Meet Tanja Bogumil, Co-Founder and CEO at FoodTech Company: Perfeggt

Perfeggt is a foodtech company based in Berlin, specialised in research, development and production of plant-based egg alternatives. The first Perfeggt product is created with a complex, plant-based protein system and can be prepared as scrambled eggs or omelette. It can also be used for baked goods, such as pancakes and muffins.

Our multidisciplinary, international team, which comprises of myself, my co-founder Gary Lin and our Chief Product Officer, Bernd Becker, provides the company with seasoned entrepreneurs, pioneers and specialists in alternative proteins.

Perfeggt researches plant protein sources and their combinations that come closest to the nutritional and functional properties of the chicken egg. This allows us to create foods that are impressive in their texture, aroma and flavour, and thus loved by everyone.

Our company was founded in early 2021 and our impact-driven approach immediately caught the interest of investors such as EVIG Group, Stray Dog Capital, Good Seed Ventures, E²DJD, Tet Ventures, Sustainable Food Ventures and Shio Capital that invested $2.8 million/€2.5 million in the first round of financing.
 

How did you come up with the idea for Perfeggt?

My family background in small-scale farming and my experience in the food-tech and agri-tech sector, means I have become increasingly aware of the unsustainable processes in the food industry. However, with innovative technology, alternatives can be created and whilst the plant-based milk and meat markets have boomed over the past five years, eggs have remained untapped. With 1.3 trillion eggs consumed worldwide annually, and with 110 billion in Europe alone, the market is ready for a plant-based egg option.

Having been a vegetarian since I was a teenager, I could never find a suitable egg alternative to become fully vegan so I decided to create one. I wanted to bring something to market that would rival the taste and texture of chicken eggs. Using pioneering technology Perfeggt can be fried in a pan just like scrambled eggs and omelettes and can also substitute a whole egg in baked goods without compromising on taste or texture.

My co-founder Gary Lin has successfully been working on building businesses that replace animal products in food with more sustainable ingredients for years. With Bernd Becker, we have a pioneer and expert of alternative proteins on our team, whose top priority is to develop plant-based foods that replicate the same taste and experience that consumers get from an animal source.

How has the company evolved during the pandemic?

The pandemic has accelerated consumers and companies to think more about how our food system works and where the weaknesses are. Awareness of plant-based alternatives has increased. Supply chains, healthy nutrition, and sustainable living are all keywords we’re hearing now. This increased interest is what prompted us to start thinking about egg alternatives during the pandemic and go on to create Perfeggt.

What can we hope to see from Perfeggt in the future?

Our goal is to become the number one egg brand in Europe and define the whole category with our company and the products we offer. With our plant-based egg, we’re on the right track to form a food system that is much more sustainable and caring.

The capital raised in our first funding round aids the initial launch of Perfeggt and expansion in Europe later in 2022. We are poised to launch our first chicken-less egg product – a liquid that can be prepared as scrambled eggs or omelette – shortly in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, in the food service segment. During 2022, we also want to offer Perfeggt in food retail and we are continuously working on the development of further plant-based egg applications.