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Start-up Le Papondu to launch plant-based egg substitute in restaurants in France

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2 min read
AUTHOR: Fiona Holland
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plant-based egg in clear shell, on wooden background

Image courtesy of Le Papondu

Le Papondu, a Parisian start-up which creates plant-based eggs, will soon be ready to sell its products in restaurants in France.

The vegan egg is made from a mixture of plant and mineral-based ingredients including methylcellulose, fava bean flour, oil, water, salt, and carrot, which gives the yolk its colour.

Each egg is said to contain 10g of protein, a level close to the 13g of a chicken egg, fibre, no cholesterol, and fewer saturated fats that its animal-derived counterpart.

The product comes in a liquid form inside a plastic shell, and can be separated into a white and a yolk, just like regular eggs. It can be cooked fried or scrambled eggs, in an omelette, or added to cakes and other egg-based recipes.

Philippine Soulères and Sheryline Thavisouk, who both trained in industrial biology, formed Le Papondu, which translates to “not laid”, in 2017, and were able to develop their product thanks to a crowdfunding campaign.

The scientists were inspired to create their vegan egg after realising that the number of people who can’t eat eggs because of intolerances, or chose not to because of following a plant-based diet, has been growing over the past decade.

Following a launch in restaurants, Le Papondu will begin to sell its egg substitutes to consumers online and in supermarkets, thanks to support from the start-up incubator Station F.

Soulères and Thavisouk are planning to sell their product in a traditional egg carton of six, and are currently working on creating a plant-based shell.

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