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Plant-based Protein

Just Egg Ads Poke Fun at Celebrities’ Healthier Lifestyles

Eat Just, Inc. has launched an ad campaign that features tennis star Serena Williams and actor Jake Gyllenhaal, both investors in the brand, eating Just Egg as part of their healthier lifestyles. Actor JB Smoove reprises his role as cheeky narrator in this new series of ads, poking fun at celebrity perks such as personal trainers and nutritionists while pointing out that everyone can eat plant-based eggs.

Williams, known for her powerful style of tennis that has earned her 23 grand slam victories, is depicted at home in her kitchen, surrounded by a team of experts calibrating every moment of her day, including preparing her perfectly plated Just Egg breakfast sandwich. Gyllenhaal is scrambling a pan of Just Egg after finishing a new, trendy workout that only celebrities know about.

Both spots humorously contrast the absurd lengths celebrities go for their high-performance lifestyles with the ease and deliciousness of Just Egg’s plant-based eggs. In addition to being free from cholesterol, these plant-based eggs have 69 percent less saturated fat than a chicken egg and contain 5 to 7 grams of plant-based protein per serving (depending on the Just Egg product).

The ads will air on television in major markets including Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City and will appear nationally on connected TV platforms and social media. To watch both ads, visit ju.st/ads. Billboards will also go up in these major markets, delivering short, humorous lines in large font such as “Eat it for your heart. Or the deliciousness. We don’t care.”

Plant-based products popular

According to research conducted by Just Egg in partnership with Numerator, consumers across the age spectrum are choosing plant-based products primarily to improve their health. This campaign will shine a light on why Just Egg is healthier compared to conventional eggs. In the United States, the plant-based egg category grew rapidly in 2021 with a 42 percent increase in retail dollar sales, according to data from the Plant Based Foods Association, the Good Food Institute and SPINS. In the past three years, plant-based egg sales in the United States have grown more than 1,000 percent and Just Egg represents more than 99 percent of the market.

“I’ll let you in on a secret: I don’t actually have a scientist in my kitchen. It’s not that exciting in there. But I do have Just Egg,” said Serena Williams, referencing a humorous scene in the ad she appears in. “I eat to live, so Just Egg helps me feel and perform better. But it’s also delicious – I don’t think my family can even taste the difference between Just Egg and chicken eggs. I’m also all-in on the mission: how can we make healthy, sustainable options accessible to everyone? Just Egg is making a real difference, and I’m proud to partner with them and be a shareholder in the company.”

“I’m excited to be partnering with Just Egg,” Gyllenhaal said. “I’m eating more plant-based for my health, and Just Egg makes it easy and delicious. I also recognize the impact our food system has on our planet, so Just Egg’s mission is important to me. And, honestly, who can turn down being narrated by JB Smoove?”

Campaign includes giveaways

In early June, Just Egg will launch a series of giveaways in partnership with brand ambassadors including celebrities, athletes and creators, where one winner will receive an exclusive kit featuring some of each person’s favorite items for the kitchen and gym. Throughout the summer, fitness creators across multiple platforms will create recipes featuring Just Egg paired with their favorite workouts, demonstrating how Just Egg fits into their active lifestyles.

As of April, the company has sold the plant-based equivalent of 250 million eggs, saving 9.1 billion gallons of water, avoiding 43.6 million kilograms of CO2e and sparing 13,446 acres of land. Just Egg products are available in approximately 44,000 retail points of distribution and more than 2,200 foodservice locations including national partners Caribou Coffee and Peet’s Coffee.

Just Egg is No. 1 in household spend and consumer loyalty among branded eggs and recently surpassed 2 million U.S. households. Recent approval for Just Egg’s proprietary mung bean protein in the EU has paved the way for a fourth quarter launch of Just Egg in Europe. Other recent launches in South Africa and South Korea build on the brand’s growing international presence, which also includes Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and China.

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Impossible Foods Launches Nuggets, Patties in UK

California-based Impossible Foods, the fastest-growing plant-based meat company in the United States, is making its European debut in the United Kingdom this week with the launch of two of its latest products — Impossible “Chicken” Nuggets Made From Plants and Impossible Sausage Patties Made From Plants.

Both products will be available starting May 19 at restaurants across the country — including many of the UK’s best-loved chicken shops. Impossible “Chicken” Nuggets are preferred two-to-one by UK consumers, according to the company.

“The UK has a unique and unrivalled chicken shop culture that we’re confident our nuggets will compete in because first and foremost they taste better, and they’re also better for you and better for the planet,” said CEO Peter McGuinness. “And there’s more to come — later this year, we’ll be expanding to supermarkets and rolling out additional products. We can’t wait for our friends and fans in the UK to finally taste our products.”

