Nepra Foods Announces First Commercial Partnership With National Bakery For Egg Replacement

Nepra Foods Inc. (the “Company” or “Nepra”), creator of nutritious plant-based and allergen-free food, announces the first partnership with a national bread company to deliver the first products to contain Nepra’s proprietary allergen-free and vegan egg replacement. This novel product not only removes the last remaining allergen (i.e. eggs) and animal product from the ingredient label, it also represents the first shelf-stable gluten-free bread with an ambient (i.e. non-refrigerated) shelf life of 28 days. The Company has partnered with a national gluten-free bakery whose products will be initially distributed through Kroger, Publix, and Meijer representing over 2,600 retail locations across the country. The initial formulation will be used in white and multigrain breads, subsequently expanding to other gluten-free product offerings, with Nepra supplying the ingredients and formulation. The Company retains ownership of the proprietary formulation which provides the ability to license or partner with other leading bakeries.

“This product not only allows for the removal of an allergen and animal product from an ingredient list, it is also topical given the five-fold increase in egg prices last year. It not only offers a superior replacement to conventional eggs, it’s also more cost competitive with less inherent price volatility, and the supply of the product is significantly more stable,” commented Chadwick White, CEO of Nepra Foods. “Products developed with our egg replacement also have superior characteristics for gluten-free applications, presenting a product that is shelf-stable in ambient conditions, with many of the structural characteristics of conventional gluten-rich bread but also maintaining superior product quality for over 28 days. There is literally no application we cannot make a formulation specific for – it truly has the ability to revolutionize the baking and ingredient business as we know it!”

In 2022, US egg prices were up 530%^[1] driven largely by avian-specific diseases and rising input costs^[2]. Powdered eggs are a critical ingredient to both conventional and gluten-free bakeries, with Nepra’s formulations offering a 50% reduction in costs (vs. conventional eggs) or over a 20% savings in final product costs. Nepra’s proprietary egg replacement formulations provide for vegan, non-allergenic, direct substitute at a fraction of the cost of conventional eggs with pricing and supply stability.

Nepra’s Essential Egg Replacement Products
The Company has developed an entire line of egg replacement formulations to replace the use of conventional eggs in products ranging from baked goods to condiments and sauces. The Company has focused on the gluten-free bakery industry for its first commercial applications given management’s extensive network and expertise within the product vertical. The specific formulation developed by Nepra’s Research & Development team for this first commercial partnership is a gluten-free bread that is nearly indistinguishable from its wheat-based counterpart and has a 28-day ambient shelf life and reduced carbohydrate profile. The increased shelf-life will enable bakeries to move their products from the costly and hard-to-come-by freezer sets to the center-store shelf and bakery aisles. Not only does this result in savings for product storage and transportation, but the center-store shelf placement also moves gluten-free bread closer to being a supplementary good to typical wheat-based bread.

^[1]Trading Economics: https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/eggs-us ;

^[2] Forbes: Cracking Open the Issue of High Egg Prices: https://www.forbes.com/sites/daniellenierenberg/2023/01/27/cracking-open-the-issue-of-high-egg-prices/