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Asia's Richest Man Is Betting Big On Silicon Valley's Fake Eggs

Posted by Unknown on from the tastes-like-what-vegans-think-eggs-taste-like dept.

Daniel_Stuckey writes with more news about science making non-human animals 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. The egg replacement still requires fine-tuning, according to Hampton Creek CEO Josh Tetrick, 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. (Mayo is usually made with eggs and vinegar.)"

34 of 269 comments (clear)

  1. Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Eggs are dirt cheap and plentiful.

    1. Re: Why? by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because Vegans like breakfast too?

      I always presumed they ate breakfast on Vega, now I know.

      We're talking about vegans here, though, and if they enjoy their breakfasts so much, why do they need fake eggs? What's wrong with their normal vegan breakfast that they have to eat fake animal protein?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re: Why? by koan · · Score: 2

      Think of all the different foods that use eggs as an ingrediant, it opens the door to more food types for vegans.

      --
      "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
    3. Re:Why? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Eggs are dirt cheap and plentiful.

      Eggs are cheap compared to meat. They are not cheap compared to soybeans and grain. They are plentiful in first world grocery stores. They are not so plentiful in the diets of third world children.

      The taste should not be a problem. As someone who has a small flock of chickens in my backyard, I can tell you that the factory farm eggs you buy don't taste like "real" eggs either.

    4. Re: Why? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Informative

      You could have a different vegan breakfast every day for a year and never have to resort to fake eggs.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    5. Re: Why? by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Then vegans need to get over themselves.
      To try to get a balanced diet they are eating so much processed food to try to match what we get from a piece of cheese or an egg.

      They talk about it being more environmentally friendly, however how many of these ingredients that you growing, then cutting, and processing the hell out of them are you using. You "egg" is made from an acre of Soybeans, don't you feel good about yourself, with a good portion of it going to waste. While my Egg is from a chicken that has eaten 1 acre of feed and produced hundreds of eggs during its lifetime. And the chicken works as a rather efficient little factory of making eggs.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    6. Re: Why? by mhansen444 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      We're talking about vegans here, though, and if they enjoy their breakfasts so much, why do they need fake eggs? What's wrong with their normal vegan breakfast that they have to eat fake animal protein?

      They aren't making egg replacements to cater to vegans. Think of all of the processed food like mayo, cookies, etc. which contains eggs. If they can create a cheaper, effective replacement for eggs then it would reduce the demand for factory farm produced eggs (which is how a majority of all eggs are produced).

    7. Re: Why? by amalcolm · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Did someone else's life choice hurt your feelings?

      --
      Time for bed, said Zebedee - boing
    8. Re: Why? by CanHasDIY · · Score: 3, Interesting

      We're talking about vegans here, though, and if they enjoy their breakfasts so much, why do they need fake eggs? What's wrong with their normal vegan breakfast that they have to eat fake animal protein?

      They aren't making egg replacements to cater to vegans. Think of all of the processed food like mayo, cookies, etc. which contains eggs. If they can create a cheaper, effective replacement for eggs then it would reduce the demand for factory farm produced eggs (which is how a majority of all eggs are produced).

      Having been to one of those factory farms... or rather, having been within olfactory range of one, I can't say I don't like the idea of obsoleting them.

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    9. Re: Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      It would also provide an egg-free option for those of us who are allergic to eggs.

    10. Re: Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Did a simple and obvious solution to a problem that exists only in someone's mind hurt yours?

    11. Re: Why? by nitehawk214 · · Score: 2

      And factory produced eggs are rather tasteless, and the factory-farms themselves are horrifying. One look at (or better yet, smell of) one of those, and I can totally understand why people go vegan. I like meat wayy too much to consider this.

      However for a slight more expense locally actual-farm raised meat and dairy cannot be beat. (and backyard-raised eggs are even better than that :)

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    12. Re: Why? by nitehawk214 · · Score: 2

      Unfortunately the mass-produced eggs they are trying to replace that go into processed food products are not from chickens that eat farm feed and mill about in the pasture. Instead they are force-fed antibiotics and crammed in together so tight... all to maximize that efficiency more.

      So replace the factory mass produced eggs with something cleaner, while we focus on real traditional farms to produce eggs for eating. The egg on my breakfast sandwich can come from the local farmer's market, while the mayo can use the egg-substitute.

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    13. Re: Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Most vegan foods are quite inefficient when compared with something like eggs

      This is completely and totally false. You probably consider yourself a rational and thoughtful person. But right now you're just making things up so that you don't have to think about the choices you've made. That's sad.

       

      But they need those extra resources to feel good about themselves. A neutron bomb to San Francisco should eliminate lots of smug and the risk of a smug storm.

      It's easy to dismiss vegans if you decide they're smug jerks before you actually hear any of their arguments. This is called "Do-Gooder Derogation":

      http://www.humaneresearch.org/content/do-gooder-derogation-disparaging-morally-motivated-minorities-defuse-anticipated-reproach

      Maybe you should actually do research next time? You won't, of course. You've already decided that you want to eat meat and other animal products. And your mind will perform whatever mental gymnastics are necessary to allow for that.

