In a world where convenience often comes at the expense of nutrition, Egglife Foods (Egglife) is trans-forming the future of food for the better. Despite launching just seven years ago, Egglife is taking the food and beverage industry by storm with a unique, revolutionary concept that reimagines meal lunchtime staples with a low-calorie, high-protein twist. The company was founded by Peggy Johns, who, driven by her own health needs, discovered a new groundbreaking way to decrease calories and carbs without compromising on taste. From her own humble kitchen, she discovered a way to replace flour with eggs in a variety of different foods. With that, egg white wraps were born. Since Peggy’s breakthrough, Egglife has hatched a new movement, conceptualizing a protein-packed portfolio of delicious, accessible foods designed for modern lifestyles.
With more consumers prioritizing high-quality, natural protein sources rather than artificial supplements, Egglife embarks on another year of innovation, expanding its product categories to new horizons and proving that taste, nutrition, and convenience are not mutually exclusive. Food Chain sits down with David Kroll, Egglife’s Chief Executive Officer, alongside Andrea Schwenk, Chief Marketing Officer, to learn more about Egglife’s journey thus far and uncover the driving factors behind its growth and success.
“Egglife was formed in late 2019 and was the brainchild of our Founder, Peggy Johns,” David begins, delving deeper into the company’s history. “Peggy is a 40-year employee of Rose Acre Farms and she knows more about eggs than most of us ever will – and she also happens to be a bit of a savant in the kitchen. She was diagnosed with a series of health issues that she set out to solve, so she spent years creating recipes, figuring out a way to replace wheat flour with egg whites. Impressed by her idea, they embarked on setting up Egglife as a standalone business, which is when Andrea and I joined.
“We launched our Egg White Wraps in early 2020 and they proved to be massively successful. Fast forward to today, we operate in the US and Canada, soon to be in Mexico, and are doing around $60 million in annual retail sales.”
Building ‘better-for-you’
Much like Peggy’s own journey, David and Andrea’s career shifts to Egglife were rooted in passion, experience, and a deep desire to make a lasting impact on the industry. “I’ve spent my whole career in food and beverage marketing; it’s what I’m very passionate about. I just love food and how it connects people – how it’s so core to the memories that we make with the people that we care about,” Andrea reveals. “For the first part of my career, I worked with a lot of alcohol and fast-food brands, which was really fun, but as I got older, I started to think about the legacy I wanted to leave behind in the industry. I decided that I wanted to move into the better-for-you space. David and I have known each other for several years, having both worked in the beverage industry, so when he landed at Egglife, it was a great opportunity to come and build something from the ground-up and be a part of something that I was really passionate about. It’s easily been the best and most rewarding job I’ve ever had.”
“There are a lot of parallels between mine and Andrea’s stories,” David recounts. “I spent 30 years building businesses across a range of blue chip companies, but made the conscious decision to do something that is actually better for the world. Chicago is a hotbed for food and beverage innovation and helping to lead that revolution away from highly processed foods has been hugely rewarding.”
Nutrition, convenience, and great taste
Pioneering a truly unique concept, Egglife’s Egg White Wraps have been a great success. Whilst being disruptive to the tortilla category, the Egg White Wraps have brought flavor innovation to a segment where it, largely, didn’t exist, and are now available in five other distinctive flavors: roasted garlic and herb, chipotle, everything bagel, sweet cinnamon, and the newest flavor, chocolate. Building on this triumph, the company is now extending its focus into new categories, all while maintaining its core commitment to great flavor, versatility, and nutrition.
“The versatility of our Egg White Wraps spans many consumer day parts, and we’re now mirroring that in our new Power Pasta products,” David affirms. “Not only are we bringing a high-protein, low-carb solution to the pasta category, but we’re also introducing four flavors to the market. Alongside this, we’re also launching our Grab & Go line, which will include a range of meat and cheese rollups, breakfast tacos, and more.”
As Egglife innovates across new categories, it remains focused on its core USP in an increasingly competitive market: harmoniously delivering uncompromising nutrition, convenience, and great taste in one package.
“Egglife lives at the intersection of nutrition, convenience, and taste. It’s hard to get all three things into one product and, very often, consumers have to trade off one or the other. What’s really exciting about our brand is that we’re able to deliver a high-protein product that’s low in carbs and in calories, which creates a unique protein density story in a world where everybody’s adding protein to everything. It’s important for us to communicate that we’re not adding protein to something; our entire products are made of high-quality protein. That’s a key differentiator for us as the consumer focus shifts from how much protein they’re consuming to the quality and source of that protein,” Andrea explains. “Ultimately, egg protein is one of the best sources out there, so we’re excited to be at the forefront of that from a messaging standpoint and lead the charge.”
Prioritizing protein-rich products
From a simple kitchen breakthrough to a fast-scaling industry disruptor, Egglife is proving that bet-ter-for-you food can be easily accessible and taste great. With bold innovation, a clear purpose, and momentum firmly on its side, the company is redefining consumer attitudes surrounding protein-rich products while empowering health, happiness, and food freedom in the process.
“To be honest, we’re just getting started,” David enthuses, concluding our conversation. “We’ll continue to scale the business and we aspire to be a billion-dollar brand. Within the next five to seven years, we’ll cross borders and continue to expand our product lines and international reach. We have an opportunity to empower better eating, and that’s what we’re all about.”