Founder: Josh Tetrick
Date launched: 2011
Funding: $120 million
Industries disrupted: Agriculture, food and beverage, retail grocery chains
In Josh Tetrick's world, he doesn't ask which came first—the chicken or the egg. The company he founded in 2011, Hampton Creek, simply bypasses the chicken altogether. Its products—Just Mayo, Just Cookie Dough and, later this year, Just Scramble—are made with pea protein and other plant-based ingredients instead of eggs.
Read MoreFULL LIST: 2015 DISRUPTOR 50
Tetrick, a Fulbright Scholar with a law degree, reasons that his products are better for the environment, producing less greenhouse gases and using less water than it takes to keep, feed and raise chickens. Last fall the company made headlines when it was sued by food giant Unilever—maker of Hellmann's mayonnaise—arguing that Hampton Creek mislabeled its Just Mayo product. After swift backlash, Unilever dropped the suit.
The company's products are available in the U.S. in Whole Foods, Safeway, Costco and more than 1,200 natural-food stores. Recently, it signed a deal with Compass Group, the large food-service company, to distribute its Just Cookies products to colleges, universities, museum cafés and corporate restaurants nationwide. In 2013, Microsoft founder Bill Gates named Hampton Creek one of the three companies shaping the future of food, and Salesforce chief executive Marc Benioff and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin have invested in the company.
"What would it look like if we just started over? And if we did, the thing that was better for the body (no cholesterol, less sodium), better for the environment (water, carbon emissions, land) would taste better. And it's also a little bit less expensive."
Read MoreHampton Creek was No. 36 on the 2014 CNBC Disruptor 50.