Eran Groner

Co-Founder and CEO at Yo! Egg

Israel

You can only spend a certain amount of time in traditional agriculture before questioning the status quo. “Throughout a decade in ag-food tech, I designed industrial animal protein projects for food companies and governments across 13 countries. After years of figuring out ways on how to make meat, dairy, and eggs more cost-efficient, I have come to the realisation that something needs to change,” says Eran Groner as he shares his “why.”

Having had to experience, intimately, how animals were farmed, he made up his mind to stop doing what he was doing and start his journey in alternative protein. “Eggs, of all alternative proteins, are the least developed, and so I was very happy to have met Yosefa and Nisim Ben Cohen, my co-founders,” the self-taught generalist and liminal thinker recalls. “I was standing in Yosefa’s home kitchen, Nisim was preparing the egg for me. I couldn’t believe my eyes, it looked so egg-like! After grabbing a piece of fresh bread and breaking the egg yolk (a perfectly runny yolk!), the defining moment occurred: this product was so good in every way that it could transform how the world produces and consumes eggs.”

 

You can only spend a certain amount of time in traditional agriculture before questioning the status quo. “Throughout a decade in ag-food tech, I designed industrial animal protein projects for food companies and governments across 13 countries. After years of figuring out ways on how to make meat, dairy, and eggs more cost-efficient, I have come to the realisation that something needs to change,” says Eran Groner as he shares his “why.”

Having had to experience, intimately, how animals were farmed, he made up his mind to stop doing what he was doing and start his journey in alternative protein. “Eggs, of all alternative proteins, are the least developed, and so I was very happy to have met Yosefa and Nisim Ben Cohen, my co-founders,” the self-taught generalist and liminal thinker recalls. “I was standing in Yosefa’s home kitchen, Nisim was preparing the egg for me. I couldn’t believe my eyes, it looked so egg-like! After grabbing a piece of fresh bread and breaking the egg yolk (a perfectly runny yolk!), the defining moment occurred: this product was so good in every way that it could transform how the world produces and consumes eggs.”

 

“After a decade of cutting costs on meat, dairy, and egg production, I realized something had to change, profoundly.”

Inspirations, go-to’s and lifehacks:

  • Pandemic lifehack that helped you survive 2021: Meditation. Whilst I was practising meditation for a couple of years pre-pandemic, I came a long way in my practice in the past two years
  • A person that inspires you: Viktor E. Frankl. Frankl survived the atrocities that Jews suffered during WWII and then took it upon himself to teach the world about the meaning of life while keeping an optimistic view on humanity despite what he went through. Whenever I need to put my life in the right perspective, I remind myself of Frankl’s journey, from the Holocaust death camps to becoming an influential neurologist, psychiatrist, philosopher, author, and a relentless optimist.
  • Favorite book / A book everyone should read: Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl.
  • Your latest podcast obsession: Guy Raz – How I built this
  • Favorite food / favorite vegan treat: Easy – Yo! Egg Sunny Side Up

Yo! Egg resembles a sunny-side up egg experience while providing the same nutritional value, texture, and functionality, only without the cholesterol and saturated fat. According to Eran, the business is as fresh as the eggs baked in a shakshuka dish – they’ve only just incorporated in September 2021. “By November, we started our pilot manufacturing and market test in one breakfast restaurant. Three months later, we expanded to 15 points of sale including institutional food service, mainstream cafés, and breakfast restaurants.”

 

FOLLOW ERAN’S STORY​

Yo! Egg resembles a sunny-side up egg experience while providing the same nutritional value, texture, and functionality, only without the cholesterol and saturated fat. According to Eran, the business is as fresh as the eggs baked in a shakshuka dish – they’ve only just incorporated in September 2021. “By November, we started our pilot manufacturing and market test in one breakfast restaurant. Three months later, we expanded to 15 points of sale including institutional food service, mainstream cafés, and breakfast restaurants.”

 

FOLLOW ERAN’S STORY​

Eran is one of the Food Heroes for 2022. See more inspiring and world-changing stories from Food Heroes here.