# Why Is Some Protein So Hard to Drink? | FUDI Protein

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/feed/376438
- Entity ID: wefunder:feed_item:376438
- Published at: 2026-08-28 20:55:58 UTC
- Updated at: 2026-08-28 20:55:58 UTC

## Author
Udi Lazimy

## Subject
FUDI Protein

## Content
The following went out today in our FUDI Digest newsletter on LinkedIn. Please subscribe to the FUDI Digest on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7120111132282929152Application Spotlight #03: Exploring RuBisCO in Protein Beverages + RTDsProtein beverages sound simple.Take a beverage. Add protein. Done.Anyone who has formulated one knows it's rarely that easy.Adding protein can introduce unwanted flavor, grittiness, excessive thickness, sedimentation, color and other formulation challenges.And consumers don't experience a protein beverage as a nutrition label.They experience the drink.Welcome to Application Spotlight #03: Protein Beverages + RTDsThis week, we're exploring what we believe could be one of the most exciting applications for RuBisCO.At FUDI, we're developing RuBisCO — nature's most abundant protein — from American-grown alfalfa as a highly digestible, functional protein ingredient with a clean, neutral sensory profile.Those characteristics create intriguing possibilities across a rapidly expanding universe of protein-forward beverages:🥤 Protein shakes ☕ Protein coffee 🧊 Ready-to-drink beverages 🍓 Smoothies ⚡ Recovery drinks 🌱 Functional beveragesBut the opportunity isn't simply about putting more protein into more drinks.It's about making better drinks.The protein shouldn't get in the way.For beverage formulators, protein can affect nearly every aspect of the consumer experience.Taste matters. Consumers may want more protein, but they don't necessarily want the bitterness, earthiness or other off-notes that can accompany some plant proteins.Texture matters. Grittiness, chalkiness and excessive viscosity can quickly turn a nutritionally impressive formulation into something consumers don't want to drink again.Solubility matters. How a protein disperses and behaves in a beverage can have major implications for formulation and product performance.Appearance matters. Color can dramatically limit the types of finished products in which an ingredient can disappear.That's why we're particularly interested in proteins that can deliver nutrition without forcing formulators to compromise the drinking experience.That's where RuBisCO gets interesting.RuBisCO isn't simply another source of plant protein.We're developing FUDI RuBisCO around a combination of characteristics that we believe can make it particularly interesting for beverage formulators:Highly digestible. Complete. Soluble. Functional. Clean-tasting. Neutral in aroma. White in color. Plant-based.And it comes from an unexpected place:Alfalfa.Our goal is to unlock this remarkably abundant protein from an established American crop and turn it into a high-performance ingredient capable of competing in applications traditionally dominated by proteins like whey and egg.Protein beverages give us an exciting place to put that proposition to the test.What would you make with it?The possibilities extend well beyond the traditional protein shake.Imagine RuBisCO in an iced protein coffee where consumers want nutrition without compromising the coffee experience.Or an RTD recovery beverage where protein quality and solubility both matter.Or smoothies, meal replacements, functional beverages and other products where manufacturers increasingly want to deliver more protein without making the product feel like a conventional protein supplement.We're interested in exploring all of them.But we're even more interested in working with the people who formulate these products every day.Put RuBisCO to the test.We're actively looking for beverage brands, food scientists, product developers, formulation teams and ingredient companies interested in evaluating FUDI RuBisCO.If you're developing a protein shake, RTD, protein coffee, recovery drink, smoothie, functional beverage or another protein-forward product, we'd love to hear what you're working on.Contact us to discuss your application and request a sample.Follow what we're building 🌱Application Spotlight is our ongoing series exploring where RuBisCO could create value across the food and beverage industry — one application at a time.Follow FUDI Protein on LinkedIn for the next Application Spotlight.And if you'd like to follow FUDI's progress as a company, follow our campaign on Wefunder (www.wefunder.com/fudi.protein) for company updates, milestones and the opportunity to invest.Know someone working in beverage R&D, protein formulation or ingredient innovation?Please share this edition with them.Sometimes the most valuable thing you can do for an early-stage company is simply put it in front of the right person.Nature's most abundant protein. Finally unlocked.