Eat Just Inc. Saying it is cutting about 18% of jobs in its plant-based egg division, CEO Josh Tetrick revealed, to help cut costs and reach profitability. Although the company reports that demand for its plant-based eggs is strong and growing, Tetrick says the product portfolio is currently unprofitable.
“We should be at a point where it’s able to manage profitability without needing any external capital.”
The cuts will result in about 40 job losses, but will not affect workers at Good Meat, the company’s sale-based meat division, Bloomberg reports. According to Tetrick, sales of its liquid and folded plant-based eggs reached record levels, with the company increasing new household penetration by 11% in January.
Despite the product’s strong performance, Tetrick says that, collectively, its offerings are unprofitable and the company must take initiatives to reduce costs. Beyond the layoffs, Eat Just is working on about 20 other initiatives, including consolidating operations, increasing production efficiency and reducing ingredient costs, to help improve its margins.
Benefits of eggs
In recent times, plant-based eggs have received considerable media attention as an accessible alternative to chicken eggs, the price of which has skyrocketed over the past year, driven in part by the devastating avian flu outbreak.
JUST Egg has taken advantage of the ongoing egg shortage by placing digital ads for its chicken-free egg products directly outside US supermarkets.
Since launching in 2019, the company has reported sales of 360 million egg equivalents and said it achieved price parity with conventional eggs last year.
“We should be at a point where it’s able to operate at profitability without needing any external capital,” Tetrick said.