Vegan Egg Replacer Debuts Amidst Surging Egg Prices

United Kingdom-based food ingredient company Ulrick & Short recently developed a vegan egg alternative called “ovaprox.” Egg prices in the European Union have increased by 55.8 percent in the year between November 2016 and 2017, which, according to the company’s executive assistant Robert Lambert, will give vegan alternatives an economic advantage. “We’ve seen a significant increase in demand from our customers for egg replacement,” Lambert told media outlet FoodIngredientsFirst. “This is mainly due to price fluctuations over recent months, and manufacturers have found that ovaprox offers a competitive and price stable alternative. Also, the growth of veganism in recent years is forcing manufacturers to look at egg alternatives, and our ovaprox is vegan.” Ovaprox is made from a combination of starches and can be used in place of eggs in baked goods, pancakes, and mayonnaise. During the 2015 avian flu epidemic, food startup Hampton Creek’s eggless Just Mayo gained market share over competing mayonnaise products that contained eggs—sparking backlash from the egg industry, particularly the American Egg Board, that began to view Hampton Creek as a formidable competitor. Subsequently, in 2017, egg company Cal-Maine Foods reported a loss of $74.3 million, which CEO Adolphus Baker attributed to the growth of vegan egg alternatives.