Nestle to trial plant-based eggs and shrimp

Nestle is offering plant-based alternatives to eggs and shrimp as the Swiss food giant expands its menu in the growing vegan market, the company said Thursday.

Nestle, owner of everything from chocolate to coffee and baby food brands, has for several years been reorganising its activities to focus more on health and wellness.

The Swiss company has among other things been making a major push in vegetarian and vegan products.

Its latest offerings are the "vEGGie" and "Vrimp".

The egg substitute is made from soy protein and omega-3 fatty acids.

The product "can be scrambled like real eggs, used in a frittata and pancakes or even as an ingredient when baking cakes or cookies," the company said in a statement.

The "Vrimp" is made from mixing seaweed, peas and konjac root, and "has the authentic texture and flavor of succulent shrimps," according to Nestle.

The two products will be offered in a "test-and-learn" launch at a limited number of stores in Switzerland and Germany.

The market for alternative meat and dairy amounts to $14 billion, according to a June study by Swiss bank Credit Suisse.

The market could mushroom to a whopping $1.4 trillion by 2050, the bank forecast.

More than 600 companies, from startups to the biggest food companies, are developing such alternative foods, Credit Suisse said.