roughly the size of Greece, to drought and erosion. With an expected 10 billion mouths to feed by 2050, the current food supply trajectory simply isn't sustainable. But there is hope. Also Read: Jagdambika Pal: Minimize food loss and waste for the sake of our planet and its people Technology breakthroughs in food production are now a science fiction writer's envy. Remember 2013's $330,000 lab-grown burger? Today, cultivated meat pioneers like Upside Foods have slashed costs to about $20 (under lab conditions), a staggering reduction. Singapore became the first country to approve cultivated chicken commercially in 2020, followed by the US in 2023. Yet, production remains minuscule. Eat Just's pilot facility currently produces only about 3kg of lab-grown chicken per week, compared to 4,000-5,000kg at a regular shop. Although meaningful scale is years away, cultivated meat's environmental potential is compelling: studies on beef show it could cut emissions and land use by up to 90% and reduce water use by around 80% compared to conventional beef (in a best-case scenario, assuming the use of renewable energy). Also Read: Food security: Let clean-tech innovation lead the way While lab-grown meat captivates imaginations, plant-based alternatives have already reshaped supermarket shelves. The global plant-based meat market, led by brands like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, reached $16 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $100 billion by 2033. These alternatives currently cost around 77% more than animal meat. Yet, the environmental benefits are undeniable. For example, pea protein emits just 0.4kg of carbon dioxide per 100g protein compared to beef's staggering 35kg. Israel's Redefine Meat pushes the envelope, using advanced 3D printing to create plant-based steaks realistic enough to impress Michelin-starred chefs across Europe. India's Blue Tribe Foods creates carbon-neutral, plant-based meats, highlighting the global nature of this wave. But why only mimic meat when we can completely rethink protein production? Enter precision fermentation. Companies like Perfect Day craft dairy proteins without cows, using genetically engineered micro-organisms, slashing water use by 99% and greenhouse gas emissions by 97%. Nature's Fynd has gone further, creating nutritious proteins from microbes; its products are now stocked across hundreds of stores. And molecular farming transforms plants themselves into factories, producing everything from life-saving vaccines to spider silk proteins inside spinach leaves. Also Read: Gene editing: Is humanity ready to rewrite the book of life? NASA-inspired technology is also revolutionizing protein production. Here, Solar Foods' Solein wins for sheer audacity. It makes protein 'from thin air" using carbon dioxide, water and renewable electricity. Its first commercial facility, which opened in April 2024, expects to produce protein with far greater efficiency than traditional farms. Air Protein uses bacteria first developed for astronauts to produce protein potentially 10,000 times more efficiently per land area than soyabeans. Similarly, spirulina algae—another NASA astronaut staple—produces protein at 50 times the rate of soyabeans, actively absorbing carbon dioxide in the process. Finally, biofortification is engineering crops to tackle global nutritional deficiencies directly. Golden Rice, engineered with beta-carotene to prevent blindness, has finally reached farmers after decades-long development. In Rwanda, iron-rich beans have increased dietary iron intake by 11% within two years. Zinc-enhanced wheat now spans 1.8 million hectares in India, addressing a 'hidden hunger' that silently affects billions worldwide. Food-tech innovations hint at greater possibilities. For instance, Japan's plans for space-based solar power could potentially revolutionize agriculture by enabling farming in deserts, underground chambers or even Mars. Also Read: Food and fertilizer subsidies should be climate-adapted and aimed better Investment trends tell their own story. After a sharp decline following a peak of $51.7 billion in 2021, food-tech funding rebounded in the first half of 2024. If scaled effectively, these innovations could slash agricultural emissions by about 80%, potentially freeing land twice the combined area of China and India. Our food system is undergoing an extraordinary transformation—proteins from thin air, 3D-printed steaks, astronaut-tested algae and nutrient-rich biofortified crops. While these ideas might seem 'moonshotish' today, remember that smartphones were pure science fiction not long ago. The technology exists, the environmental benefits are clear, and the path forward is illuminated by science and imagination. We humans are ready to 'cook up' a food system that nourishes the world and proves Thomas Malthus's dismal outlook wrong again—without devouring the planet in the process. The author is a technology advisor and podcast host.
