Yo Egg makes first steps into a retail footprint

Dive Brief:

• Yo Egg — a food tech company co-founded by CEO Eran Groner which creates a product that replicates the function, taste and nutritional value of a whole runny egg — has made its retail debut on the West Coast. 
• Whitestone Natural Foods will be distributing the product, which is made from a base of soy and chickpea protein plus sunflower oil, with ‘runny’ yolks sealed from the whites by an alginate film. 
• Before their expansion to retail, Yo Egg launched into the foodservice space in July of 2023 under a partnership with Veggie Grille.

Dive Insight:

The eggs, which are plant-based, zero-cholesterol and low in saturated fat, will be sold in four-packs in select supermarkets in the Los Angeles area, including Besties Vegan Paradise, Rainbow Acres Natural Foods, Hanks Organic, Follow Your Heart Market and PlantX-XMarket Venice, AgFunderNews reported. The company also has plans to expand into the New York market, as well as throughout California and eventually nationwide.

Yo Egg’s retail footprint plan is to start with “individual operators in the better-for-you natural foods category,” he told AgFunderNews. “Then we’re targeting regional players such as Bristol Farms, before going after accounts such as Sprouts and Whole Foods.”

Back when the company announced its expansion plans into the foodservice space, Groner told Food Dive that Yo Egg distinguishes itself as an “egg company and being plant-based is just an advantage.” 

The company was developed by Groner’s fellow co-founder and Israeli chef Yosefa Ben Cohen as a home project out of her kitchen. 

Looking to bring the “whole-egg” experience to consumers, Yo Egg is known for its namesake runny yolk despite being completely vegan. 

The company is not pigeonholing itself into the plant-based consumer by pushing an environmental or animal agenda, but instead focusing on the fact that it has a delicious, cholesterol-free product.