Working to transform the way the world eats—protein by protein

What came first, the chicken or the egg? Arturo Elizondo is trying to make the age-old conundrum irrelevant. His Clara Foods has developed a fermentation technology that uses yeast to convert sugar directly into egg proteins—the same way brewers make beer. The animal-free proteins are a cheaper and greener replacement for the vast quantities of eggs that go into everything from instant cakes and mayonnaise to dietary supplements and pharmaceuticals. “Animals are an incredibly inefficient protein machine,” says Elizondo, whose parents immigrated to the United States from Mexico. “It's fundamental economics that we can make a protein that is cheaper and more sustainable.” Clara Foods has raised $45 million in funding, including a strategic investment from $6 billion Illinois-based food and pharmaceutical company Ingredion.