Today, alternative protein company JUST announced its newest product: a pre-cooked plant-based omelet. The so-called “folded egg” will be made from mung beans, similar to JUST’s liquid eggless scramble.
I’m currently in the midst of Veganuary, so I’m personally bummed that JUST’s eggless omelet won’t be available until April. The new folded egg will be sold as boxes of four and will roll out in the freezer section of 5,000 retailers, including Whole Foods. They will also be sold in restaurants and other foodservice providers for the SRP of $4.99.
JUST’s original liquid egg is also getting a makeover. In May, the San Francisco-based startup will begin selling a new version of JUST Egg, which, according to a press release emailed to The Spoon, is “cleaner, creamier and more egg-like than many chicken eggs.” I’m not sure how an egg can be more egg-like than eggs, but having tasted JUST Egg myself recently, I can say there’s definitely room for some improvement in the flavor department.
This flurry of news comes just a few months after JUST announced it had acquired a manufacturing facility to turn up the dial on its production capacity. As a result, the company noted in the aforementioned press release that its liquid egg will undergo a price reduction to a $4.99 SRP.
As more and more fast-food and fast-casual chains begin testing out plant-based breakfast options, the time is ripe for a pre-made vegan egg patty. Unlike the JUST Egg scramble, which was already sold in the JUST frittata at Le Pain Quotidien last year, the folded option is premade and only needs to be heated up. The new omelet is more similar to the JUST Egg patty, which JUST’s Head of Global Communications Andrew Noyes told me is sold at more than half of JUST’s foodservice partners. IMHO, the fact that both the patties and the omelets are pre-made (just heat and serve) makes them a much a pretty appealing option for quick service restaurants.
In fact, I could see Dunkin’ adding the folded JUST Egg to its Beyond Sausage Breakfast Sandwich, or Burger King listing it as an option for its new Impossible Croissan’wich. JUST Egg could even fit the bill for Starbuck’s, which is reportedly looking to expand plant-based menu offerings.
The question will become whether or not JUST can produce enough mung bean eggs to meet the needs of a massive fast-food operator. Something tells me that before the end of the year, we’ll find out.
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