Evo Foods and Ginkgo Bioworks to develop animal-free egg products

  • 13 May 2022
  • Protein
Evo is seeking to end animal agriculture by creating substitutes for animal-derived products
Evo
Evo Foods at San Francisco showcase

Evo Foods, a consumer packaged goods company creating plant-based substitutes for animal products, is partnering with cell programming company Ginkgo Bioworks, to develop a method for producing animal-free egg proteins for use in Evo’s products.

Current egg substitutes have limitations in their ability to replicate the texture, taste, cooking properties and nutritional profile of eggs. Mumbai-based Evo was set up in 2020 with the mission to end animal agriculture by creating substitutes for animal-derived products by leveraging India’s crop biodiversity, starting with the launch of several animal-free egg substitute products.

The company showcased its products in the US for the first time in San Francisco on 27 April. By collaborating with Boston-based Ginkgo, Evo stated it intends to create next generation egg substitutes with improved properties.

Evo Foods’ chief executive Kartik Dixit said: “As consumers and food brands alike call for more sustainable food options, we are excited to collaborate with Ginkgo to pioneer a new class of animal-free ingredients. Evo is committed to playing a part in feeding our ever-growing world, and this partnership will support us as we develop next-generation products in this market.”

Jason Kelly, co-founder and chief executive of Ginkgo Bioworks, commented: “Ginkgo is always looking for new ways to help developers solve massive societal challenges through the use of biology, and partnering with Evo Foods to create more sustainable food ingredients is the perfect opportunity. We’re excited to help Evo make delicious food ingredients sustainably.”

Evo Foods is using Ginkgo’s cell development kits (CDKs) for this work. CDKs are designed to cut the cost of launching a cell programme and speed up development timelines to build engineered proteins or microbes. The service is also designed to enable customers to prototype their idea in modules, with each module potentially providing data that can inform the customer’s project and business strategy.