FUDI Protein Moves Alfalfa Rubisco Protein Egg White Replacement Into Kilogram Pilot Batches for Food Trials

Wisconsin startup FUDI Protein has moved its alfalfa-derived RuBisCO isolate out of the lab and into kilogram-scale pilot batches, a step that puts a fresh, early-stage player into the rubisco protein egg white replacement field already occupied by better-known leaf-protein firms. Between August and October 2026 the company worked with university pilot partners to produce nearly white, functional isolate samples now being prepared for food-company trials, according to a 2 November interview with founder and CEO Udi Lazimy published by ProVeg International.

RuBisCO (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) is the photosynthetic enzyme found in green leaves. FUDI extracts it from alfalfa, a crop already grown at large scale for dairy feed in the United States, and positions the isolate as a 1:1 functional stand-in for egg white in bakery, confectionery, beverages and sports nutrition.

Why formulators are weighing RuBisCO as an egg white replacement

Egg white remains a hard benchmark for foaming, gelling and emulsifying performance. Many plant proteins still fall short on neutral taste, colour or those functional properties even when their amino-acid scores look strong on paper. Lazimy told ProVeg that FUDI’s isolate is white, neutral-tasting and non-allergenic, with a claimed PDCAAS of up to 1.0, and that the company aims to price it around 35% below conventional egg white by processing on farm and returning residual biomass to growers as feed.

Those cost and functionality claims have not yet been independently verified at commercial volumes. The company’s immediate evidence base is the pilot batches themselves and the customer sample pipeline. Lazimy said major food and ingredient businesses — including Mars, Kraft Heinz, General Mills, Frito-Lay, Coca-Cola, Cargill, Ingredion, Givaudan and Roquette — have asked to evaluate the protein. Requests to sample are not purchase commitments, and FUDI remains pre-commercial.

Scale, regulatory path and the wider leaf-protein field

FUDI’s next hurdle is moving from kilogram pilot runs to continuous on-farm production while preserving colour, taste and function. Lazimy noted that RuBisCO begins to degrade within hours of harvest, which is why the company plans mobile processing units close to the field rather than a distant central plant. It is preparing a US GRAS dossier and raising a $2.5 million pre-seed round for the first mobile unit, the filing, a provisional patent and operating staff, with an $8 million seed round contemplated once commercial production begins.

The company joins a leaf-protein field that already includes Leaft Foods’ alfalfa Rubisco and Plantible Foods’ duckweed-derived Rubi Protein, both of which have drawn earlier Food Tech Insider coverage around awards and capacity finance. FUDI’s angle for B2B buyers is less about a finished consumer brand and more about whether an on-farm alfalfa extract can clear egg-white performance at a lower cost once pilot samples move into real formulations.

For R&D and procurement teams, the practical takeaway is to treat current claims as early-stage: ask for application data from the August–October pilot lots, document heat and shear stability in target recipes, and watch the GRAS timeline before locking reformulations that depend on a single novel isolate.