Former Lidl managers focus on vegan eggs

The founding team is bringing a vegan whole egg substitute to the refrigerated shelves with its new brand The VGN.

Former Lidl managers Jürgen Achenbach, Martin Hesse, Alexander Wilczek and Dieter Lamprecht are jointly launching the start-up The VGN. The first product is a liquid whole egg alternative from the bottle, made from field bean protein. Not only can it be used for cooking and baking, but it also makes vegan scrambled eggs possible, the startup says.

"Living vegan is no longer a niche lifestyle. With our appearance and communication, we will bring joie de vivre, color and fun into the consumer world and offer people an enriching nutritional facet that they may not have known about before," says Achenbach, the startup's managing partner. Aschenbach was previously managing director in marketing in Germany for Lidl. Now he wants to use his industry knowledge from the food sector to develop a vegan alternative.

The new egg substitute is expected to be available in Germany starting in April. The next step for the start-up is to expand into other European countries from mid-2022, and Ocado is already the retail partner for the launch in the UK. The next products are also already being planned.