Strive Nutrition will be rolling out its Freemilk range, which contains 10g of cow-free whey protein per serving, at Walmart stores in 2026. Its co-founder lays out the startup’s challenges and future ambitions.
“Trying, frustrating and challenging” is how Dennis Cohlmia describes the last few years.
He is the co-founder and chairman of Strive Nutrition, the US startup behind Freemilk, a range of next-generation milks made from whey protein produced by microbes instead of cows.
The technology behind the products, called precision fermentation, has been around for decades, with companies using it to produce everything from insulin to rennet for cheese. It involves inserting DNA into microbes to teach them to produce desired molecules when fermented.
Strive first entered the space in 2022, launching a line of Freemilk products using whey from California’s Perfect Day. These offerings have been confined to a handful of cities, online stores, and limited-edition foodservice partnerships – until now.
The Kansas-based startup rolled out new 48oz bottles of its original and chocolate Freemilk this year, and has been rapidly expanding its footprint. The range is now available in more than 1,000 grocery stores across Kansas and New York City, and is the default cold foam option at Joe Coffee’s 24 sites across the Big Apple.
This is the springboard for its national launch into Walmart in early 2026, marking a pivotal step for Strive’s efforts to bring cow-free dairy to the mainstream. It’s a whole new chapter after several gruelling years.
For Cohlmia, though, it’s just what a startup should be like. “Scaling your business is not just [about] hiring people; it’s about staying lean, focused, and innovative while finding the right strategy for the market and staying true to your vision,” he tells Green Queen.
“At times, staying so disciplined and steady can be frustrating, but we prioritise great taste, nutrition and quality assurance.”
Inside Strive’s product development process for Freemilk
The base of the Freemilk range is the whey protein. By definition, this is vegan, since it contains zero animal input; however, it isn’t suitable for people with dairy allergies, because it is bioidentical to the whey found in cow’s milk.
The whey is then blended with water, cane sugar, sunflower oil, and small amounts of sunflower lecithin, gellan gum, guar gum, dipotassium phosphate (an acidity regulator), and stevia leaf extract. In addition, it is fortified with calcium and vitamins A, E, D2 and B12.
The result is a neutral-flavoured milk with 10g of protein per cup, 5g of sugar and only 1g of saturated fat. Since this is a microbial protein, it contains all essential amino acids. And compared to cow’s milk, Freemilk has 25% more protein and 50% less sugar, and cuts down emissions by 97%, according to the company.
While nutrition panels matter, Cohlmia notes that the first priority is to ensure it tastes great. “Don’t go to market if you can’t get that done,” he says. “The next steps are to create the essence of milk, which is a combination of flavour and mouthfeel.”
With those priorities identified in the product development process, Strive then looked to ensure it kept a clean label and ticked off all its attribute boxes: enhanced, complete protein; reduced sugar with no lactose; and monounsaturated, ethically produced fats.
“We tested multiple sugar replacers, but nothing could match granulated, non-bone-char cane sugar, and we will not use alcohol sugars or sucralose,” says Cohlmia. “We looked at several oils and fats, and chose the best supplier of high-oleic sunflower oil, which is expeller-pressed and is heart-healthy.”
Highlighting the brand’s philosophy, he says: “We make the products for our customers, but we first make them for us. We are our biggest fans. I drink Strive Freemilk every day. Our chocolate milk is the best on the market – lots of great Dutch Cocoa, and not ‘candy sweet’.”
Three-ingredient milk alternatives lack ‘essential components’
After nailing the taste and textural ingredients, the last and “probably one of the most important priorities” for Strive is product stability over a 12-month shelf life. “No one likes to open a milk alternative and pour out water followed by solids. And no one wants a super slick product loaded with xanthan gums and carrageenan,” Cohlmia says.
“And honestly, [with] all of these plant[-based] products touting three ingredients at crazy prices, you better shake the heck out of them and are probably better off just making your own at home.”
Strive uses sunflower lecithin, which Cohlmia calls a safe, natural emulsifier that he has “never heard widespread concerns about”. “Similarly, guar gum and gellan gum are both natural stabilisers, and we’ve only ever heard issues about these ingredients in very niche natural and organic markets,” he says.
“We absolutely avoid xanthan gum, because it creates a slick product, and no one wants that in their milk alternative,” he adds. “Let’s be clear; you can’t just take three to five ingredients, process and pack a product, and expect it to work without certain essential components. Without crucial elements like natural gums, we simply would not have a stable, quality product.”
He continues: “If you’re thinking we can be like Malk, Three Trees, or other products like them, that is simply not our category or our customer. We are not a plant-based milk. Strive is a meticulously formulated, protein-based food.
“We are making a milk alternative that has the flavour, essence, and mouthfeel of conventional milk, while dramatically reducing emissions, water consumption, energy, and animal cruelty. This is far beyond what you get from basic plant products.
Perfect Day took ‘wrong approach’ with marketing
When it first launched, Freemilk exclusively contained Perfect Day’s recombinant beta-lactoglobulin (BLG), which comprises 65% of dairy’s whey protein content. Strive still uses Perfect Day’s version, though Cohlmia says it is also “working with others who produce non-animal BLG whey protein”.
