Israeli Startup Creates an Egg Alternative That Tastes Real

Egg powder is used in baking and cooking but with the growing number of vegans and people with egg allergies, egg replacers are becoming an important ingredient. Now Fabumim, an Israeli foodtech startup is making an egg substitute from one of the country’s most popular legumes; chickpeas.

Fabumin, a Tel Aviv company, which was established in 2021, actually makes its egg replacer at legume processing factories by using the wastewater that is known as aquafaba, reported NoCamels. This waste product would have gone down the drain, but now it is used to make a product that is even better for baking than real eggs.

Turning a by-product into a new product makes Fabumim an impact company, Adi Yehezkeli, CEO and co-founder told Goodnet. It is this desire to make a positive impact on people and the planet  that is a core value in this company and two others she founded.As part of this commitment a percentage of the company’s shares are dedicated to the charitable organization Freedom Farm that rescues farm animals.

Aquafaba egg replacer
Aquafaba is not a newly discovered product, it was actually found by accident a few years ago, according to WebMD. Since then, vegans have been cooking and baking with it as an egg replacement. While usually made from chickpea water, soybeans or other mild tasting beans can also be used.

Aquafaba is healthy and nutritious and three tablespoons equals one large egg or use two tablespoons instead of the egg white.

Fabumim is not looking just to enter the vegan market, the startup’s objective is to replace real eggs with substitutes to ensure health and to reduce the environmental cost of poultry farming, according to NoCamels.

Using an egg replacer is healthier since egg production runs the risk of salmonella contamination. Salmonella is a bacteria that can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.  The CDC estimated that one out of 20,000 eggs is contaminated with salmonella.

Besides salmonella, Yehezkeli told NoCamels, the Israeli egg industry is also facing the risk of diseases like Avian Flu and from the ongoing shelling in Northern Israel which has led to shortages and price increases.

This is causing egg prices to fluctuate, Yehezkeli told Goodnet, ”but we can offer a stable price and reduce the raw material manufacturing price.” She continued, “Manufacturers can use a smaller amount of Fabumim to replace commercial egg powder.”

Making Fabumim
The process of making the egg replacement begins at legume plants where technology from the startup is installed near the cooking boilers, according to  Yehezkeli.The process involves evaporating 80 percent of the water and then cooling the vapors which are then returned to the factory as distilled water.

The remaining 20 percent of the material goes through a final drying process that forms the aquafaba flakes.. The flakes are then transferred to the processing plant where they are ground, packaged and distributed to customers.

The egg powder is sold exclusively to the food industry and is currently being used by 15 different companies. According to Yehezkeli, there is no difference in taste or texture between food made with real eggs or from the Fabumim powder. In a taste test, people were unable to distinguish which was which.”  

The startup is turning aquafaba from a small niche market into a product that can be used for mass food production. “We’re enabling industrial use with a long shelf life, small storage [requirements], and there is no problem working with it,” Yehezkeli told NoCamels. “This is our vision.”