I did not imagine javier yzuel Eight years ago —in 2014, when he applied for the first patent— his invention would reach the supermarket shelves nor that half of Spain would have anything to say about it. “In this country anyone thinks“, he answers the phone after several days keeping public silence. “It is important not to let yourself be guided by impulse and not listen to anyone. When we came out with the frozen egg there was already a small tidal wave. Now, people from all over the world have written to me and I have gotten several companies to contact me to take it to other markets. The idea fits and makes sense.”
Born in Sariñena, a small municipality in Huesca, Yzuel is the creator of the packaged fried egg that Mercadona has started to sell. At the rate of ninety cents a piece —1.80 euros for the indivisible package of two eggs—, the Valencian company surprised a couple of weeks ago with this new item. It didn’t take long for it to go viral. “It is an innovative product in distribution,” they say from the company. “We are trying to sell it in some stores to see if it adds value to customers before deciding if we have it throughout the chain”. In the networks and media that picked up the news there were two currents of opinion: criticism, which highlighted the unsustainability of the packaging and the uselessness of the client who no longer knows how to fry an egg, and the defender, who considered that the product is designed so that disabled people cook with greater autonomy.
We go to hell. pic.twitter.com/vPV5I8Snwz
— Dr. Elena Casado Pineda (@Medicilio) November 25, 2022
The reality is that neither one nor the other. “For the disabled? No. I could tell you yes, but it would be a lie. We never framed the product like this. Now, if it turns out that someone benefits, all the effort will have made sense, “he admits. The man from Huesca developed the idea from him” because of the technical challenge “ what it meant to fulfill the law of the egg in hospitality, which establishes that to serve fried eggs they must be cooked to a temperature of at least 75º in the center. “The law must be complied with. If you get poisoned at home, it’s your problem, but that cannot be applied to restaurants and supermarkets,” he continues. “In a neighborhood bar it is difficult to verify it, but chains like Burger King and McDonald’s do not implement the product if they have doubts“.
Yzuel came up with the method to cook fried eggs and refrigerate or freeze them. He patented his creation in Spain, Europe and the United States. He got Burger King to trust him and launch an egg burger. And in between he lived an authentic business roller coaster whose latest milestone has been reaching the Mercadona shelf. The container, he warns, has a double layer of plastic because when they tested it they discovered that everyone put their finger in the yolk. “That my son does it is normal, but older ladies… They put their finger in, burst the yolk, leave that container there and take the one behind“, counts. “It is true that it supposes a significant consumption of plastic, but it is that the new lines of biodegradable fiber are not yet approved. Let’s be patient“.
Although his intention was not to direct them to the final consumer, he believes that packaged eggs will end up triumphing. “You can buy lettuce or cut lettuce. Why has the cut eaten up the market? Well, because we don’t have time,” he reasons. “If you want to make a fried egg at home, great, but how many have you made in the last year? Hot oil splashes and implies risks, in addition to the fact that between the raw material and the light it costs more than fifty cents per unit. Three years from now, no one will cook them at home.”.
The creamy yolk and the sprig
At the end of the 90s, Javier Yzuel was studying a FP degree in management of hospitality establishments in Teruel. Later, he worked in the family business (a hotel founded by his great-great-grandparents) and in several other restaurants. “I am a simple manager and This was a much bigger bull than I anticipated”, recounts. “I got the patent, but you don’t know how to control or manage. Everything has a process that you have to learn and that no one in the industry wants to teach you“.
In March 2014, the young man from Huesca filed a patent application in Spain. As he explained on his blog patent expert Francisco José Moreno, the examiner considered that Yzuel’s proposal had inventive step (ie, not obvious and not previously patented) and granted. The procedure for preparing frozen or refrigerated fried eggs consisted of: cracking the egg in an oil-impregnated mold, putting it in an oven at between 232º and 252º for a little over two minutes and knocking it down (quickly cooling it) afterwards. When defrosted, the result was that of “a fried egg with a texture similar to that of a freshly cooked fried egg.”
After the Spanish concession, the inventor had a little more trouble convincing examiners in Europe and the United States. It is true that there were at least two previous similar patents, but his defense pointed to two key points: the creamy yolk and the sprigthe burnt and crunchy edge (lacy brown edge, in English) they have the best fried eggs. “The secret is how you reach a temperature that guarantees food safety and then cut. From 65º the egg coagulates. I developed a system in which I controlled the internal temperature of the food and then lowered it,” he explains. “The lace is relevant because it shows to what extent we control the temperature and we’re able to get runny yolk and toasted profiles without burning the egg.”