Business Times
08-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Cash-strapped Beyond Meat gets US$100 million from diet non-profit
[NEW YORK] Beyond Meat raised US$100 million in debt financing from a plant-based diets advocate, as the company continues to search for funds to shore up its liquidity. The lender, Unprocessed Foods, is an affiliate of Ahimsa Foundation, an organisation 'focused on advocating for plant-based diets,' the plant-based meat supplier said on Wednesday (May 7) when it reported earnings that missed analysts' estimates. The same foundation also provided US$16 million capital to help out the maker of plant-based eggs Eat Just nearly two years ago. 'The overall macro environment is challenging for alt-protein, but we are confident of the leadership and the outlook,' said Shaleen Shah, president at Ahimsa Foundation in response to a Bloomberg News inquiry. 'This is the right side of the history. The way animals are grown and processed is unsustainable and alt-protein is the way forward.' Ahimsa has made numerous investments across the vegan food spectrum, he added. Beyond Meat had been in discussions with private credit lenders to raise as much as US$250 million, Bloomberg reported in February, after a previous attempt last year was unsuccessful. The El Segundo, California-based producer of meat substitutes faces the maturity of a US$1.15 billion of convertible bonds in 2027. The company, which has about US$116 million of cash and cash equivalents as at the end of March, will continue to 'evaluate potential transactions' to address the debt, it said on Wednesday. The senior secured delayed draw term loan has an initial interest of 12 per cent in so-called 'payable in kind' form, which allows the company to preserve cash as it doesn't have to pay interest periodically but instead it accumulates to be repaid when the principal is due. The maturity could be extended until 2035, but amounts drawn after 2030 would pay 17.5 per cent interest, chief financial officer Lubi Kutua said in the call with analysts. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Beyond Meat also offered the lender rights to purchase up to 12.5 per cent of its shares, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday. The exercise price will range between US$2 to US$3.75. Its shares fell 5.1 per cent at 6.14 pm in extended trading in New York. The stock has declined 32 per cent so far this year to Wednesday's close. Consumer caution The loan from Ahimsa comes as the company reported an increasingly dimmed revenue outlook. First-quarter revenue of US$68.7 million fell short of the average analyst estimate, with US retail volume declining 23 per cent from a year earlier. The company attributed this to 'weak category demand'. The plant-based meat supplier withdrew its full-year outlook, citing 'elevated levels of uncertainty within its operating environment.' It now projects second-quarter revenue in a range of US$80 million to US$85 million. Consumer caution is eating into grocery spending as consumers pull away from expensive meat alternatives. Food inflation is at the highest level on record, while the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index is at its third-lowest reading ever at 52.2. Beyond Meat's products remain more expensive than the animal proteins they are competing with. BLOOMBERG
Bloomberg
07-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Cash-Strapped Beyond Meat Gets $100 Million From Diet Non-Profit
Beyond Meat Inc. raised $100 million in debt financing from a plant-based diets advocate, as the company continues to search for funds to shore up its liquidity. The lender, Unprocessed Foods, is an affiliate of Ahimsa Foundation, an organization 'focused on advocating for plant-based diets,' the plant-based meat supplier said on Wednesday when it reported earnings that missed analysts' estimates. The same foundation also provided $16 million capital to help out the maker of plant-based eggs Eat Just Inc. nearly two years ago.
CBS News
15-03-2025
- Health
- CBS News
East Bay vegan egg company Eat Just sees massive spike in demand for product
With the bird flu impacting egg production nationwide, a Bay Area-based vegan egg company said the demand for their product is rising as consumers are looking for egg alternatives. " Just Egg is growing five times faster today -- relative today -- to the same period a year ago. It's also growing five times faster than chicken eggs," Eat Just co-founder and CEO Josh Tetrick told CBS News Bay Area. Tetrick's journey all started when he was trying to find the perfect protein sequences to create a texture similar to scrambled eggs. "The experiments we ran were in my buddy's studio apartment in Los Angeles; tiny little studio apartment. And I would bring on all these beans and grains and mill them in a blender," he said. Three years later, he launched the vegan alternative to eggs -- which he called "Just Egg" -- while continuing to test more recipes out of Emeryville. "In this machine over here, spins it really fast, fiber, fat, starch comes out and we're left with whole mung bean protein. It's non-GMO," Tetrick said. "Mung beans are cultivated over 4,000 years. It turns out there's a little protein inside these beans that scrambles like an egg. So we take it, mill it into a flour, and we spin it and protein comes off. This is the protein that makes the egg." According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national average price for a dozen of eggs was $5.90 in February. It was a nearly dollar jump from the average price of $4.95 in January. According to the USDA, in California, the average price of a dozen of eggs in March was $10.35. "For the consumer who is worried about egg prices and egg demand and the flu, they have a product entirely made from plants they can make in their own kitchen. And most importantly, it just taste like eggs," Tetrick said. The bird flu and the cost of eggs has also not impacted one restaurant in San Francisco. Carlos Suarez, the sous chef with Rad Radish, a vegan restaurant, said they serve Just Egg in their chilaquiles and sandwiches. "It's been very popular, like these three weeks, because the problem with the eggs. We don't have any eggs in San Francisco," Suarez told CBS News Bay Area. They said the egg shortage has actually made them busier than ever. "It's not increasing the price. It's not being affected by the recently increasing prices with the regular eggs," Suarez said. "So this is a good option to come and try it." Tetrick also adds that the bird flu has opened up a greater conversation about environmental sustainability, as they sold more than half a billion eggs since they launched in 2012. "94% of Americans are eating chicken eggs. But when you double click into that, the system is a bit off. The way we treat animals, the damage it does to the environment," he said. "The overall mission is to make it so that the food that we eat is much better for our own bodies, much better for animals and much better for the planet."
