Shelf Sweep - Alt-Egg Exploration #3

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Happy Tuesday Market Shakers. Today we take a more detailed look at the egg alternatives available in Japan and where to find them.

As we found during our consumer research last week, awareness of egg alternatives is low in Japan. In line with this, our search uncovered a limited number of product examples - the majority of them sold online. We’ll introduce them below. And, to add more inspiration from retail, we also take a look at the case of JUST Egg in South Korea. 

In today’s article

• Where are alt-egg products available in Japan?

• What kind of egg alternatives are available in Japan?

• Introducing the main alt-egg products on offer

• Comparison Case: JUST Egg in South Korea

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Where are alt-egg products available in Japan?

Egg alternatives are mainly available online in Japan. Kewpie’s plant-based scrambled egg, Hobotama is sold through Amazon Fresh. 2Foods scrambled egg/omelette products were sold at first on the crowdfunding platform Makuake, and now via the company’s online store. UMAMI UNITED’s powdered egg products are also sold via their company website and the recently launched online vegan supermarket, VCook Super. iHerb Japan offers Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer.

Kewpie and UMAMI UNITED also have B2B versions of their products. Foodservice is likely a bigger market for alt-eggs in Japan at the moment, especially now that tourists are returning. Food services and hotels will increasingly be interested in plant-based eggs for vegan-friendly breakfast menus, and vegan versions of traditional Japanese cuisine that contain eggs.

In physical stores, we found 2Food’s plant-based egg which is sold in several of their locations around Tokyo. 2Foods also have a plant-based omuraisu menu item in their restaurants. 

There are several eggless mayonnaises available in Japan too. Large condiment makers such as Kewpie, Nisshin Oillio, SSK, and Ajinomoto all have brands. In place of eggs, these brands mainly use soy and vegetable oil bases. We found one to two brands in most of the large supermarkets we visited in Tokyo, such as AEON, Life and Maruetsu. These products are marketed as low-cholesterol alternatives to mayonnaise and target consumers with allergies and those who want to reduce egg intake.

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What kind of alt-egg products are available?

Japan’s alt-egg offerings currently focus on scrambled-type eggs. Kewpie and 2Foods both offer pre-made plant-based scrambled egg products. UMAMI UNITED’s powdered egg alternative is designed to be scrambled.

Kewpie’s Hobotama also comes in a liquid form. It’s designed to be used to make dishes such as omelettes. UMAMI UNITED have a powdered pudding mix product that can be used to make egg custards.

Marketing materials for plant-based egg products available in Japan emphasize the

convenience of longer shelf life compared to regular eggs. Kewpie’s Hobotama and 2Foods Ever Egg are sold frozen and have a shelf life of 1 year. UMAMI EGG also has a shelf life of one year and can be stored at room temperature. This is beneficial for restaurants and customers alike as it relieves the hassle of managing the short shelf life of regular eggs. 

The range of alt-egg offerings currently available overseas is far more diverse than in Japan. From ready-to-eat frozen omelettes and bottled liquid eggs to fried and boiled analogues, there’s much more variation in not only egg type but the packaging. This means there are plenty of opportunities for companies to appeal to Japanese consumers with alt-versions of their favourite eggs that are not yet available on the market.

With that said, let’s check out the products we could get our hands on in Japan and where we found them.

Japan’s Alt-Egg Offerings

Hobotama - Kewpie

Japan’s mayonnaise giant Kewpie launched their plant-based egg, Hobotama (almost egg) in 2021 as a B2B product. It was sold to food services such as hotels, restaurants and school canteens. The food service product comes in 20 x 120g packs.

Driven by demand from consumers concerned about the egg allergies of their kids, Kewpie released a B2C product in March 2022. The product is made using almond and soy so it is not fully allergen-free.

Hobotama is available in two types: liquid and scrambled. The liquid-type egg can be used in a variety of recipes, including desserts as well as conventional egg uses such as omelettes. The scrambled version is designed to be reheated and used as a scrambled egg substitute. 

The product is available via Amazon Fresh. Both the liquid type and scrambled version come in single-serving 60g packs. The scrambled egg costs ¥214 and the liquid type costs ¥182 per pack. Kewpie plans to expand availability outside of the Kanto region from now on.

Marketing for the product focuses on its functionality and similarity to actual eggs. The minimalist packaging displays three words: colour, flavour, and texture, emphasising this is a high-fidelity egg substitute. This strategy seems appropriate given that our consumer research identified Japanese consumers are seeking high-fidelity egg substitutes that match the properties of conventional eggs. 

Kewpie aims to achieve a target of $3.5 million dollars in net sales by 2025 for its plant-based food business, with Hobotama playing a major part. Given that Japan has just re-opened to tourists, the food service version of Hobotama is likely to see increased demand as hotels and restaurants seek to cater to flexitarian and vegan tourists with chicken-free egg menus.

Ever Egg - 2Foods x Kagome

Japanese food tech restaurant chain 2Foods partnered with fresh produce maker Kagome to develop a plant-based egg which launched in March 2022.

Ever Egg is a scrambled egg alternative, designed to achieve a “fluffy texture”. The base ingredients are kidney beans and carrots.

The product was originally available for a limited release via the crowdfunding website Makuake, before debuting in 2Foods restaurants as part of an omuraisu (a popular Japanese dish of fluffy omelette on top of tomato-flavoured rice) menu item. Consumers can also buy frozen versions of the Ever Egg from 2Foods restaurant-cum-stores.

2Food and Kagome partnered to develop the plant-based egg product based on their prediction that three plant-based food categories, meat, milk and egg, will dominate in Japan.

