TOKYO: As Japan struggles with a shortage and price hikes of chicken eggs, their substitutes are becoming increasingly popular.

Egg substitutes were originally developed for people suffering from allergies, not to make up for supply shortages, but their sales have boomed amid the so-called egg shock, such as many restaurant operators suspending egg-using menus.

Nissui Corp. has been selling since last autumn a product resembling “tamagoyaki,” or Japanese omelette. It is made from minced Alaska pollock and other ingredients instead of eggs.

An official of the seafood maker said that it “succeeded in creating a fluffy texture similar to tamagoyaki” by devising a special blend of ingredients and using its expertise in making imitation crab.

The product sells for around 150 yen for a pack of four at supermarkets in and around Tokyo. The price is around the average for fish paste products, but is cheaper than egg-using products from other makers. “Whenever we put it on the shelf, it sells out immediately,” an official at a supermarket in Tokyo said.

Shipments over the past one or two months have grown roughly five-fold from before.

Mayonnaise maker Kewpie Corp. released the “Hobotama” egg substitute online in spring last year. The product, which imitates eggs using soy milk and almond powder, has become popular on social media and has briefly sold out on Amazon Japan’s shopping website.

Hobotama comes in a scrambled egg-like version and a liquid egg-like version. A pack of 60 grams, equivalent to about one egg, sells for 182 yen to 214 yen.

Kewpie is planning to expand sales of Hobotama.

Meanwhile, the Nipponham Foundation for the Future of Food, which conducts research on food allergies, has posted cooking tips and recipes on its website. Its page for egg dishes is especially popular, according to the affiliate of major meat packer NH Foods Ltd.

JIJI Press