Have we cracked the code on plant-based eggs?

Yo Egg thinks it has. In less than a year, as egg prices skyrocketed and avian flu-related shortages ensued, the North Hollywood-based food tech company has managed to get its plant-based egg replacements into 600 distribution points like grocery stores and foodservice locations, up from just 10.

The plant-based egg industry is rather nascent. There’s Eat Just Inc., which packages a mung bean protein batter that can be scrambled for a plausible egg experience. There’s also Neggst, which also makes plant-based egg substitutes like hardboiled eggs or poached eggs. But funding for the sector is rather thin, and Pitchbook says Yo Egg is the fifth largest startup in its category in terms of most capital raised with $5 million.

Yo Egg makes several products, such as a poached egg substitute the company often features atop eggs benedict, and a sunny-side up egg with a yolk that runs when squished in a burger. Its egg products are made with chickpea and soy proteins, algae extract, beta-carotene (a naturally occurring pigment) and paprika extract. The “whites” are whipped up from a runny batter and baked, along with the “yolk”, on a conveyor oven.

“We don’t only solve for plant-based; we also solve for convenience,” Eran Groner, the chief executive of Yo Egg, said. “How would the everyday consumer go about preparing an indulgent breakfast dish such as eggs benedict? Most people can’t.”

The state of plant-based meat

Yo Egg is a relatively new entrant in the same space El Segundo-based Beyond Meat Inc. and Impossible Foods dominated 10 years ago: making a convincing replica of animal products – sans the animal, of course.

It was out of the success of Impossible and Beyond Meat that the idea for Yo Egg was hatched.

Groner spent his life developing factory farms throughout Southeast Asia, eastern Europe and Africa where he saw firsthand how animal proteins were manufactured. He later joined a team of biochemists and engineers at what is now called Believer Meats, developing a business model and supply chain strategy for bringing plant-based proteins to the market. In 2021, he cofounded Yo Egg.

Plant products not in favor

In recent years, the plant-based meat category has lost favor with consumers – though they were able to visually replicate juicy burgers that “bled,” plant-based meat is generally more expensive and less nutritious than their animal counterparts.

“I think we see a lot of consumers moving towards cleaner products, so shorter ingredient lists, recognizable ingredients,” said Johnny Ream, a partner at Stray Dog Capital and investor in Yo Egg. “There’s been a lot of consolidation in the space. There were a lot of brands that came to market over the past three or four or five years and – I would actually attribute it more to performance of the consumer – they just didn’t meet a high enough bar. So a lot of those brands went away.”

Growing distaste from consumers shows in the funding. In the year following Impossible’s 2016 debut, plant-based proteins raised a whopping $157 billion, an anomaly the sector hasn’t come close to any year since then. The sector raised $36.6 billion in 2024.

“People who see plant-based meat as tasty are more likely to purchase and eat it, but health, sustainability and a desire to eat less conventional meat also play a role,” The Good Foods Institute said in a consumer insights study. “Many consumers are looking for tastier and cheaper plant-based meat.”

The price factor

Yo Egg certainly isn’t cheaper than a carton of shelled, raw eggs, though prices are expected to soar 41% in 2025, per a U.S. Department of Agriculture report. The company sells each unit at $5.99, which doesn’t include any markup a grocery store may add. But the company said it is priced similarly to other egg products on the shelves, and, with scale, will be able to achieve price parity with hen-laid eggs.

“It’s important to acknowledge that the egg industry had more than a century to perfect supply chain and manufacturing processes and science. Hormones and antibiotics all gear towards how to minimize the cost of manufacturing and increase efficiency,” Groner said. “We only started three and something years ago, right? So give us some credit.”