Eat Just Inc. is cutting about 18% of jobs in its division that makes plant-based egg substitutes as it aims for profitability.
(Bloomberg) — Eat Just Inc. is cutting about 18% of jobs in its division that makes plant-based egg substitutes as it aims for profitability.
The cuts affect more than 40 workers, mostly in the US, across the company’s JUST Egg unit, Chief Executive Officer Josh Tetrick said in an interview.
The Alameda, California-based company’s liquid “egg” product — made from mung beans and designed to look, taste and scramble like a chicken egg — has been available nationwide since 2019. The company’s cell-based meat division, GOOD Meat, operates separately and won’t be cutting staffers.
Though sales volume and household penetration are at their highest levels to date, the company’s egg product portfolio is, collectively, not currently profitable and the company needs to reduce costs, Tetrick said. There are about 20 ongoing initiatives to do so in addition to the layoffs, including efforts to cut spending on ingredients, consolidating operations and increasing production efficiency.
“We should be at the place where it’s able to operate profitability without the need for any external capital,” Tetrick said about the company’s egg division. While investor capital should be deployed for long-term growth initiatives and innovation, he said, sales of the products should cover day-to-day operational costs.
The company has sold the equivalent of approximately 360 million eggs since it launched, Tetrick said. It grew new US households by 11% in January.
Other plant-based foods makers have also recently cut staff. Impossible Foods Inc. reduced its California workforce by 132 people earlier this month, following a smaller round of terminations in October. Beyond Meat Inc. fired more than 20% of its workers in two separate rounds of layoffs last year.
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