It was news to make even the most hard-boiled crisp manufacturer shudder: when Tesco released a list of the most-bought meal deal items for 2024, McCoy’s flame grilled steak grab bags had fallen off their perch as its shoppers’ favourite snack.
Instead, nestled between the chicken club sandwich as a main and a bottle of Coca-Cola to drink, was an “egg protein pot”.
Retailing at £1.30 if bought as a single item outside the meal deal, the pot is exactly what it sounds like: a plastic tub containing two cooked and peeled eggs. But despite its uninspiring appearance, demand has doubled since 2020 and last year Tesco sold 10m of them.
And it’s a similar story elsewhere. Waitrose said sales of its version, which includes free range eggs on a bed of raw spinach, were up by 41% last year. The pot is also part of its meal deal, or £1.80 if bought separately. At Pret a Manger, which typically charges £2.50, they sell about a million a year.
The sandwich chain could claim to have been the first to literally repackage the humble egg as an on-the-go snack, as it put it on the menu a decade ago. Anna Tebbs, UK head of food at Pret, said the company had taken inspiration from trends in the US.
“The idea originally had a mix of responses,” said Tebbs. “Some were thinking: ‘Boiled eggs and spinach?’ And others were thinking: ‘Of course, this will be brilliant!’”
The lay person may well wonder at the success of a product that is so straightforward and easy to make at home, but experts say it is being driven by the backlash against ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and a rise in people’s desire to consume protein – possibly to replace a move away from meat.
Lisa Harris, a food trends expert at consultancy Harris and Hayes, said: “Protein has been a core message for several years and it doesn’t seem like it’s going away. We’re seeing yoghurt brands now calling their products ‘protein pots’ to appeal to people.”
One egg provides about 6g of protein, so a typical 90g pot contains about 11g – about a quarter of the recommended intake for an adult who weighs 60kg.
Coupled with this, Harris said: “We are generally seeing a move towards ‘clean label’ foods – people want to understand what they are eating. A protein bar might have a complex list of processed ingredients, while an egg seems more familiar.”
Alexa Mullane, a nuritionist, said she had noticed a shift to people wanting to choose healthier lunch options “because they notice that when they have a traditional sandwich and crisps they get hungry soon after and end up snacking on cakes and biscuits”.
She said that although many of her clients prepared their own eggs to take to work, “it’s great that supermarkets are now offering egg pots as a healthy option for people who want more protein and nutrients, and less carbohydrates on the go”.
As well as protein, Mullane said eggs contain choline “which is essential for cognitive function and so helps our concentration, memory and mood – which makes an egg the perfect snack during the working day.”
But while the scramble for healthier snacks has grown, when crisps are combined as a category they still break egg sales record.
Harris said: “Crisps are not going anywhere. We’re never going to not want crisps because they are salty and delicious.”
