Plant-based Eggs deliver Healthy Meals with Less Environmental Impact

One of the biggest challenges for vegans and vegetarians has been how to replace eggs in their cooking and even in their breakfasts with a reliable plant-based alternative. To meet that need, Hegg has developed an eggless egg solution.

Hegg Eggless Egg is a plant-based egg powder that is a chicken egg alternative and can be used for anything from baking or steaming to omelettes or carrot cake. It is also used in Hegg’s Eggless Kaya jam, a product made in collaboration with Killiney that is produced with plant-based ingredients.

Magareta Anastasia, marketing lead at Hegg, explained that eggless eggs have a multitude of benefits. The taste profile is similar to chicken eggs, so banana muffins and other foods taste essentially the same as ones with chicken eggs. The egg powder can be used for all types of cooking, rather than having separate ones for baking or frying or other uses. And it is healthier, too, since eggless eggs have no cholesterol, no saturated fats and fewer calories.

These eggless eggs are also better for the environment. Hegg uses much less water to produce them than farmers would use to raise chickens, Anastasia said, and Hegg eliminates the eggshell waste which it estimates at about 30,000 kg per day in Singapore alone.

One drawback for many consumers is likely to be the price. Hegg currently costs S$8.95 for 100 grams, the equivalent of 10 eggs, which is higher than supermarket prices such as S$2.80 for chicken eggs. Advantages that offset the price, Anastasia noted, are that Hegg lasts for one year rather than the usual three-to-five weeks for chicken eggs and children or adults who are allergic to eggs can still eat eggless eggs. Bakeries can generate revenue by offering alternatives for their vegan customers, and vegans who eschew eggs can eat them at home too.

For now, customers need to order online. Hegg plans to have products available on the shelves of stores in Singapore before long, Anastasia said, so that consumers can get them more quickly and without a delivery fee. The eggless kaya can now also be found on Redmart/Lazada and offline at Kiliney Kopitiam - Lorong Telok. Hegg also plans to work with partners in Singapore and beyond for distribution, as it wants to go “big scale” and expand beyond Singapore. Another partner company actually produces the product, which gives Hegg the capacity to increase production substantially. Hegg also plans to launch new products such as condiments without eggs and is building a library of recipes.

All this comes from a brand that is barely a year old. Hegg, a subsidiary of food technology company Hoow Foods, was set up in 2021 with a focus on a product people are familiar with and a goal is using science to address the real need for a healthier world. “We cannot be healthy but not sustainable,” Anastasia said, so contributing to a better environment will continue to be a core part of what Hegg does.

While consumers will need to pay a premium for these eggless eggs at this point, they can meet the needs of a variety of types of people and benefit the planet too.