Plant-Based Alternative 'Just Egg' Is Upending the Liquid Egg Market

The top-selling liquid egg in natural grocery stores is now made of plants, according to data shared by Just, the maker of plant-based mayonnaise, dressings and cookie dough.

Courtesy of Just

According to SPINS data shared by the company, Just Egg made up for 40 percent of all dollars generated and 30 percent of all units sold in the natural channel's liquid egg category. It's also the second best-selling egg substitute in conventional grocery stores (Egg Beaters takes all the other spots at the top), according to IRI data.

Related: How Just's Co-Founder Got More Than $200 Million From Investors (Podcast)

"This is happening because everyday consumers who don't want to eat perfectly but want to eat a little better and a little healthier are buying Just Egg at their local grocery store or ordering it at their favorite restaurant," the company's co-founder and CEO, Josh Tetrick, told Entrepreneur. "That's where the growth is, that's where the impact is and that's why I'm so humbled to see Just Egg taking off in such a short time."

The company's Just Egg, a convincing plant-based egg substitute made of mung beans, became available nationwide in Sprouts in March and Whole Foods in April.

The company, which was founded in 2011 by Tetrick and Josh Balk and has raised $220 million from investors to date, said that the amount of its product sold so far is comparable to 8.2 million chicken eggs. This week, the company was awarded a patent for Just Egg.

"The idea of finding a plant that scrambles like an egg was conjured up on a couch seven years ago," Tetrick said. "To see where we are today -- what my team has built -- and to see that over 8 million of these plant-based equivalents have been sold already makes me incredibly proud."