# A market signal worth sharing | FUDI Protein

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/feed/323132
- Entity ID: wefunder:feed_item:323132
- Published at: 2026-05-18 17:25:38 UTC
- Updated at: 2026-05-18 17:25:38 UTC

## Author
Udi Lazimy

## Subject
FUDI Protein

## Content
The Atlantic ran a piece last week by Ellen Cushing on the whey protein shortage. The numbers tell a clear story:Wholesale whey prices up 50%+ since JanuarySuppliers sold out through end of 2026A single whey-processing plant costs up to $1B to build, with multi-year build cyclesNorth America is putting $12B into new dairy-processing capacity, most of it not online in time for the current shortageOne layer upstream, the protein boom isn't reaching the farm. Wisconsin milk prices dropped ~30% YoY in January, sitting below breakeven for many. California, the largest dairy state, had farms dumping milk earlier this year as the spring flush hit processing limits. Nationally, USDA's 2026 all-milk forecast ($20.50/cwt) sits barely above ERS cost of production ($19.14). Farmers' share of the retail dairy basket has fallen from ~50% in the 1980s to ~25% today.The takeaway for us: this is exactly the structural problem FUDI is built to address. When functional protein supply is tied to billion-dollar plants with decade-long capex cycles, the entire category becomes brittle. Demand outruns supply by years, the premium gets captured at the processing layer, and food manufacturers have nowhere to turn.We're not trying to replace whey (.... We're building a complementary source of functional protein, RuBisCO from alfalfa, that gives manufacturers a second structural option and gives farmers a second revenue line off the same fields. Alfalfa is already part of the dairy ecosystem (it feeds the cows). Pulling human-food protein out of it doesn't disrupt what's there; it diversifies what those acres can earn.The Atlantic piece doesn't mention FUDI, or alt-protein at all. That's the point. The market is making the case for complementary functional proteins on its own, faster than we could have on our own.More soon on LAUNCHING OUR WEFUNDER CAMPAIGN PUBLICLY (HINT: PLEASE SHARE WHEN WE DO) +pilot-scale progress and customer sampling.