Israeli startup, Yo Egg, produces a plant-based egg substitute comprising chickpeas, soy protein, vegetable oil, carrot extract and betacarotene. According to Yo Egg, the yolks do not harden during cooking and the product can be microwaved.

The company has established a manufacturing plant in Israel with a recent, second facility in Los Angeles.  Initially, the company will market to the food service segment.  Expansion was facilitated by a $5 million seed-round of venture capital.  

Yo Egg will have to compete for a $45 million market with Just Egg liquid, Zero Egg that can be served scrambled or as an omelet, Hodo that has introduced a tofu-based scrambled egg product and WunderEgg produced by Crafty Counter.

The retail value of U. S. egg production is between $13 and $15 billion based on 7,700 million dozen produced in 2022 at an average equivalent shelf price for shells and liquid at $1.80 to $2.00 per dozen under normal supply.  To place the synthetic egg market in perspective, it represents between 0.3 and 0.5 percent of the conventional shell egg and egg liquid markets combined.

Price is considerably higher for egg substitutes than the real natural product. Just Egg at $5 per 12 oz. container is 4.2 times as expensive as generic real egg at $2 per dozen Large size. Given the current economy and the consumer response to shelf prices the market for egg substitutes will be limited to the affluent who are willing to pay more for intangible benefits such as sustainability and welfare that are based on perceptions influenced by misleading social media.