This Startup Is Using A Surprising Ingredient To Make Vegan Eggs

Eggs are a pretty common grocery item. Whether they're hard-boiled or used in baked goods, eggs are a versatile and popular ingredient in many dishes, across a wide variety of diets. Since eggs are high in protein, low in carbs, and fairly easy to prepare, they are a staple in many people's kitchens. However, there is at least one diet where eggs are off-limits: the vegan diet – but that may be changing. According to Veg News, Perfeggt, a food technology company based in Germany, has announced it will be launching a new, completely plant-based egg substitute. 

The new liquid vegan egg alternative will be made of fava beans and other plant-based proteins and lipids. If you've never tasted a fava bean, they are similar to lima beans. Much like eggs, fava beans crop up in many foods, including stews and falafel. However, Perfeggt focused on recreating the same texture, flavor, and characteristics of a chicken egg so that this plant-based alternative can be fried and scrambled just like any other egg. "With Perfeggt, we are offering a real alternative for one of the most popular animal proteins in the world. We're more than convinced that it's about time to rethink the egg as part of our daily diet with plant-based proteins and data-driven technology," Tanja Bogumil, the co-founder and CEO of Perfeggt, explained in a statement.

Perfeggt's new eggs also have the added benefit of being more environmentally sustainable than eggs that come from animals. Although animal eggs have a lower environmental impact than other sources of animal-based proteins, like beef or pork, these plant-based eggs will reportedly be even more sustainable, according to Food Navigator. Perfeggt's eggs are created in line with many of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals and could use just 5% of the freshwater resources required by a chicken egg. Producing a traditional chicken egg might also require as much as double the amount of farmland and create 74.3% more greenhouse gas than the vegan egg substitute.

Perfeggt has secured $2.8 million of funding from investors like EVIG Group, Stray Dog Capital, Good Seed Ventures, Sustainable Food Ventures, and others. The company plans to launch in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in early 2022, with planned expansion into other European markets in the future. "Eggs are one of the most consumed and popular animal proteins worldwide. They are not only part of a nutritional, low-carb diet, [but also] a staple food in most households that's easy to prepare. And this is exactly what we are offering with Perfeggt: a tasty, plant-based egg that matches the nutritional profile of the animal version."