Ones to Watch: Egg protein, rengineered

26 FOOD TECHS TO WATCH IN 2026

Maija Itkonen, Onego Bio’s Co-founder & CEO, wants Bioalbumen to give the food industry a stable, animal-free egg protein that behaves exactly like the real thing – without inheriting the fragility of the egg supply chain

Eggs are foundational to the modern food system. They whip, bind, gel, and foam their way through products ranging from baked goods to meat analogs and sauces. Yet the supply behind that functionality is vulnerable.

Onego Bio was created to provide an alternative. “We are a food ingredient company producing Bioalbumen, a non-animal egg protein made with precision fermentation,” says Maija Itkonen, Co-founder & CEO. “Identical in nutrition, taste, and functionality to traditional egg white protein, Bioalbumen delivers improved supply stability, price consistency, and a 90% smaller environmental footprint – without using animals.”

For Itkonen, the issue is not eggs themselves, but reliance on a single production pathway. “The global food system depends on eggs for functionality, yet faces volatility from disease outbreaks, fluctuating prices, and supply chain disruptions,” she details. “We are focused on resilience – ensuring a stable, scalable source of functional protein that supports both food security and sustainability.”

Where many egg alternatives mimic functionality with plant blends or novel formulations, Onego’s strategy is to keep the molecule and change the production system. “Bioalbumen is the first non-animal egg protein with a bioidentical amino acid sequence to ovalbumin,” Itkonen states. “Our precision fermentation process preserves the full functionality of egg whites, whipping, binding, foaming, while eliminating the animal from the equation.”

That choice matters for industrial users who need predictability more than novelty. “Unlike many alternatives, Bioalbumen is a true 1:1 replacement for traditional eggs in industrial food production,” she says. That means formulators can work with an ingredient that behaves like egg white protein they already understand, rather than building recipes around an entirely new material.

On the regulatory side, 2025 marked an inflection point. Onego Bio received a ‘no questions’ letter from the US FDA regarding the GRAS status of Bioalbumen, confirming that the company’s scientific assessment of safety met the agency’s expectations for its intended uses. For manufacturers, that decision, together with other clearances, unlocked the ability to move from lab pilots into real product development.

“In 2025, we achieved key regulatory clearances, successfully scaled up production, and continued pilot testing with major food manufacturers across baking and confectionery,” Itkonen says. “We also built out our operational capacity to support commercial readiness in 2026.”

From pilots to a new class of commodity

The next phase is not simply about volume, but embedding Bioalbumen as a standard input in a conservative industry. “Our 2026 priorities center on building scale and accelerating commercial readiness,” Itkonen says. “We are focused on scaling, deepening partnerships from small bakeries to multinational CPGs, launching Bioalbumen in select product lines, advancing our global regulatory roadmap, and progressing plans for a flagship factory in the USA.”

We are not trying to replace the egg – we are here to supplement and strengthen the food system

Strategic collaborations have been central to proving the ingredient in real-world settings. “Pilots with global food manufacturers have been instrumental in demonstrating Bioalbumen’s performance in commercial applications,” she says. Early investors, including sustainability-focused funds and deep-tech backers, have also supported scale-up efforts.

Itkonen links current funding preparation directly to this transition. “We are preparing our next round to support commercial launch and capacity expansion,” she says, adding the company’s backers include food-tech investors with deep expertise in fermentation and sustainable ingredients.

Trust, timelines and the reality of ‘vital proteins’

For any company bringing a new protein into the food system, technical success and market acceptance are inseparable. “It requires both scientific rigor and industry trust,” Itkonen suggests. “Balancing technical complexity with clear, confident communication – especially around vital or mass proteins – has been essential.”

That balance is built through repeated, concrete proof points. “We have tackled this through ongoing dialog with partners and extensive trials and applications across multiple verticals and industries,” she explains. Working across baked goods, confectionery and other categories has allowed Onego to show that Bioalbumen does not just work in idealized lab formulations but inside real commercial workflows.

Another obstacle is perception. “A misconception is that precision fermentation is ‘too niche’ or only relevant for premium products,” Itkonen observes. “But Bioalbumen is designed for scalability and cost-effectiveness, offering real benefits to mainstream food manufacturing – from lower logistics costs to shelf-stable formats and ESG gains.”

Underneath the commercial roadmap sits a clear impact framework. “We measure impact through reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, land and water use, Bioalbumen has 72-95% less impact across these metrics, food safety improvements, and supply chain resilience,” Itkonen explains. Nutritionally, she stresses, the goal was never to create a compromise product. “It is identical to the main egg white protein, ovalbumin.”

If the plan works, those metrics will translate into systemic change rather than niche wins. “Bioalbumen is a standard ingredient in food manufacturing across multiple categories,” is how Itkonen describes success five years from now. “We have helped secure the global supply of egg protein and made a measurable dent in food supply chain security, environmental impact, and resource use across the food system.” Looking more broadly at food-tech, she expects 2026 to mark a transition from pilots to deployment. “Precision fermentation is reaching maturity – 2026 will be defined by scaled deployment and seamless ingredient integration into the mainstream,” she says. “The winners will be those who deliver functionality, reliability, and ESG outcomes without demanding tradeoffs.”

That sort of progress depends on decisions far beyond any single company. “The industry needs scalable infrastructure and regulatory harmonization,” Itkonen argues. “The technology is here – what is needed is alignment across policy and industry to ensure next-gen proteins can be deployed globally, quickly, and affordably.”

Working with, not against, the egg

For all the talk of disruption, Itkonen is careful about how she frames Onego’s role in the broader protein ecosystem. “We are not trying to replace the egg – we are here to supplement and strengthen the food system,” she says. The aim is to give manufacturers an additional, highly reliable source of egg protein that can absorb shocks and support long-term planning, not to erase existing agriculture overnight.

“We believe in working with, not against, existing food players to create a future that is more reliable for everyone,” she adds. That philosophy also shapes how the company talks about its core technology. Rather than presenting Bioalbumen as a synthetic novelty, Itkonen often returns to the starting point: the egg itself.

“Nature,” she says, has been her most recent source of inspiration. “Eggs are already a near-perfect protein. Instead of reinventing the wheel, we focused on replicating what nature got right – then making it more resilient and sustainable for the future.”