Which came first, the chicken or the egg? In this case, there’s no question plant-based chicken has made industry inroads. Yet don’t look now but plant-based eggs are changing the landscape. In fact, a plant-based sunnyside up egg from Los Angeles’ Yo Foods Inc. (dba Yo Egg) earned recognition as “Judges’ Selection / Most Innovative Product” in Prepared Foods’ 2022-2023 Spirit of Innovation Awards.
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Here’s a story that spans more than two years and product development in two countries, Israel and the United States. Co-Founder and CEO Eran Groner told Fast Company that a popular Israeli restaurant chain asked accredited vegan chef Yosefa Ben Cohen to develop a vegan, sunnyside-up egg. And it wasn’t long before Cohen’s egg—made from tofu and pumpkin—gathered its own loyal customers at the restaurant. Cohen and her husband, Nisim Ben Cohen, realized they were onto something and developed a soy- and chickpea-based product that could be replicated in volume for distribution to commercial and non-commercial foodservice operators throughout Israel. That led to Yo Egg’s founding in 2021 with Nisim serving a chief operating officer and Groner (formerly of Future Meat) joining as CEO.
Groner says the company is particularly proud of overcoming two distinct challenges.
“Our first obstacles involved texture. A conventional chicken egg is very versatile and offers dramatically different textures between the yolk and the white. Creating these distinct textures and combining them into one cohesive product was a challenge,” says Groner. “Even more challenging was creating these textures in such a way that they would maintain these exact textures through manufacturing, freezing for packaging, thawing and heating during an operator's prep. Last but not least, the product needs to keep its texture while cooling on the consumer's plate. Our team spent 18 months studying the properties of conventional eggs and testing a wide range of ingredients and processes to overcome these challenges.”
He adds, “Yet another challenge came while shifting from prototype to scaled production—all while maintaining consistent quality. Our whites and yolks require precise chemistry, and the forming of the yolks at scale is not easy. Our engineers developed bespoke, proprietary equipment that makes thousands of our eggs per shift on an automated line with exceptional quality control and consistency.”
Listen to an exclusive interview with Yosefa BenCohen, research chef and head of R&D, and Eran Groner, founder and CEO of Yo! Foods.
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Read more about new advances in hydrocolloid technology and crafting plant-based foods here.
Yo Egg has a production facility in Israel and last year opened a Los Angeles operation with the capacity to produce “thousands of eggs every day,” Groner told Fast Company. With that, Yo Egg began distributing to as many as six LA-area restaurants with a plant-based poached egg hitting menus this February, followed by the sunnyside-up egg in March. This May, the company’s poached egg earned one of the National Restaurant Association’s FABI new product awards and the sunnyside-up egg additionally was named as a “FABI Favorite” for technical innovation.
“This is an exciting culinary product that gives operators a plant-based option they can be proud to showcase,” says Groner. “Likewise, it’s a visually stunning product that consumers obsess over on Instagram and TikTok.”
But that’s just the beginning for a product that delivers several back-of-house benefits. For starters, Yo Egg is a frozen product with an extensive shelf life (210 days +) compared to fragile, perishable shell eggs. Yo Eggs can be steamed, boiled, or fried like conventional eggs. Groner says they also can be microwaved in just 40 to 50 seconds and result in a perfect white and runny yolk. This translates to time savings, less training and less equipment.
Groner notes Yo Egg's yolks do not set or harden upon cooking. This means that operators can hot hold eggs and then serve them on a buffet line with no prep time.
He adds, “Now operators can embrace runny yolks without the super high risk of Salmonella. During the National Restaurant Association Show, FABI Judge and Wendy's Director of Culinary Innovation Becky Davis noted that we offered a solution to all the QSRs who would never put a runny yolk on their menus for food safety reasons.”