    14. Re: Why? by exploder · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Then vegans need to get over themselves

      Stereotypes aside, can I just point out that the overwhelming majority of I-know-what's-good-for-you self-righteousness in these comments isn't coming from the vegans?

      --
      Yo dawg, I heard you like the Ackermann function, so OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD
    15. Re: Why? by knightghost · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Ignoring that we are omnivores is unethical. Vegan is just a large fad clique based on marketing over science.

    16. Re:Why? by Immerman · · Score: 2

      No, it's because they're living near subsistence levels and every organism in the chain between sunlight and water and the food in your belly represents a serious efficiency loss. Chickens are one of the more efficient higher animals, but every pound of meat still requires 2-3 pounds of feed to produce, and I doubt eggs are considerably more efficient.

      If you're perched near the razor edge of survival, why on earth would you feed the crickets to your chickens? The crickets are actually more nutritious to eat directly, and you'd get around 3x the calories, protein, and other nutrients as you would by eating the eggs they were processed into. Most of the people in the world don't share European aversion to eating insects and arthropods - in many African and Asian cultures many insects such as scorpions and bee larva are actually expensive delicacies. Even in the developed world most of the population has re-acquired a taste for things like crab, which are essentially just oversized aquatic spiders with particularly tough shells.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    17. Re:Why? by Immerman · · Score: 2

      Yes, corn is a grass. But we don't feed cows the leafy grass part, we feed them the grain. And cows aren't built to eat mostly grain. Dairy cows for example will produce about 2x the milk on a grain diet than on a grass diet, but they'll only survive 1/2 as long. Digesting grain requires a completely different set of symbiotic gut bacteria than leaves, but they aren't species that co-evolved with cows, and they put a much greater strain on their host than the normal populations.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    18. Re: Why? by TheCarp · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Kind of reminds me of the country side of my family complaining about city folk who move out their way. "First they move outside the city, then they complain about the smell of cow shit, where did they think they were moving?"

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    19. Re: Why? by TheCarp · · Score: 2

      > And that would be fine if that's what it were but it seems to be billed as some kind of breakthrough

      Sure but what isn't billed as some kind of breakthrough? Esepcially if that thing is either looking for investors or looking to stroke the ones they already have. What constitutes a breakthrough is really a matter of opinion anyway.

      > Giving people who are allergic to them a tasty analog is worthwhile -- but is it along the
      > other kinds of problems Bill Gates is trying to combat? No.

      Isn't it up to Mr Gates to determine what is or is not worthwhile? It is, afterall, his money.

      > For what it's worth raising chickens is pretty damn environmentally friendly if done properly.

      Yes well... that can be quite an if at times

      > If you want to help the world then help get more people (even in the cities) into raising chickens and collecting honey.

      None of which is impeded by also producing an egg substitute.

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    20. Re: Why? by MarcoAtWork · · Score: 2

      You don't need to eat processed food AT ALL to eat a balanced plant-based diet, you can get everything you need from unprocessed foods just fine... yes, everybody going veggie will start with the processed foods for familiarity and ease of cooking, I of course did that myself, but you don't have to stay there if you don't want to.

      It takes a while to retrain your tastebuds, of course, and it makes it next to impossible to eat out, this can be a deal breaker for some, but I have been eating plant-based whole foods for years and am doing just fine. It does take more planning but in general various combinations of a grain, beans, greens and veggies can give you what you need. The only thing you can't get on a purely plant-based diet is b12, and that's the only "supplement" I take, nothing else.

      From my perspective the less labels one uses the better, in the end putting aside any ethical considerations (which people might or might not agree with) it is unarguably more environmental to eat lower on the food chain, so the more plant-based meals people eat the better for everybody: it is nice to see more effort being put towards simpler goals (like vegan before 6, meatless mondays, etc. etc.) to lower the impact our food has on the planet without being too black-or-white about it, this is also why I don't like the term "vegan" anymore as it has way too many judgemental overtones.

      I personally eat plant-based 100% of the time, but I realize it's not for everybody (it is definitely difficult especially in the working environment where these days it seems "team lunches" are a mainstay of most jobs), this said IMHO it's not hard to lower the amount of animal and/or processed products you eat at least some of the time, and having an egg substitute that works exactly the same as "real" eggs is a good step in that direction (not to mention that folks allergic to eggs would sure be happier!).

      --
      -- the cake is a lie
    21. Re: Why? by Smauler · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Meateater here, and I absolutely agree with the above. I love vegetarian meals and dishes too (vegan is rarer, I love cheese), not every meal has to have meat. Anything that tries to emulate meat (or a different type of meat, eg. turkey ham, beef sausages) is diabolical. Spinach and ricotta is sublime (though again, not vegan obviously), and I've made decent tomato/bean/mushroom curries too (which would have been vegan without the bit of butter to fry in, which could easily be replaced).

      Anyway, my point is that meat is meat and although there's nothing like a good steak, there are loads of good vegan meals everyone should be eating sometimes, and even more vegetarian meals. Fake meat should never be eaten by someone who eats meat... there's no point. If I were vegetarian or vegan, I would definitely not eat that processed crap still.

