Eat Just Inc. says it is cutting about 18% of jobs in its plant-based egg division, reveals CEO Josh Tetrick, in order to help reduce costs and reach profitability. While the company reports demand for its plant-based eggs is strong and growing, Tetrick says the product portfolio is currently not profitable.
“We should be at the place where it’s able to operate profitability without the need for any external capital”
The cuts will eliminate about 40 jobs, but will not affect staffers at GOOD MEAT, the company’s cell-based meat division, reports Bloomberg. According to Tetrick, sales of its liquid and folded plant-based eggs continue to reach record levels, with the company increasing new household penetration by 11% in January.
Despite the products’ strong performance, Tetrick states that, collectively, its offerings are not profitable and the company must take initiatives to reduce costs. Beyond layoffs, Eat Just is working on about 20 other initiatives, including consolidating operations, increasing production efficiency and lowering ingredient costs, to help improve its margins.
Egg advantage
In recent times, plant-based eggs have drawn considerable media attention as an accessible alternative to chicken eggs, whose prices soared to unprecedented levels over the past year, driven in part by devastating avian flu outbreaks.
JUST Egg took advantage of ongoing egg shortages by placing digital ads for its chicken-free egg products directly outside major US supermarkets.
Since its launch in 2019, the company reports selling the equivalent of 360 million eggs, and says it achieved price parity with conventional eggs last year.
“We should be at the place where it’s able to operate profitability without the need for any external capital,” said Tetrick.
