On the menu: More sustainable eggs
July 15, 2024
Scrambled eggs made with bio-identical egg protein/ Onego Bio
As bird flu takes hold again globally, the ability to produce egg alternatives at scale without rearing entire chickens, is more relevant than ever. Increasing production of animal-free eggs and consumer uptake are essential next steps. GEA helps customers in the food industry test and scale alternative egg products and ingredients.
The highly contagious avian influenza is spreading across the globe, causing consumers and food producers to think more critically about food value chains, particularly as it relates to protein. Eggs – and the chickens, ducks and other birds that lay them – are a beloved part of many culinary traditions, providing an important and cost-effective source of protein. In the last three decades, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that world egg production has increased by 150 percent, with much of this growth coming from Asia.
Against this backdrop, the World Organisation for Animal Health reports that during a four-week period in May and June of 2024, 1.9 million poultry birds died or were culled as a result of bird flu. The virus has now spread to Mexico, Australia, India, southeast Asia, China and Antarctica. Already in 2022, the USDA estimated that 43 million table egg layers were lost due to avian flu in the U.S. alone. Sadly, now wild birds, mammals, including cows and once again humans, are falling victim – and in some cases even dying – from the virus.
These losses put economic pressure on poultry producers, cause egg shortages and drive-up prices for consumers. The environmental cost of this and similar pandemics is considerable when the lost labor, water, feed and energy that went into rearing each animal during its lifetime are all taken into account. The deaths of so many wild animals from bird flu have a negative impact on biodiversity globally, which is already under immense pressure. These challenges – from economic to environmental costs – highlight the need to develop and scale up new, more sustainable alternatives to eggs and egg proteins that can complement traditional egg production.
Pathways to more sustainable eggs and egg ingredients
The first commercial egg alternative product came onto the U.S. market in 2013. Since then, Asia, Europe and countries in the Middle East have launched their own egg substitutes. Today, there are three pathways to produce egg alternatives:
- plant-based: products made from plants or plant extracts
- microbial: a process where the desired functional ingredients are extracted from microorganisms (e.g., yeast, microalgae)
- precision fermentation: another microbial process which results in real egg protein
In precision fermentation, the DNA of microorganisms is altered, turning them into mini-factories that produce bio-identical proteins with the same function, flavor, nutrition and applications as egg protein. “Precision fermentation enables producers to fully control and tailor taste, texture and other functionality attributes which are fundamental for positive consumer experience,” explains Frederieke Reiners, Vice President of New Food at GEA. This process, which is based on the same technique used to make human insulin for diabetics, is also used to make dairy alternatives and dairy proteins which behave and taste very much like their classical counterparts. The first precision fermentation derived liquid egg product, which will also include plant-based ingredients, should be available to restaurants in 2024. A powder-based, animal-free egg white ingredient made purely via precision fermentation is expected to be available to the B2B market in 2025.
Cracking the code for the perfect egg white alternative
While whole eggs are a common consumer favorite, egg white is widely used in industrial food production, for example in baked goods, ice creams, pasta, nutritional supplements and meat alternatives. To date, notable egg alternative product launches include an egg white replacer made from upcycled spent brewer’s yeast, for use as a binder in plant-based meats, and a liquid product made with both precision fermentation derived proteins and plant-based ingredients. Real egg white, or albumen, provides important binding properties in foods and gives baked goods their structure. However, mimicking these attributes with plant-based egg white alternatives alone is challenging since plant extracts cannot confer these much-loved properties, particularly in baking.
Precision fermentation enables producers to fully control and tailor taste, texture and other functionality attributes which are fundamental for positive consumer experience.
Frederieke Reiners
Vice President of New Food, GEA
Food and ingredients manufacturers turn to GEA to use the company’s pilot scale line to validate their concepts, for example at GEA’s new food technology center in Hildesheim, Germany. A similar facility will be available to customers in Janesville, Wisconsin, in 2025. GEA also simulates bioreactor settings with digital twin technology to determine the parameters for industrial production before the fermenters are built. ”Validating cell cultures and determining the growth rate in advance is crucial for the success of any company that uses precision fermentation to produce alternative proteins," says Reiners. "Our service and expertise help customers minimize the risk and amount of their investment. They achieve the first production milestones without having to finance their own pilot plants."
Market potential and consumer uptake
For all this innovation, where do consumers stand on the topic of egg alternatives? In its 2023 State of the Industry Report on plant-based foods, the Good Food Institute (GFI) noted that emerging categories like plant-based eggs experienced declines in 2023. Unit sales, however, grew 25 percent in 2022, suggesting inflation played a role in lower sales in 2023. Long-term, the egg substitute market is expected to reach a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.5 percent from 2023 to 2033, according to Future Market Insights.
Consumer readiness and interest in precision fermentation egg alternatives looks promising. A 2023 study published in the Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems journal by Thomas et. al., found that in the U.S., Germany and Singapore there is a high willingness (greater than 50 percent) to try precision-fermented eggs. The levers vary, with animal welfare and reduced use of antibiotics mentioned more often in Germany, and health aspects, such as the lack of cholesterol in precision fermented egg products, more relevant to survey respondents from Singapore and the U.S.
The GFI and Accenture conducted a similar survey in 2023 with respondents from France, Germany, Spain, the UK and U.S. The results, shared in the GFI’s 2023 State of the Industry report on fermentation, show comparable levels of willingness to try precision-fermented eggs – also around 50 percent. They asked consumers about their perceptions of certain terms and descriptions of precision-fermented foods; the responses show that the language used to describe and explain products and production processes is key. Respondents from several countries said they are open to trying and purchasing precision fermented products but require that processes to be explained simply with “relatable examples” of host microorganisms and produced ingredients, and if they are convinced the final product is the same as the conventional product. However, and perhaps more importantly, the results reveal that familiarity of precision fermentation remains quite low.
Ensuring our eggs are not all in one basket
The growing demand for egg alternatives can make a significant contribution to reducing the environmental footprint of food production, while alleviating health, food safety and allergy concerns. Through precision fermentation we have an opportunity to diversify and make our global food chains, including egg production, more resilient. Developing tasty and nutritious egg alternatives and ingredients at scale – at the right price points – is the next step. And this is exactly where GEA can support: Through its test facilities and extensive food process know-how, GEA helps start-ups and ingredient producers bring these sustainable products to market more quickly.
To ensure these products reach the dining table, countries will need to remove regulatory barriers. And clearly, industry needs to do more in taking consumers on this journey by educating and demystifying alternative protein processes and products.