Impossible “Chicken” Nuggets launched in the United States late last year and quickly became one of the company’s top-selling products and the fastest-growing brand of plant-based chicken nuggets in the category. Impossible Foods’ expansion to the UK marks the international plant-based chicken debut of Impossible “Chicken” Nuggets outside of the United States.

This is the fourth new market the company has expanded to in nine months, following the launch of its flagship Impossible Burger in Australia, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates last fall. The company plans to launch its full product portfolio in the UK, including products containing heme (soy leghemoglobin) — a key ingredient in the Impossible Burger and other Impossible products — at a later date.

Impossible products will be available in thousands of restaurants and foodservice establishments in the UK within a year, starting with more than 300 this month. The country’s first Impossible dishes will appear exclusively on the menus of select restaurants and chicken shops, including Chicken Cottage, Halo Burger, Le Bab, MEATliquor, Patty&Bun and others.

Later this month, Impossible products will launch at more than 250 Hungry Horse pubs owned by Greene King, the UK’s leading pub company and brewer.

“At Hungry Horse, we’re big on getting together, and our customers come to us for the generous and unique food creations in a ‘home away from home’ environment,” said Robert Calderbank, business unit director for Hungry Horse. “We’re so excited to bring the Impossible ‘Chicken’ Nuggets to our pubs and really believe these will deliver on that promise, tantalising the taste buds of our customers across the country, we can’t wait!”

Impossible Foods celebrated its UK debut with a launch party hosted by fictional TV character and bossman Chabuddy G, played by Asim Chaudhry, a star on BBC’s hit mockumentary “People Just Do Nothing.” The company invited hundreds of \Impossible fans to be among the first to taste Impossible products on UK soil at its “Chicken Paradise & Sausage Palace” themed event emceed by Chabuddy at Maison Bab, a popular London restaurant offering modern gourmet kebabs.

“From the beginning, our goal at Le Bab was to offer a new kind of kebab, fusing global influences with amazing ingredients, always with a mind to sustainability,” said Stephen Tozer, co-founder of Le Bab, Maison Bab and Kebab Queen. “Impossible’s products are extraordinary. I first tried Impossible years ago and it blew my mind. I’ve wanted to collaborate with them ever since, so this is a bit of a dream come true! I’m absolutely certain that their plant-based meats are going to fundamentally change the way the world eats.”

Chicken is the most commonly consumed meat per capita in the UK, with three-quarters of consumers reporting that they eat animal-based chicken on a weekly basis, and nearly 90% saying they eat it on a monthly basis, according to an Impossible Foods study.

Made for chicken-lovers everywhere, Impossible “Chicken” Nuggets require far less resources to produce: 55% less water, 24% less land, and 24% less GHG emissions than animal chicken nuggets. They feature a golden, crispy breadcrumb coating on the outside and a tender, juicy bite on the inside, with 13 grams protein per 100-gram serving and 25% less salt than animal chicken nuggets.

Impossible Sausage Patties Made From Plants are also better for consumers and for the planet, designed to be conveniently slipped into a breakfast sandwich or enjoyed as a center-of-plate delicacy. In addition, they’re produced using 88% less water, 77% less land and 47% less greenhouse gas emissions than animal pork sausages. They’re also packed with 5.6 grams protein, 2.5 grams fiber, and 1.1 milligrams iron per patty.

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Neat Food Expands Team Before Expansion, Product Launches

Neat Food Co. – one of the world’s fastest growing alternative-protein food groups backed by Formula 1 Champion Lewis Hamilton, a key investor who helped found the company in 2019 – announced multiple senior hires as it builds critical mass in key roles as part of its international expansion plans, starting in the key U.S. market.

  • Neat Food Co. has bolstered its Advisory Board with two appointments: Jeffrey S. Fried, former Chairman of Sweetgreen, who has a wealth of experience nurturing high growth companies; and Henrik Fjordbakformer COO at Joe & The Juice, who is an expert in equity funds, specializing in F&B and lifestyle companies
  • At the helm of NEAT’s expansion into the U.S. market is newly appointed Vincent Herbert, the former CEO of Le Pain Quotidien, who joins the brand as chief executive of Neat Burger USA and will oversee all aspects of the group’s rapid site expansion strategy in the United States including the development of products at Neat Burger’s innovation center in New York and CPG distribution into the retail arena
  • The group is expanding its food technology division with the establishment of new innovation centers, and implementation of its cutting edge texturized protein innovation
  • NEAT plans to roll out its award-winning burger patty and a range of other proprietary products – including  improved versions of its plant-based chicken patty, hot dog, nuggets and shakes – by the end of the year
  • Neat Food Co plans to expand to 1,000 corporately owned, franchise and dark kitchens by 2030

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