Mexican Food Giant Sigma Explores Chicken-Free Egg Protein Applications with Onego Bio

With the global egg market in crisis, Sigma Foods has teamed up with precision fermentation startup Onego Bio to explore innovations with its animal-free egg white protein.

After a year that exposed the volatility of the international egg market, Sigma Foods is looking to safeguard itself from future supply shocks.

The Mexican food conglomerate, which operates over 100 brands in 17 countries, is developing product prototypes with an animal-free egg protein created by Finnish startup Onego Bio.

The latter uses precision fermentation – a process that involves inserting DNA into microbes to teach them to produce specific molecules when fermented – to make Bioalbumen, a bioidentical of the main protein found in egg whites.

Together, the two companies will use the ingredient to conduct feasibility assessments, prototype development, and application trials in “commercially relevant food”, in an effort to futureproof the food sector from the shortages and price hikes that have wrecked the egg industry in recent years.

Next month, Sigma’s product development manager, Andrea Nieto, also will co-host a live cooking demo webinar with Onego Bio to showcase Bioalbumen’s performance in real product formulations and the findings from early tests about its commercial potential.

Animal-free egg protein can ‘support ESG goals’

A spinout of the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Onego Bio uses a fungal strain called Trichoderma reesei to produce a recombinant version of ovalbumin, which makes up 54% of the protein content in egg whites.

Its process involves introducing the genetic blueprint of ovalbumin to the cells of the microorganisms, which are fed on sugar. Depending on the stage of the production process, they’re either starved with little food or allowed to “gorge on glucose” – once they consume plenty of glucose and are then starved of it, they start sweating proteins.

These proteins are then filtered out and dried into a shelf-stable powder. The process requires 95% less land and 97% less water compared to conventional eggs, and generates 89% fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

Onego Bio’s Bioalbumen is a complete protein with an amino acid sequence identical to ovalbumin and a PDCAAS score of 1.0 (the highest possible score). It has a two-year-long shelf life and can replace egg white protein powder or liquid egg alternatives in most applications, while delivering the same functional, nutritional, and sensory performance.

Last year, the startup received a ‘no questions’ letter from the US Food and Drug Administration, which concluded that its precision-fermented egg white protein is Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) for use in a wide variety of applications.

“Bioalbumen is a powerful tool to support ESG goals for global food manufacturers and strengthen product stability at a time when the egg industry is increasingly vulnerable to disease outbreaks and pricing volatility,” said Onego Bio co-founder and CEO Maija Itkonen.

“We are excited to collaborate with Sigma, a company that shares our vision for science-based innovation and a resilient food system.”

Early tests show ‘promising results’ for Bioalbumen

A third of all chicken eggs are used for food manufacturing, and over the last couple of years, new bouts of avian flu and Newcastle disease have ravaged the global supply. Hundreds of millions of chickens have been culled globally, just as demand for eggs has continued to increase.

This caused egg prices to reach a decade-long high in Europe last year, and break all-time records in the US – at one point, eggs were going for $1 a pop in some American cities.

It’s why many startups have introduced functional egg substitutes for B2B applications. Dutch firm Revyve produces an egg-replacing yeast protein; Spain’s MOA Foodtech has introduced a fermentation-derived ingredient to reduce egg use across various applications; and France’s The Very Food Co makes a powdered aquafaba for foodservice and industrial manufacturing.

Onego Bio uses precision fermentation to offer companies like-for-like functionality that seamlessly integrates into their processes and, at the same time, ensures supply continuity. It is currently building a large-scale facility in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, with an expected investment of $250-300M and operations launching in 2028.

“Over the past months, this work has enabled valuable learnings around the functional and nutritional performance of non‑animal egg protein produced via precision fermentation, as well as its potential to support supply resilience and product innovation in real food applications,” Andrea Nieto Gutiérrez, global R&D manager at Sigma, said in a LinkedIn post.

“Early evaluations have shown promising results when benchmarked against traditional egg proteins, reinforcing the role of science‑based ingredient innovation in addressing today’s supply‑chain and sustainability challenges.”

Onego Bio is one of only two startups approved to sell animal-free egg protein in the US, following California’s The Every Company, whose ingredients are sold in products available at Walmart, Target, Amazon, and regional bakeries across the US.

The two firms have been locked in a legal battle since September, with Onego Bio accusing The Every Company of fraud and seeking to invalidate a key patent granted to The Every Company in the US, who responded by calling the Finnish startup’s attempt “desperate” and “baseless”.

The companies were discussing a merger before talks fell apart, and the case is ongoing. “Our intention is not to block progress but to safeguard it,” Itkonen told Green Queen last year. “We have deep respect for legitimate intellectual property and value fair competition, which we see as the foundation of a healthy market.”