After several discussions with examiners, Yzuel was granted a second European and US patent. “European patents”, explained the expert Moreno to El Periódico de España, from the Prensa Ibérica group, “break down into a bundle of national patents in the countries that the applicant wants”. As you can see in the database of European inventions, method of preparing frozen or chilled fried eggs is patented in Austria, Germany, UK, France and a lot of other countries.
Burger King and the Teruel factory
With her eggs already patented, Yzuel set out to manufacture the product. He set up a company —Food Style, which would later become Innovation Foods 360— and looked for financing, as he needed a large initial investment to get rolling. As he himself declared on television, getting it was not easy. “We are supposed to be at a time when we have to push. We have all believed this speech that you have to risk and make an effortbut when push comes to shove they practically kick you in the ass and tell you: shoot forward“, he said. “I have the feeling that I have been deceived. I’m pissed off”.
Yzuel finally managed to start a production line in Vitoria. Nevertheless, it soon outgrew her. In 2016, Burger King became interested in refrigerated eggs and the company opened a second factory in Albentosa (Teruel) to produce more. The King Burger with egg went on the market in June, but barely a year and a half later, at the beginning of 2018, Innovation Foods filed for voluntary bankruptcy. What had happened?
“What happened to us was that we had to set up a factory to industrialize the product. Basically we knew what had to be done, but with the engineering part we lost the costs“, explains the entrepreneur, who reveals that the development of the egg-cracking machine alone cost him more than 300,000 euros. “We launched with Burger King and, seeing that it worked, the promotion was extended. But until that is not tested, you don’t know if you stay within the menu. We grew very fast and in that impasse problems arose“.
According to the report of the bankruptcy administrator, the causes that generated the insolvency of the company were: cost overruns in the manufacturing plant and high fixed costs, insufficient bank financing, unmet expectations regarding the main customer and the delay in reaching new trade agreements, higher than the estimate. To all this were added the problems between partners, which ended with Yzuel himself dismissed (later he returned). The document highlights the high product losses. “It’s real, but nothing was thrown away: it was sold to second customers,” he explains. “Burger King wanted a perfect egg. If it didn’t meet the aesthetic criteria, it was sold to frozen snack companies, hospitals or prisons.”. The factory closed last year.
“All that caught me with limited business knowledge,” he admits. “I was very tender and very young. This whole process that I now tell reasoned and even funny cost me several admissions for anxiety in the emergency room and sleepless nights. I didn’t understand what was happening, but mismanaged ambition creates disasters”.
Angulas Aguinaca buys the patents
While the company was following its tender process, Yzuel —owner of the patents— came into contact with Angulas Aguinaga, the company that owns La Gula del Norte, which in 2020 was acquired at 51% by the venture capital fund Pai Partners. Despite his company being in such a difficult situation, refrigerated eggs continued to arouse the interest of large corporations, so he asked his acquaintances in the north for help so as not to slow down development.
“One day I was at a fair in Valencia and a lady and a man appeared. I put the product on them, they try it and they tell me: we are from Mercadona. I told both them and McDonald’s the truth: that it was in competition. But since I had a good relationship with Angulas Aguinaga, I asked them to give me a hand in the approval process, “he says. The rest is history: in 2020, Angulas Aguinaga bought the European patent together with Yzuel’s client portfolio for a total of 1.2 million euros, according to its annual accounts, and the inventor was incorporated as its R&D manager. Burger King keeps their burger with egg.
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I was thinking of working in a small kitchen and look where I am six years later. Based on blood, sweat and tears,” she continues.
Yzuel’s refrigerated eggs are already integrated into the production line of the Gipuzkoan company, a giant that invoices almost 300 million euros per year and that acquired the patent with a view to diversifying beyond the fish market sector. Yzuel worked with them until last September: now, he says, he is immersed in developing his product in the United States, where he still maintains ownership of the patent, hand in hand with local partners. “The companies that have called me are American. The idea is to implement my solution in their factories and have them finance it.” In the future, he says, he does not see himself so much as a worker in a large industry—”I have learned that I am not ready, that I need something more domestic and small”—but as an inventor—”challenges stimulate me”— and a consultant to companies to develop new ideas. In fact, right now he is helping three young Basques with a Curious business project: gummy bears with alcohol.