Neggst: neggst generation eggs

“We’re passionate foodies from Berlin who care about our health, environment, food science and animal welfare.”

“If you consider everything from the crops to the breeding of chickens, just one egg needs around 200 litres of water for its production,” says Veronica Garcia-Arteaga. That’s quite a number, especially as eggs tend to move in dozens. “Our aim is to reduce that by 80%.”

PROTEIN-RICH REPLACEMENTS

Veronica is co-founder of Berlin-based Neggst, a company that is working on a very interesting innovation to this corner of our diet: plant-based eggs. As consumers become increasingly conscious of the environmental footprint of their food, and more cautious with their own health, it’s not uncommon to see protein-rich dairy and meat products replaced by plant-based offerings. But eggs? Perhaps not the first thing you’d think of. “I was doing my Ph.D. and transitioning at the same time from vegetarian to vegan, and I started researching more about eggs (which were the hardest thing to drop), how complex they are, and looking at the combination of ingredients and the processing needed to present an alternative,” Veronica explains.

DREAMS ALLOWED

One thing led to another, and in 2021, she co-founded Neggst. In early 2023 Andreas Bork, who brings his long-term industry experience to the table, joined Veronica in the management team. “The market for chicken eggs is USD 240bn and growing. Even if plant-based replacements only tap into 1%, well below meat and milk replacements, that’s still a massive market. Dreams are allowed,” Andreas explains. The company’s main focus to begin with is the food service industry (hotels, restaurants, caterers etc), but they are will also be looking at retail shortly after, while in terms of products, the first line includes egg-patty, poached egg and another egg-citing savoury snack (no further details right now), all of which are expected to launch in 2024. “Consumers are looking for vegan alternatives, but you need to get the product right. It needs to taste good, look good and smell good. That’s our goal.”

FROM RESEARCH TO BUSINESS

Neggst was helped along the way by Green Generation Fund, a venture capital fund backed by the EIF under the InvestEU programme, that made an equity investment into the company. “It all went into R&D,” explains Veronica, who leads a team of 11, seven of which are scientists and engineers. This transition from research to business has been a learning experience for Veronica: “It’s been a double challenge,” she adds. “First, not being a business person, it’s been tough but I’ve learned a lot. Second, the challenges of being a woman: I’ve been in many meetings where men only like to talk to other men. But with female investors, I think it's easier to relate and easier to talk to each other.”

Location: Berlin, Germany

Financial intermediaries: Green Generation Fund

SME: Neggst Foods

Sector: food & beverage

Number of employees: 11

Financing purpose: R&D

EIF Financing: InvestEU; ERP