Eat Just Inc. Closes Investment Round, Securing Fresh Funds for JUST Egg & GOOD Meat Divisions – vegconomist
Eat Just, Inc. announces it has secured a new round of financing led by vegan investment fund VegInvest and Ahimsa Foundation, a nonprofit committed to supporting businesses striving to eliminate the use of animals in the food system.
This injection of funds will enable Eat Just, Inc. to improve the profitability of its alternative protein products, following the revelation this March that the company was to lay off around 40 staff in its plant-based egg division JUST Egg, in order to reduce costs.
“We founded this company to take the animal out of the equation and today, we’re proud to continue this vital work”
Speaking to vegconomist this afternoon, CEO and co-founder Josh Tetrick explained that the funding will also be allocated to enhance the quality of products at both divisions of the company — alt egg leader JUST Egg and cell-cultivated chicken pioneer GOOD Meat — encompassing improvements in taste, texture, cost, health, and sustainability.
Furthermore, Tetrick added that the fresh capital will also support the company with the achievement of its next ESG goal; to eliminate the plastic pourable JUST Egg container and roll out a more sustainable cardboard carton.
Image courtesy of Eat Just Inc.
VegInvest and Ahimsa Foundation have a history of collaborating with innovative companies like Eat Just; their initial investment played a significant role in the successful launch and growth of JUST Egg, which has saved substantial resources including 14 billion gallons of water, 69 million kilograms of CO2e, 21,000 acres of land after selling the equivalent of 400 million eggs.
A leader in both categories
JUST Egg, Eat Just’s flagship product, dominates the plant-based egg market, holding over 99% of the category, and the brand boasts a robust repeat purchase rate of 51%. JUST Egg products are now available in over 48,000 retail locations in North America and have experienced a 15% and 39% growth in Q1 and Q2 of the current year, marked by major launches in airlines, coffee chains, and colleges and universities.
Meanwhile, Eat Just’s cultivated meat division, GOOD Meat, achieved U.S. regulatory approval this summer, allowing its chicken to be sold to American consumers for the first time in history, alongside that of UPSIDE Foods. This achievement builds upon the company’s previous commercial success in Singapore in late 2020. The team is now focusing on overcoming key scale-up challenges with the goal of producing tens of millions of pounds of meat before the end of the decade.
Tetrick today reiterates the company’s dedication to eliminating animal-based agriculture, stating: “We founded this company to take the animal out of the equation, and today, we’re proud to continue this vital work with an investor who has shown an unwavering commitment to this ideal. Our work is not easy and not certain, but it’s what is required.”
Shaleen Shah, President of Ahimsa Foundation, emphasized the significance of Eat Just’s impact on the present-day food system: “Eat Just and its leadership in the industry play a critical part in building a kinder, safer food system. We’re proud of this investment and the continued partnership to make products that consumers love without causing the harm inherent in animal agriculture.”
