SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hampton Creek,^™ a food technology company on a mission to create a more sustainable food system, today announced a partnership with Whole Foods Market to bring a breakthrough in food innovation to select regions across the country. Hampton Creek's first product is Just Mayo,^™ a product that demonstrates how their plant-based egg technology, known as Beyond Eggs,^™ is disrupting the conventional food system.

“Hampton Creek’s Just Mayo is one of the most innovative, environmentally-minded, and delicious products we’ve brought to the Whole Foods Market Kitchen”

Investors and innovators, including Bill Gates, Vinod Khosla, and Peter Thiel, have provided investment capital and support to make Hampton Creek’s vision a reality. Gates, an advocate for harnessing technology to solve urgent needs, recognized that “meeting the demand for food with animal products isn’t sustainable.” He’s called Hampton Creek’s approach “amazing” and identified them as one of three companies shaping the future of food.

The plant used in Just Mayo is a particular subspecies of the yellow pea, one of eleven in the Beyond Eggs family of plants, all of which surpass particular functionalities of eggs while maintaining a radically lower carbon footprint. It’s the world's first food product to utilize a plant protein that consistently outperforms an animal protein.

“Hampton Creek’s Just Mayo is one of the most innovative, environmentally-minded, and delicious products we’ve brought to the Whole Foods Market Kitchen,” said Jimmy Monaco, Prepared Foods Coordinator for Whole Foods Market’s Northern California region.

Chris Jones, Hampton Creek’s Culinary Director, a Top Chef contestant, and former Director of Cuisine at Chicago's Moto Restaurant, teamed up with 27 scientists across seven separate disciplines to create the plant-based egg in Just Mayo. The Hampton Creek team screened over 1,550 plants across 40 different countries to discover one that outperforms the taste and functionality of eggs. Joshua Klein, the Director of Biochemistry, led the search to identify a plant that surpassed the egg across eleven functional parameters, including emulsification stability, mouthfeel, and taste.

The two-year R&D march to the final product included 4,114 taste testers across 21 major demographic groups. The results of the consumer tests demonstrated that over 53% of people preferred Hampton Creek’s product to the leading mayo brand on the market.

Other benefits of Hampton Creek products:

• Fewer carbon emissions
• No risk of bird flu
• No salmonella
• No artificial colors or flavors
• Non-GMO
• Cholesterol-free
• Soy-free
• Gluten-free
• Dairy-free

“Our food system is broken, and in the past, society has decided to abandon horse-drawn carriages for cars and land lines in Africa for mobile phones. It’s time that we harness the intersection of technology and culinary expertise to leap over the chicken cages and carbon pollution, and into a food system that is better for everyone. It starts with mayo, but it certainly won't end there,” said Josh Tetrick, Hampton Creek's Founder and CEO. “I’m grateful that we have a team that doesn’t mind thousands of small failures in the pursuit of products that can change our world.”

The $56 billion global egg industry has taken note of Hampton Creek's mission. “It is time for Hampton Creek to roll out their product in competition with shell eggs and derived products,” said Dr. Simon Shane, an egg industry analyst.

Hampton Creek's breakthrough approach to R&D has the potential to disrupt the $150 billion market for animal agriculture—and reimagine the future of food. Of the 1.8 trillion eggs consumed last year, over 95% came from female chickens who are confined in battery cages, small wire enclosures that afford each hen a space smaller than a single sheet of letter-sized paper. The animals we eat consume more food than the 1.3 billion people who go to bed hungry every single night. Additionally, 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions flow from the very same place: animal agriculture.

About Hampton Creek:

Hampton Creek is a food technology company on a mission to create a healthier and more sustainable food system. The company has developed the world's first plant-based egg technology, known as Beyond Eggs. Their partners include The Humane Society of the United States and Global Viral, an organization dedicated to addressing the world's most pressing infectious disease threats. Recently, Hampton Creek’s CEO and Founder, Josh Tetrick, demonstrated a plant-based scrambled egg on the TED stage. He is a Fulbright Scholar, former college football player, and a graduate of Cornell University and the University of Michigan Law School. He founded Hampton Creek in 2011 after spending seven years working in Sub-Saharan Africa with the President of Liberia and the United Nations, among other initiatives. Investors in Hampton Creek include Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates, Founders Fund, Kat Taylor, and Collaborative Fund.

Just Mayo is available at select Whole Foods Market stores across the country, as well as globally, at: www.hamptoncreekfoods.com.

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