21 Feb 2014 Asia’s richest man is betting big on Silicon Valley’s fake eggs
Eggs, a constant staple in cuisines around the world throughout history, but are increasingly of environmental and ethical concern in today’s world. Now, some of the world’s most powerful men are making big bets that plant-based substitutes will make our taste for developing embryos obsolete.
Li Ka-shing, widely billed as Asia’s richest man, announced a $23-million Series B investment in Hampton Creek Foods through his fund Horizon Ventures on Monday, bringing the food technology startup’s total take to $30-million after initial investments by people including Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems. Bill Gates is also an investor and fan.
Hampton Creek, which currently produces egg-free food alternatives for products like mayonnaise and cookie dough, aims to make the multi-billion dollar egg industry obsolete by providing plant-based egg-placing formulas, which it argues are cheaper, healthier and more humane.
In nearly quadrupling its total previous investment with this round, Hampton Creek expects to hire more employees and ramp up production, which Tetrick said will allow the company to get its products into bigger markets.
The egg replacement still requires fine-tuning, according to CEO Josh Tetrick (left), but the company’s mayonnaise replacement is already on shelves at stores including Whole Foods and some of the largest retail brands in the country.
“I’m excited about Hampton Creek’s technology and its promise,” said Li. “Everyone wants a clean and sustainable world and we love that Hampton Creek is committed to that goal—egg by egg.”
It’s little wonder that Hampton Creek’s most prominent investors have links with emerging economies like India and China. Even Gates has well-publicised interests in Africa.
China’s production of animal proteins still remains vastly inefficient (to say nothing of the ethical quandaries of battery farms), which makes these particular foodstuffs a luxury for the many billions living in developing countries.
“You’re going to have 9.5 billion people on the planet by 2050,” Tetrick said. “And 80 percent will live in emerging economies. We like to think of ourselves as a big powerful country in America, but the need for feeding people around the world is happening much more intensely outside of our borders.”
As it happens, eggs make up a huge part of the world’s dietary needs. In 2009, 62.1 million metric tons of eggs were produced by 6.4 billion hens, according to recent estimates.
“Thirty percent of the world’s eggs are produced in China,” said Tetrick. “Mayo is one of the fastest growing condiments there because of the rise of fast food.”
He believes that plant-based substitutes could have a profound impact on a region experiencing “insane population growth”. “You have an enormous amount of people climbing out of poverty and eating protein for the first time,” he said.
And since the beginning, the company’s goal has been to develop a product that is, by many accounts, better than the real thing. There’s little overt politicising here that often accompanies vegan-type movements popular among eco-hipsters.
While “going local” and purchasing expensive free-range alternatives can provide a faux sense of moral superiority, Hampton Creek’s offerings appear to be a scalable real-world solution. The reason to use Beyond Eggs, as they’re called, is because they’re simply healthier, cheaper, and taste better.
“People are starting to realise that if you can save money and provide the same thing or a little better, it doesn’t have to be a political fight,” said Tetrick, who pragmatically explains that this is the only way to fix what is by most accounts a broken and problematic machine.
Source: Reddit, Forbes