The product is available in sets of 5, priced at ¥2400, on 2Foods’ online store. Single-serving packs can be purchased for ¥390 in 2Foods restaurant stores.

UMAMI EGG 2.0 - UMAMI UNITED

Founded in 2021, UMAMI UNITED is a startup focusing on developing a powdered plant-based egg substitute using konjac.

UMAMI UNITED was driven to develop the product to provide a solution for people with egg allergies, the most common type of allergy in Japan. 

Marketing promotes the functionality of UMAMI EGG which can be used in recipes such as egg sandwiches, and also for baking. Konjac flour retains a lot of moisture so the product can help create fluffy, moist baked products according to UMAMI’s promotional materials. UMAMI’s branding also leans heavily on using Japanese ingredients, like konjac, to create delicious plant-based products.

The product is available to buy online in 500g bags for ¥12,000. A single 25g serving is also available for consumers for ¥1500.

UMAMI UNITED offer a Pudding Mix which uses pumpkin and other vegetables as a base rather than konjac. The mix, priced at ¥6840 for a 1KG bag, can be used to make custard and custard pudding. 

Plant-Based Boiled Egg - Green Culture

Plant-based meat startup Green Culture developed Japan’s first plant-based boiled egg in 2021. The product is a prototype and has not been released commercially. They are aiming to create an authentic alternative that can be used easily, as an addition to lunch boxes or for mashing up and adding to salads.

Green Culture’s initial product focuses on achieving an egg-like shape, appearance and taste. Before mass producing it, they plan to further develop the product so that it behaves in a similar way to a boiled egg when mashed, for example.

NEXT Egg 1.0 - NEXT MEATS

NEXT MEATS have also developed a prototype scrambled egg alternative made from soy. They announced the product in July 2021, initially targeting B2B customers.

Cultivated Egg Protein - IntegriCulture

Japan’s cultivated protein pioneer IntegriCulture has made a cell-based egg-derived skincare ingredient, Cellament, which is being used by the Japanese skincare brand Essencebase in a new line dubbed L’Oeuf.

Cellament is a serum made from cultivated chicken egg cells and is rich in the nutrients naturally found in eggs. Since it was released in April 2021, it has been used as an ingredient in several skin-care products in Japan. According to promotional materials, Cellment has been proven to provide several cosmetic benefits, including anti-ageing and UV protection. 

It is still not possible to sell cultivated proteins for human consumption in Japan and most of the world. Companies developing cultivated proteins, such as IntegriCulture and Hong Kong’s Avant Meats, are increasingly partnering with cosmetic companies to commercialize products for which there are fewer regulatory hurdles.

The market for alt-eggs is gradually expanding, not only in Japan but Asia too. A notable entrant to the region has been JUST Egg, the U.S.-based egg alternative brand from EAT Just. With a presence in China, Singapore and South Korea, they offer an interesting case study of how to adapt a foreign brand to different Asian markets. 

To see what we could learn and apply to the Japanese market, we explored JUST Egg’s presence on store shelves in South Korea.

Mini Case Study: South Korea

In 2021 JUST Egg entered South Korea, expediting the nation’s nascent plant-based egg market. 

JUST Egg was originally launched through several food service chains, including the no. 1 bakery chain Paris Croissant and Paris Baguette. Collaboration menus include items such as breakfast egg muffins in Paris Baguette, in addition to crepes and kimbap (a rice roll filled with vegetables and egg) in other restaurants.

JUST partnered with food company SPC Samlip, part of the SPC Group - which also includes Paris Baguette, to enter the Korean market. SPC Samlip manufactures JUST Egg in Cheongju.

In 2022, JUST Egg began rolling its products out across select physical and online retail in South Korea.

JUST Egg offers two products. One is their bottled liquid scramble, sold in 355 ml bottles that contain the equivalent of 8 medium-sized eggs. The second is a frozen folded omelette that comes in 228g packs of 4. Both products are sold for 7990 KRW ($6), a little above the price of a dozen eggs in Seoul. 

Frozen omelette products feature in the freezer section of select stores in Seoul. They are placed alongside regular frozen produce rather than special “plant-based” product sections in supermarkets according to a local expert.

JUST Egg have invested in special pop-ups in South Korean supermarkets throughout 2022 where consumers can try and buy JUST Egg products. They are also active on Instagram. They use SNS to promote their products, pop-ups, food service collaborations, and hold giveaways. Building an online brand, especially on social media, is crucial in South Korea as customers rely on services like Instagram to learn about and research new products.

JUST focuses its branding in South Korea on the health benefits and sustainability of its products. Similarly to Japan, South Korea saw an increase in health awareness during the pandemic. Interest in sustainable products is also growing. 

Another point of emphasis in JUST Egg’s online marketing is the convenience of the products. Convenience is a benefit that South Korean consumers seek in line with increasingly hectic modern lives. 

During our consumer research, several consumers in Japan showed interest in JUST Egg. The functionality and novel packaging appeal to Japanese consumers’ desire for convenient and flexible egg products. In a similar way that EAT Just positioned itself as a trendy, modern egg alternative in South Korea, the same strategy could appeal to a younger generation of Japanese consumers who are increasingly aware of sustainability.

Whether they make it here first, or local players develop a similar product before that, JUST Egg offers inspiration for how to grow the reach for egg alternatives in Japan.

That’s all folks

We hope you enjoyed our whistle-stop tour of Japan’s alt-egg products and the places you can buy them.

See you next week for another installment of our Alt-Egg Exploration series. We have a special interview with a local startup working to crack the market for plant-based eggs.

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