Vox
09-03-2025
- Business
- Vox
Is your grocery store out of eggs? Try these alternatives instead.
is a senior reporter for Vox's Future Perfect section, with a focus on animal welfare and the future of meat. A global economic meltdown seems to be the only event that can cause people to cut back on meat. In the years that followed the 2007 Great Recession, the average American's annual meat consumption fell by almost 9 percent. Milk purchases fell too. But through it all, egg consumption remained relatively stable and kept climbing, reaching around 280 eggs per person on average in 2022. That number could fall this year, not because people have soured on eggs, but because there aren't enough to meet demand. Just in the last two months, 27 million egg-laying hens — 9 percent of the nation's egg-laying hen flock — have been (brutally) killed to slow the spread of H5N1, a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu. Processing Meat A newsletter analyzing how the meat and dairy industries impact everything around us. Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Shortages have doubled the cost of eggs, and inspired at least two egg heists. Despite grand promises from Donald Trump's presidential campaign to bring down the price of eggs, his own agriculture department now says their cost will continue to surge this year. This has some shoppers — maybe you — turning to egg alternatives. While most grocery stores now offer a wide variety of plant-based milk and meat products, there are fewer egg alternatives on the market. But there's still plenty you can do with the plant-based egg alternatives likely available at your local grocery store, and even with more traditional kitchen ingredients, when you have fewer eggs than usual, or none. Just Egg, a plant-based liquid egg launched by San Francisco-based startup Eat Just in 2018, is made from an ingredient that's foreign to most Americans — mung beans — but it scrambles and functions like the real thing. The taste may not fool you, as it's not quite as eggy (as in, stinky) and is less fatty than chicken eggs. But eggs usually aren't eaten alone — cooking Just Egg with olive oil, garlic, onion, tomato, and a vegetable or two of your choice makes for a tasty breakfast that comes close to an egg scramble. And it has a similar amount of protein as liquid eggs from chickens per serving. A Just Egg omelette. Courtesy of Eat Just I've also had delicious quiches and frittatas made with Just Egg, and it can even be used to replace eggs in baking (more on this later). The company also sells pre-cooked frozen egg patties for breakfast sandwiches, and breakfast burritos. However, Just Egg costs around $7.50 for a 16-ounce bottle, which is much more than liquid chicken eggs in part because, as I've written about, animal agriculture has benefited — and continues to benefit — from decades of government support that helps keep prices low. Just Egg is by far the most popular plant-based egg: Eat Just's CEO, Josh Tetrick, told me that in the first two months of 2025, sales grew five times faster than in the same period last year. It's available in nearly 50,000 grocery stores and restaurants in North America — use the company's store locator here to check availability near you. At first glance, Simply Eggless appears practically identical to Just Egg, in that it's a plant-based product that comes in both liquid and patty form and is made with a bean (lupin beans instead of Just Egg's mung beans). But I'm sad to report that that's where their similarities end. I was excited to find the product at Trader Joe's last year, but I was quickly disappointed when I cooked with it. For one, it doesn't scramble as well as Just Egg or regular eggs — it just gets clumpy. Second, it tastes bad. As one BuzzFeed writer put it, 'These were, unfortunately, nasty. There's no way to beat around the bush here. I actually spit them out.' I didn't go as far to spit it out — I soldiered on and finished my meal — but I haven't bought it again. AcreMade, a company partially owned by livestock giant Cargill, makes a plant-based egg product made from pea protein that is…okay. It comes in powder form, which when mixed with water can be scrambled. It has a good texture and is functionally similar to Just Egg, but doesn't taste quite as good. It's only available online and costs $15 for a 5.6-ounce bag, which contains 24 servings — equivalent to 24 eggs — and is also available for purchase on its website. The company also has a similar product to replace eggs in baking. Yo Egg is a newer company that has recently expanded the number of grocery stores and restaurants that sell its products, which include a plant-based poached egg, a patty, and a hard-boiled egg substitute. I recently tried the poached product — made with soy and chickpea protein — at a restaurant and liked it. The flavor was good, but I was even more impressed with the company's technical ability to create an egg white pouch filled with a thick, yolky liquid. Find their products at a grocery store or restaurant near you. I never liked hard-boiled or deviled eggs, so WunderEggs — launched in 2023 by Texas-based startup Crafty Counter — aren't for me, but I have friends who like them. WunderEggs's main ingredients are simple — water, almonds, coconut milk, and cashews — and they look remarkably similar to eggs. Last year, the company won an innovation award from grocery giant Albertsons, and it's now available in 1,600 of its stores (Albertsons, Safeway, Shaw's, and Vons), as well as all Whole Foods locations. A tray of six costs around $8 and contains 8 grams of protein. 