    22. Re: Why? by Evtim · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Is that so? I wonder what happens with a person if he/she grew with normal diet and was put on vegan? I am not sure this is entirely healthy...

      The Dutch are the tallest nation on earth because they eat very protein rich stuff [diary products]. That was on the news not so long ago...and you know what - funny but taller people are more successful in life. It's probably due to cognitive bias, the same one that makes people forgive the trespasses of beautiful people more readily that those of ugly people. So there is something in us that values height and perhaps it is connected via something like [illustration only example] "tall person - has access to protein rich food - good mate".
      Also funny that all vegetarians I know [not even vegans] are on average not very tall or wide and honestly will have a difficulty to compete with meat eaters if we were in the "kill or be killed" situation.

      So, as the food supplies begin to dwindle [they will eventually as will everything in a finite system with infinite growing demand] we will see more and more propaganda to switch to "eco food" like insects, microorganisms ans so on. It totally amazes me when people nonchalantly say "well, if we want to feed the ever growing population we will have to switch the menu" and no no one says "why are we so stupid to continue our infinite growth".

      So 3 billion meat eaters on earth or 6 billion vegetarians or 10 billion vegans or 20 billion fungi eaters [numbers purely for illustration] - why one is "better" than the other? The impact on the eco system would be the same. Actually more because those 20 billion might still want heating, clothing and mobile phones...
      I think however, that one IS better than the rest - namely the largest number possible that gives everyone the richest and healthiest diet possible in a sustainable manner, according to who we are.

      Who are we? We are omnivorous and without meat we won't be even here. I will not go into details, since my knowledge is not professional but I have heard many times that meat eating [also very important - fish eating] gave us the spare energy to grow the brains that made us human. Cooking the food was the next revolution. With more concentrated source of food you need less of digestive system so you can shrink it while expanding other parts of the body. I see in my mouth the cutters of the rabbit, the canines of the tiger and the molars of the cow. And I ain't going to argue with 4 billion years of evolution and will oppose those who not only fight it but do it for the wrong reasons.

      In conclusion I would rephrase the OP. "Forcing or manipulating people or society to not be omnivorous [as we want, please, are entitled to and, if you are religious, were made to be] is dangerous, useless and often stupid and could be therefore be called unethical".

  2. Technically correct. by msauve · · Score: 2

    "Mayo is usually made with eggs and vinegar."

    Well, yea, but it's at least 65% oil.

    --
    "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    1. Re:Technically correct. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

      Additionally, moustard can be used as emulgator.

      But if you're vegan, you don't want anything with mouse in it.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  3. Ingrediants by koan · · Score: 3, Informative

    This what I found for their "Just Mayo" product.
    http://healthimpactnews.com/wp...

    Original site.
    http://healthimpactnews.com/20...

    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
    1. Re:Ingrediants by ledow · · Score: 2

      Okay, for those who don't see it.

      You're trying to sell me flavoured rapeseed.

      So why not... just buy rapeseed... flavour it... and not buy this product?

      Substitute "egg" in your recipes for "rapeseed and flavouring". Done.

      If things were that simple, and this makes things "cheaper" than just using eggs, I think we'd have done this YEARS ago (manufacturer's and home-cooks).

      My guess? It doesn't taste anything close to similar to eggs, and doesn't have anywhere near the cooking properties of eggs, and can't be used in place of eggs in any place where you couldn't have always just used a flavoured oil anyway.

  4. Soylent Green by NapalmV · · Score: 2

    Why do we need to call this substance "eggs"? Anything wrong with calling it what it is? Same reason that "the industry" is pushing FDA to let them call "chocolate" about anything regardless of cocoa content?

  5. Re:Why? RTFA by retroworks · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Carbon produced in food production is apparently greater than carbon produced in consumer transportation like cars. The non-egg food product is aimed at one of the most costly food production consumers, henhouses. The interest, and active investment, of Bill Gates, Li Ka-shing and Vinod Khosla indicates they RTFA.

    --
    Gently reply
  6. Eggs are good for us by judoguy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    For those of us who eat dead animals, eggs are health food. I eat 5-6 eggs a day for breakfast. Sometimes more later when I'm feeling lazy. I lost 40lbs and my cholesterol panels went form heart-attack-soon to teen age athlete levels.

    All this stupid "Don't eat eggs or fat" bullshit is literally killing us.

    --
    Peace is easy to achieve, just surrender. Liberty is much harder get/keep.
    1. Re:Eggs are good for us by sjames · · Score: 2

      Too bad the evidence is showing statins to be useless for actually reducing heart disease.

      Apparently they are failing to treat the disease by suppressing it's symptoms.

  7. So close, yet so far... by RivenAleem · · Score: 2

    Why can't he be called Li Ka-ching?

  8. PETA!! by Oligonicella · · Score: 2

    People Eating Tasty Animals. - Sorry, had to.

  9. Re:How Egg-citing! by turgid · · Score: 2

    Eggsasperating!

    Whenever I crack an egg, I will imagine I am hearing the sound "Li Ka-shing" for the rest of my life . . .

    That's the sound of his cash-register while he's Ka-shing in on his new enterprise...

    --
    Stick Men