Food technology company Hoow Foods announced last week (August 3) that it has launched a plant subsidiary called Food Hegg after a recent raising of A $ 3 million in a pre-Series A round led by Singapore-based venture firm Farquhar VC.
According to the company, Hegg Foods focuses on developing new sustainable food products that meet the growing demands of consumers for healthier and more environmentally friendly plant alternatives.
In line with this vision, Hegg Foods will launch a new brand of healthy herbal eggs called HEGG, which marks its first foray into the consumer market.
Entering the alternative protein space
The panic-buying attack during the nation’s closure last year prompted the government to step up and assure Singaporeans that the country was not at risk of running out of essential food supplies.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic still brought to light the issue of food security in Singapore. In response, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has set a target will produce 30% of the nation’s food by 2030, also known as the “30 by 30” goal.
Hegg Foods CEO Ow Yau Png explains that Hegg Foods is particularly “pending to address the issue of ensuring resilience of food supply for one of the most affordable and widely available protein sources (chicken eggs ) “.
He added that Singaporeans consume more than five million eggs a day, but local production can only meet less than 27% of demands.
Hegg Foods plans to feed the growing local and regional population in a healthy but sustainable way by leveraging alternative protein space.
As a new plant-based egg alternative, it would allow Singapore to diversify its supply and availability of common and affordable protein sources.
Chicken shell eggs, on the other hand, although cheap and easily accessible, have several implications for health and the environment.
According to Yau Png, 20% of fresh food in Singapore is spoiled or spoiled even before it arrives and a large amount of food is discarded for food safety reasons.
Therefore, plant food alternatives such as HEGG can help improve air quality and animal health and welfare due to the reduction of intensified livestock.
You can buy vegetable eggs as early as 2022
To produce plant-based eggs, Hegg Foods leverages Hoow Foods ’patented Artificial Intelligence (AI) food and ingredient platform, RE-GENESYS, which leverages ingredient computing to develop food products.
Made in Singapore, HEGG consists of a combination of legumes and plant-based ingredients.
Nutritionally, a serving of HEGG has a protein content almost identical to that of a normal-sized chicken egg. However, this plant-based egg alternative not only contains significantly less fat, but is also free of cholesterol, dairy, gluten and soy, with no added preservatives.
Mixed in powder form, HEGG prioritizes comfort and a long service life.
Hegg Foods has considered several useful features to simplify production and logistics. For example, HEGG in its powder form allows manufacturing to be easily scaled. Shipping the product is also easier because HEGG does not require refrigeration and has a relatively longer shelf life.
HEGG is not only versatile in various culinary applications, but is also very stable in its powder form. These factors differentiate HEGG from other plant-derived egg products available on the market, including Float Foods OnlyEg, OsomeFood’s hard-boiled egg and Eat Just’s Just Egg.
The company’s R&D team is constantly finding new ways to improve the versatility of HEGG, which can be used in Western-style kitchens such as scrambled eggs and omelettes. In addition, its easy application to Asian-style kitchens can allow HEGG to be widely adopted throughout Asia.
Hegg Foods is currently planning its pilot scale production and is working on marketing HEGG.
For starters, it intends to work with select F&B partners and suppliers to introduce HEGG to their selected menus. The company also expects HEGG to be “ready for B2C” next year and available on supermarket shelves and e-commerce sites.
What will it take for consumers to switch to vegetable eggs?
With strong aspirations to scale up and establish a large-scale facility in Singapore in the next two years, HEGG is well on its way to reducing the nation’s dependence on egg imports by 20% in the next five years. years.
Vegetable diets are gaining strength around the world, with issues such as climate change and prominence. In addition, amid global reports that food allergies, including egg allergies, are on the rise, plant-based eggs may become more common in the near future.
And, in multireligious and multicultural Singapore, plant-based eggs may have a strong foothold in some communities due to dietary restrictions in some religions. For example, some religions such as Jain and Buddhism do not eat eggs.
To keep HEGG widely accessible, consumers must consider it economically reasonable to make the change. If plant-based eggs were priced comparable to chicken eggs, they would be more encouraged to make the switch for more altruistic reasons, whether ethical or environmental.
Yau Png said that with his experience with other F&B products, such as Killiney brand coffee and tea and Callery ice cream, and eventual economies of scale, he is confident that they could finally “price HEGG competitively. for chicken eggs “.
At the moment, herbal eggs are not readily available in local supermarkets, apart from vegan egg substitutes for cooking. With this gap, vegetable eggs are likely to take off in Singapore, just like vegetable meats as do Beyond, Impossible, and Quorn.
Start functions is a key content pillar for Vulcan Post. You can follow our coverage on startups here.
As of July 1, 2021, Vulcan Post premium items will be hidden behind a pay wall. Subscribers will be able to enjoy exclusive articles with a higher level of coverage and information on verticals that include government technology, electric vehicles, cryptocurrency and e-commerce. You can check out our premium items here and subscribe to us here.
Featured Image Credit: Hegg Foods
