Venture Capital Sees Promise in Lab-Created Eco-Foods

Nestled among Internet startups in the bustling South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco is an innovator of another sort. The year-old Hampton Creek Foods’ 2,400-square-foot office is home to a state-of-the-art lab, with a stainless-steel triple-shaft mixer, restaurant-grade dishwashers, and 17 employees milling around in white lab coats. They’re developing a plant-based substitute for the hen-born egg that’s indistinguishable in taste and price from the real thing.

That, it turns out, is hard work. “We definitely have a new respect for eggs,” says Megan Clements, a research scientist, as she watches a fellow food scientist squeeze oil into a vat of company-made eggless mayonnaise. “Every day we are challenged to get better to make up for what is not there.”