Perfect Day is the pioneer of precision-fermented dairy, becoming the first company to be cleared to sell animal-free whey, which formed the base of products from a host of manufacturers, including Nestlé, Unilever and General Mills.
Things have been turbulent for Perfect Day, which sold off its consumer brands in 2023 and gave away half of its stake in Indian manufacturer Sterling Biotech last year. Co-founders Ryan Pandya and Peramul Gandhi left the company in early 2024, and TM Narayan (who took over from Pandya as interim CEO) exited earlier this year. So far, a new CEO has not been announced, and the company is currently facing a false marketing lawsuit.
Cohlmia says Perfect Day took the “wrong approach” to spread the word about animal-free dairy. “We wanted Perfect Day and their Precision Fermentation Alliance to spend money on consumer awareness, but spending went instead to industry awareness,” he explains.
Asked to expand on what Perfect Day could have done better, he responds: “The rise and fall of the value of Perfect Day speaks for itself. There has been a lot written about that.”
The Strive founder suggests precision fermentation’s obstacles can be addressed by great taste, nutrition, and consumer education. “All these new food tech products need to understand that consumers are not going to pay double or triple because you are sustainable,” he says.
“Get it competitive, or halfway competitive, and find a way. Then get people to taste and enjoy what you produce, and always make sure your products are consistent.”
Speaking of pricing, Strive is looking to compete in the specialty milks space, where companies like Fa!rlife and Lactaid are “generating pricing power”. “[This] helps us a lot. We shoot for $3.99-$4.99 in the dairy case,” states Colmia. “We will never be able to compete with conventional milk in the HDPE plastic jug. We are a speciality dairy product, and we are functional with our attributes.”
Strive ‘can be friends’ with dairy industry
Strive’s impending nationwide launch comes amid a turbulent time for milk alternatives in the US. According to market research firm SPINS, sales of plant-based milk fell by 3% in the 52 weeks to July 19, against a 5% growth for cow’s milk.
But, as Colmia points out, Freemilk is not a plant-based milk. “We have attributes of both plant-based and conventional dairy, but we are a category that sits right in the middle and offers the best of both,” he outlines.
“However, we are more aligned with conventional dairy because we have complete dairy protein. The only plant protein that is complete is soy, and it still has not recovered, but I hope it does come back. But pea protein, almond protein, oat protein and any other plant proteins are not complete and do not have the absorption and potential to build and retain muscle.”
The dairy industry, for its part, loves to legally challenge alternatives over their use of words like ‘milk’ on product packaging. Aside from having ‘milk’ in its name, Freemilk’s label has phrases such as ‘animal-free dairy milk’ and ‘dairy without the cow’. Is Cohlmia worried about a lawsuit from Big Dairy?
“I have always said we need to worry about both the natural/organic and the dairy industries. But what we are finding is [that] we can be friends of dairy,” he says, drawing on his 45 years of experience in the dairy industry.
“We have worked with the FDA on our labelling to ensure we meet their requirements, and we talk to the dairy Industry to make them understand [that] we are a new innovation and will not replace them. We understand both industries very well, and we do lean towards dairy and work very well in conventional supermarkets.”
Among the retail chains stocking Freemilk are Associated Supermarkets and Key Food, reflecting Strive’s focus on New York City. “We are in an exciting growth period right now,” says Cohlmia, nodding to the Walmart expansion next year.
Strive looking to raise funds for 2026 operations
Strive has always been looking to expand beyond just milk products. Last year, it teamed up with Singapore’s TurtleTree to use its precision-fermented lactoferrin in an immunity-support beverage and a ready-to-mix protein powder.
Lactoferrin is a fellow whey protein, known for its iron-regulating and functional benefits. But it’s in short supply and thus highly expensive, so most of its global stock is reserved for infant nutrition and premium supplements. Precision fermentation, however, opens up the ingredient to markets like functional foods and drinks, sports and elderly nutrition, and women’s health.
Strive’s products with TurtleTree’s lactoferrin (which were supposed to contain Perfect Day’s whey) were earmarked for a launch earlier this year. “But we were not ready and wanted to keep the focus on Strive Freemilk,” says Dohlmia.
“We stay in touch with TurtleTree, but wow, everyone is going into lactoferrin. We are talking to others in that category as well,” he adds. “This is a brave, new, dynamic market, and we’re always adjusting our plans to ensure we are doing the right thing for us. Sometimes you have to make adjustments at halftime to win the game.”
That said, Strive still has many products in development and plans to expand its portfolio and reach, which includes “going back to our roots in foodservice”. “We developed the best protein soft serve ice cream you will ever taste, and that is a category we know about. But it will come at the right time,” says Dohlmia.
He founded Strive back in 2017 with his wife JT, son Austen, and daughter Mikey and son-in-law David, putting in family money and bringing on some angel investors too. “We continue looking for the right VC and institutional investors who really understand our vision and our product,” he says.
The company is now looking to raise between $500,000 and $1M from angel investors for operating capital for 2026. “We are a great team and have great investors, and would love to have more involved,” says Dohlmia. “We have people who believe in Strive, and we all share the same vision.”
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