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Egg But It’s Not!
Plant-based goods are rapidly spreading in the market after the trend of vegetarian and vegan. By the dynamic of the food trend, today we are going to introduce the breakthrough in the plant-based food industry, the egg substitute!
What is Egg Substitutes?
Egg substitute is the substitute of chicken egg created from ingredients other than animal eggs. The egg substitute is generally made from beans-derived proteins such as soybeans and mung beans and has been growing rapidly since the early 2010s in Europe and the United States.
According to a market research company “Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence“, the global egg substitute market is said to grow to $2.62 billion as of 2026. It is a developing market, considering the size of the egg market in general, with high expectations for future growth as forecasted to be 121% in the average annual growth rate.
Businesses in egg substitute are still very few
On the other hand, the number of companies in the egg substitute market is limited compared to meat substitutes and dairy products. It is attracting attention as a global niche field.
Main Companies in Egg Substitute Industry
Below is a comparison of the major businesses in the egg substitutes market. The “condition 状態” and “use for 用途” are two points that need to be noted (red frame).
The comparison of products in the egg substitutes market.
According to the table in the column of “condition 状態”, Just Egg, a leading company in the egg substitutes market, offers liquids (液体) and processed products (patties) （加工品（パティ））.
On the other hand, the long-established Follow Your Heart create its product in powder. According to the interviews with the people concerned, Just Egg was started from the powder when it was first established but gradually shifted to liquids and processed products, because the market has begun to seek greater convenience.
Next in the column of “use for 用途”, the need for egg substitutes is mostly coming from the confectionery (baking) industry-like product created by Oggs in the United Kingdom. Specifically, there is an increasing need for the functions of “swelling” and “hardening” that are the unique function of the egg whites.
The Zero egg from Israel perfectly captures these changes in the market. They develop products in powder, liquid, and processed products (patties), a perfect lineup for both prepared foods and confectionery.
The Market Forecast
The movements of Zero Egg and Just Egg reflect the market trends of egg substitutes. In general, “convenience” and “diversity” are the keywords in developed countries (Europe and the United States) for alternative foods. In terms of convenience, this trend will continue for some time with the creation of liquids and processed products. Regarding diversity, in recent years, products specializing in boiled eggs and egg whites have been released and products that meet more subdivided needs (function, condition, etc.) can be predicted to be developed soon.
Japan’s Egg Substitutes Market
The Japan’s largest egg product producer “Kewpie” lunched HOBOTAMA in 2020 which attracted a great deal of attention. As mentioned above, there are very few egg substitutes products compared to meat substitutes and dairy products, and are an undeveloped market in Japan. It seems to started with the response of egg allergies, and is expected to spread as plant-based eggs and vegan eggs when plant-based foods are generally recognized.
See Also
HOBOTAMA, Plant-Based Egg-Alternative from Kewpie Japan
