Just Egg has still not launched in the UK – here’s why

From veganfoodandliving.com

Plans for a Just Egg UK launch have stalled again, as regulatory delays and upheaval at The Vegan Food Group raise fresh questions about its future

For years, Just Egg has been one of the most anticipated vegan product launches in the UK. The mung bean-based vegan egg alternative, which has been enjoyed in the US since 2017, has repeatedly appeared to be on the brink of arrival, only to disappear again.

The brand’s most recent promise of a UK launch came just last year, bolstered by a new partnership with The Vegan Food Group. Backed by a multi-million-pound investment, Just Egg was expected to hit UK stores in mid-2025, and was even spotted online by some eagle-eyed shoppers.

But once again, the launch has failed to materialise. While its use of mung bean protein has been deemed safe by the Food Standards Agency, the product has still not received the final legal clearance required to go on sale. Meanwhile, wider changes at its UK manufacturing partner have added further uncertainty around the brand’s prospects.

                                                                     Featured image © Eat Just/Vegan Food & Living

Why the Just Egg UK launch keeps stalling

At the heart of the delay is regulation. Eat Just first applied for authorisation of mung bean protein as a novel food in January 2021, with plans for a UK launch stretching back as far as 2018.

Although the FSA concluded last July that the ingredient was safe to eat and not nutritionally disadvantageous, that approval still required ministerial sign-off before products could legally be sold in UK supermarkets.

Despite this, Just Egg announced an Ocado launch in August, and the product was even spotted listed on Sainsbury’s website late last year. However, it never officially went on sale. It has since emerged that a lack of final legal sign-off prevented the launch from moving forward.

Changes at The Vegan Food Group

Complicating matters further is turmoil at The Vegan Food Group, which holds exclusive rights to manufacture and supply Just Egg across Europe. According to The Grocer, the business is winding down its operations, and approximately 60 staff members have been made redundant across its UK sites, alongside significant job losses at VFG’s German production facility in Lüneburg.

While this leaves the future of Just Egg in the UK uncertain, popular meat alternative brands Meatless Farm and VFC will be separated from the group to be run as a standalone business, ‘VFC Foods’, by Vegan Food Group co-founder Adam Lyons.

https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/news/just-egg-still-not-launched-uk/