6. Tofu Tofu is the perfect food: it's cheap, high in protein, iron, and calcium, available just about everywhere, and can be used in a variety of dishes and cuisines, including as a substitute for an egg scramble. On its own, it doesn't taste like eggs, but medium-firm tofu, when mashed and sauteed, can have a similar texture. Like chicken meat, tofu doesn't have an inherently strong flavor and can absorb whatever spices and sauces you throw at it. Why you should consider making tofu a dietary staple Tofu, made from soybeans, isn't as glamorous as all the new plant-based meat startups, but it should be. It was invented in China around 2,000 years ago and remains a dietary staple around the world for good reason. At $2-3 per pound, it's cheaper than meat — except, sometimes, chicken— and is widely available in grocery stores and most Asian restaurants. It's low in saturated fat and high in protein, calcium, and iron, and you can get it in soft (silken), medium-firm, firm, or extra-firm varieties. It's versatile in the kitchen, taking well to frying, grilling, baking, or even in desserts. And as a bonus, it's incredibly environmentally friendly, using less land and water, and emitting far fewer greenhouse gas emissions, than animal-based protein. If you're skeptical, try first ordering a tofu dish at an Asian restaurant to experience how truly delicious it can be. Tofu scramble — a classic plant-based staple — is typically made with oil, garlic, onions, vegetables, and (plant-based) cheese. It's filling, affordable, healthy, and if made well, tasty in its own right even if it doesn't directly replicate the flavor of eggs. A pinch of kala namak, or black salt, will give it an eggy taste and smell. Here are a few popular, fool-proof recipes to get started: A decent tofu scramble should take you 30 minutes or less to make, but if you want it even faster, try the all-day egg scramble from tofu maker Hodo. It's a spiced and mashed block of tofu rich with flavor, made with onion powder, garlic, cumin, turmeric, smoked paprika, and more. It's a bit salty, but cooking it with a few vegetables and cheese can cut some of that. 8. Baking without eggs I'm more of a baker than a cook, and I've been vegan for almost 20 years, so I've mastered the art of baking without eggs, and I can tell you it's quite simple — because a lot of baked good staples don't need eggs in the first place. I can't tell you how many times a non-vegan bit into something that I or a friend made, had no idea it didn't have eggs (or dairy), and were none the wiser. You can use products like Just Egg, AcreMade's egg replacer, or this one from Bob's Red Mill, to replace eggs in baking. But to save money, you can simply use, depending on what you're making, bananas, ground flax seeds with water, apple sauce, silken tofu, or even the water from a can of chickpeas (called aquafaba). Those ingredients may strike you as odd egg replacers, but eggs don't add too much to the flavor of a baked good. Rather, they're more of a functional ingredient, working to bind other ingredients together, improve texture, and give certain desserts some fluff. Depending on the recipe, these other ingredients can do the trick. This guide from popular vegan recipe developer Nisha Vora covers how to use these ingredients as egg replacers and which are best for which baked goods. To be safe, I recommend using recipes that are already egg-free so you know it's been tested as such, rather than trying to reformulate a classic recipe, especially when you're just getting started. Aside from what I've mentioned here, there are a few other plant-based egg products that either aren't easy to find at grocery stores or aren't available at all in the US: Beleaf plant-based egg, Crack'd, Neggst, and Zero Egg. (I've had the Beleaf egg and enjoyed it but haven't seen it in stores.) Why aren't there more plant-based egg options? If the US were facing shortages of chicken, beef, or cow's milk, consumers would have a wide array of alternative choices. But for some reason, despite the enduring popularity of the egg, the plant-based food sector has put little effort into making tasty and affordable animal-free options. Hens in cages at a commercial egg farm. iStock / Getty Images Plus That's a shame, because egg farming is particularly cruel to animals. Most egg-laying hens are packed into tiny cages, unable to even flap their wings, where they languish for one-and-a-half to two years before they're slaughtered for pet food. Cage-free farming is an improvement, but still much more inhumane than you might think. I asked Tetrick of Eat Just why there's such a lack of competition (Just Egg, he said, makes up 99 percent of the plant-based egg market). He told me it's a highly technical challenge compared to making, say, a plant-based burger, and it's required the company to raise a lot of capital, and take on a lot of risk. 'We almost didn't accomplish it,' he added. I'm glad they did, because it means we have at least one great plant-based egg product that's also widely available. But for the sake of the hens, and food security threats like the bird flu, I hope they get a lot more competitors.
