Strive Nutrition Partners with Perfect Day to Launch Animal-Free Milk Line

Kansas-based milk alternative startup Strive Nutrition Corp. announced today it has partnered with Perfect Day for its first line of animal-free whey protein beverages, which will launch next month online with plans to enter brick and mortar retail later this year.

The new milk line is led by Strive’s FREEMILK Whole product, a lactose-free milk developed using Perfect Day’s proprietary precision fermentation process, which creates a replica of dairy products without using animals. Containing 10 grams of whey protein per serving, FREEMILK will be available in original and chocolate flavors and each 32 oz. carton will retail for around $4-$5. Strive will also offer three plant-based milk varieties, also made with the animal-free whey protein, including Oat+Protein, Almond+Protein and Oat Barista+Protein.

Strive was founded in 2017 by Dennis Cohlmia, former president of aseptic packaging company KanPak, and the launch ends a long journey to market that included multiple stops and starts, including a brief time selling a powdered beverage product. Beginning in 2019, the company had looked into developing dairy and dairy alternative products made with pea protein, but according to Cohlmia, Strive pivoted to a product based on Perfect Day’s whey protein in January after a chance meeting with Perfect Day’s executive team last year.

As a 42-year beverage industry veteran, Cohlmia said he takes a product-first approach to brand building and wanted to be careful in the development of the drinks to ensure quality and stability on shelf.

“We’ve moved a little slower than some people wanted us to move because I’m a real believer that how things start are usually how things end,” Cohlmia said. “If I’ve learned one thing in the food business, it’s got to taste great but it’s got to be consistent, and you need to make it sustainably consistent. And so we did a lot of pilot runs and trials and wanted to make sure that we could replicate the product.”

Perfect Day is now a minority interest holder in Strive and the brand will work closely with the food tech company to introduce its products in the market.

However, Strive is far from the only new brand working with Perfect Day that is currently rolling out to market. Last month, food tech company Tomorrow Farms launched its Bored Cow brand of animal-free dairy milks developed with Perfect Day. In 2020, Perfect Day acquired The Urgent Company to serve as its CPG arm and the subsidiary has since launched brands like Brave Robot, Modern Kitchen and California Performance Company.

While Cohlmia acknowledged that Strive is launching into an increasingly crowded dairy and dairy alternative milk category, he said the brands working with Perfect Day are largely working in coordination to establish a new animal-free subcategory. He noted that Perfect Day’s founders Ryan Pandya and Perumal Gandhi have been increasingly active in getting product to market and investing in new brand development.

“I talk to the other partners and we’re out to build an animal-free dairy category,” Cohlmia said. “That’s the key to what we’re all aiming to do, that’s the focus. And it starts with the first products that we all put out; we have to make sure they’re all very good and we have to make sure that we have products in the marketplace so the consumer can find it and buy it. So there’s an alignment with all the different partners that I’ve talked to, we understand how important it is.”

For Strive, Cohlmia said he sees an opportunity to provide a higher protein, better tasting for dairy milk drinkers. He noted that his brand contains more protein per serving than the majority of milks on the market, and that products like ultra-filtered milk brand Fairlife have shown consumers are seeking out additional functionality and better-for-you qualities in their dairy drinks.

As well, Strive’s plant-based oat and almond milk lines also seek to challenge leading brands with higher protein and lower sugar content (4 grams per serving for oat and 1 gram for almond), while also positioning the company in fast-growing segments of the plant-based category, he said.

While a retail launch will come in the near future, Cohlmia said he wants to take his time establishing Strive’s direct-to-consumer business first. He added that the company has a full time marketing team in place and is beginning to hire sales positions with “two people lined up” so far.

“I’ve seen products get started, ramp up fast and end up with 6,000 stores, and then they don’t sell through there easily,” he said. “So we’re more concerned about customer activation and velocity and making sure the products work before we really ramp up to go after some of the larger grocery chains.”