Anne Hathaway Invests in Vegan Egg Tech: The need to transform the food system is clear

Currently, the world is in the midst of a historic avian flu outbreak that has wiped out millions of birds, causing massive egg shortages and skyrocketing chicken egg prices. But this phenomenon is not new. And experts have long warned that it won’t end.

Although consumers pay top dollar for chicken eggs, if they can find them, the birds pay the highest price with their lives. In the United States, more than 58 million birds have died in 47 states during the current outbreak.

Canva

Fortunately, innovators are working on vegan egg solutions that don’t rely on chickens or an industry that exploits them for eggs.

And today, one such innovator, San Francisco-based The Every Co., announced a new celebrity investor helping the food-tech company accelerate the world’s transition to animal-free protein. Actress Anne Hathaway is supporting each mission as an investor for an undisclosed amount, bringing total funding to date to more than $230 million.

“The need to transform our food system has never been clearer or more urgent,” Hathaway said in a statement. “An important piece of the puzzle is nature’s equivalent of animal proteins, as each is evolving. I am proud to support this vision of a better future.”

Pulling the chicken out of the egg

One way to future-proof the egg industry from avian flu is to take animals out of the farming equation entirely—which is exactly how everyone makes their vegan egg protein.

Each co.

Established in 2014, The EVERY Co. Recreates the animal’s identical egg protein through a precise fermentation process. In a process similar to brewing beer, the company feeds sugar to yeast which then produces egg protein that has the same amino acid profile, nutrition and functionality as traditionally made egg protein without any animal input.

To date, each has demonstrated the effectiveness of its animal-free egg and pepsin protein such as the snacks brand Pressed, a nutritionally advanced green smoothie; Adaptogenic hard juice with beverage innovator pulp culture; and the world’s first vegan macarons made with animal-free egg whites with San Francisco artisan shop Chantal Gillion.

Each co.

Each is part of a growing cohort of companies working to transform the food system using precision fermentation. In 2021, the sector secured investments of $1.7 billion, almost three times the $600 million raised in 2020.

Hathaway was drawn to invest in each—his first B2B investment—because of his own interest in reducing his impact on the environment, which has led to personal changes such as reducing his meat consumption and plastic consumption.

“We are thrilled to partner with visionary investors like Ann to advance our plans to rethink the way we feed and nourish the world,” said Arturo Elizondo, EACH co-founder and CEO, in a statement.

“Ultimately, our vision is to bring animal-free protein to everyone, everywhere and help set the table for the better food future we all deserve,” Elizondo said.

To develop its protein, EVERY is working with ZX Ventures’ BioBrew—the global investment and innovation group of AB InBev, the world’s largest brewing company. Besides Hathaway, investors in each include Bloom8, McWin Food Systems Fund, Temasek, TO Ventures, Grosvenor, and ZX Ventures, among others.

Pulling the chicken out of the egg

A look at history shows that when a more cost-effective method of manufacturing something comes along, the clunkier method quickly becomes obsolete. Given the current egg crisis, what could happen to traditionally produced eggs?

Each vegan egg protein production process is similar to the one used by the pharmaceutical and dairy cheese industries, which now rely on precision fermentation to produce insulin and rennet. How were these elements created before? Insulin was derived from the pancreas of a pig, while rennet was previously obtained from the fourth stomach of a baby cow.

50,000 pigs were needed to produce one kilogram of insulin protein, now it is all made more efficiently and ethically through fermentation. Most cheeses made after 1990 use rennet made this way.

Each co.

“We transplanted pigs to produce insulin protein and calves to produce rennet protein,” Elizondo previously told VegNews. “Now we can replace chickens for egg protein production and use technology to more widely replace animals for mass market protein production processes to reduce the impact on the planet.”

While each works to transform the food system with its egg-like protein, other innovators are focusing on other egg applications to create a more resilient and ethical food system.

Made from mung bean protein, Eat Just’s popular JUST Egg is a top seller at retail and recently landed on the menu at 7-Eleven stores across Canada as part of an all-vegan breakfast sandwich. WunderEgg recently launched its Whole Foods Vegan Eggs at Whole Foods Market, offering consumers a one-for-one swap for hard-boiled eggs.

Yo! the egg

And Israel’s Yo!Dim is now hitting US food service menus with its bird-flu-proof vegan poached egg, complete with runny yolk.