Interview: COK Talks with Josh Tetrick about Beyond Eggs

You know you can bake at home without using eggs, so why don’t major food manufacturers cut the cruelty and go egg-free?

Enter Hampton Creek Foods, a one year-old company backed by well-known venture capitalists that is cracking the code on eggs and hatching a cruelty-free solution.  Led by CEO Josh Tetrick, Hampton Creek’s dedicated team of scientists, chefs, and food industry experts is developing an innovative and sustainable egg-free egg replacer that is 100% plant-based and cheaper than real eggs: Beyond Eggs.

We recently interviewed Josh for the summer issue of our member magazine, Compassionate Action. Here’s an excerpt:

Q: What inspired you to launch a company focused on developing a plant-based egg?   

A: I was trying to think of some way to connect business with alleviating animal suffering. Unlike meats, eggs are a cruelty that are often invisible – that is, people use and eat them for their function, not necessarily for their taste. So, it seemed to me that if we could create an egg from plants that had all the functional capabilities of a real egg that was less expensive and better for our health, we could inadvertently also alleviate the suffering of billions of chickens. And that was an exciting prospect.

Q: What makes Beyond Eggs stand out from other egg-free alternatives on the market?

A: There are a few key elements that make us stand out. For starters, we work on replacing the egg from a protein standpoint. Eggs function because of the many types of proteins they are comprised of. So, we try to replicate them using proteins too – plant proteins. Other egg replacers are primarily comprised of starches, which lack the ability to sustain functional capabilities in most systems that eggs are used for.

Learn more about Hampton Creek Foods and Beyond Eggs from their website, and view our full interview with Josh, available in our magazine! Not yet a member? Join today!