In early December, a new company hatched in Singapore called Float Foods.
The company is working on an alternative to chicken egg — called OnlyEg — made from legumes, and aims to tap a market for plant-based food growing by 12 per cent a year that is projected to be worth US$74 billion by 2027, with Asia the main engine for growth.
Float Foods claims OnlyEg is the first of its kind to achieve this level of likeness to a real chicken egg, and its egg yolk and egg white varieties are designed to go with Asian dishes such as nasi goreng and egg noodles.
Like the many plant-based options now entering the market, OnlyEg’s sustainability credentials are a key selling point; its carbon footprint is much lower than chicken eggs, no hormones or antibiotics are used, animal welfare is not a concern, and there’s less risk of animal-to-human disease transmission.
Float Foods co-founder and CEO Vinita Choolani had the idea for OnlyEg during the lockdown period in Singapore, when eggs were disappearing from supermarket shelves amid a spate of panic buying, and there were concerns over food security in a country that imports most of its food.
Choolani joins the Eco-Business Podcast to talk about the market potential for OnlyEg, and whether Asia will develop an appetite for plant-based eggs in a region that consumes more chicken eggs than anywhere in the world.
Tune in as we talk about:
- Launching a new product in a pandemic
- The impact of Covid-19 on the plant-based food movement
- Is plant-based food a fad?
- Bringing down the cost of plant-based
- The future of food