Multiple firms using Epogee’s ultra-low-calorie fat alternative EPG have supplied signed sworn statements to a court in New York outlining the harm they claim to have suffered after losing access to the ingredient following Epogee’s acquisition by protein bar maker David Protein.
The legal dispute began shortly after David announced the acquisition of Epogee on May 29, when three firms that could no longer access Epogee’s fat substitutes filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing David Protein of acquiring Epogee to “exclude competitors and create an artificial monopoly.”
David Protein hit back by arguing that it was under no obligation to keep selling EPG to the plaintiffs, which it claimed were not direct competitors, had not signed long-term supply contracts, and could choose from an “abundance” of fats and fat substitutes with which to replace EPG.
While the judge handling the case appeared to side with David on some of these points in an early ruling, the plaintiffs—OWN Your Hunger, Lighten Up Foods, and Defiant Foods—have since filed amended complaints addressing his concerns.
Critically, they argue, the relevant market plaintiffs allege David is attempting to monopolize is not the protein bar market or the low-calorie foods market, but the “global market for EPG supply.” And EPG, a modified fat containing just 0.7 calories per gram, cannot be easily replaced in brands that have been entirely built around it, they claim.
In a second amended complaint, filed on July 17, ten terminated EPG customers submitted declarations stating they tested alternative ingredients but could not find functional substitutes for EPG.
Defiant Foods: Epogee acquisition ‘forces us to abandon our entire business’
McKay Fugal, founder and CEO at Defiant Foods, claimed that, “Our entire chocolate-making process, from conching equipment to tempering procedures, was designed specifically around EPG’s unique melting properties and crystallization behavior.”
On March 25, 2025, he claimed, Epogee “unexpectedly announced that EPG was unavailable due to raw material shortages… Our attempts to obtain specific information about the shortage timeline and our pending orders went largely unanswered, receiving only vague assurances that the situation was temporary.”
On May 29, he received formal notification that Epogee would no longer accept new purchase orders following its acquisition by David.
According to Fugal: “The termination of EPG supply does not merely force us to choose a different ingredient—it forces us to abandon our entire business.”
Moon Magic: Forced to ‘abandon markets we helped create’
Shawn Brown, founder at chocolate company Moon Magic, meanwhile, claimed that “with the encouragement of employees at Epogee, we built our own production facility in Chilliwack, BC, specifically designed to accommodate the unique properties of EPG. Over the past 4.5 years, we have invested more than $750,000 into this endeavor.
“Our R&D capabilities have expanded significantly, and we are now in the final stages of launching a more advanced, second-generation product with EPG as a critical ingredient.”
Despite “several attempts,” he claimed in a sworn statement, “We were not given the opportunity to resume ordering. This is particularly disappointing because we have placed multiple large orders in the past and are weeks away from the commercial launch of new EPG based products.”
He added: “Defendants’ monopolization of EPG has stifled competition, harmed innovation, and forced small businesses like mine to abandon markets we helped create. EPG’s unavailability has eliminated our ability to launch our innovative, health-forward chocolate products and has resulted in substantial financial loss and wasted investment.”
Despite David’s assertion that brands unable to access EPG following the Epogee acquisition “only have themselves to blame for not signing long-term supply agreements,” Brown noted that, “In our multiple-year relationship, there has never been an offer of long-term supply or invitation to negotiate volume commitments, despite our personal relationship with employees, ongoing business and substantial investment in EPG-based products.”
Snack Owl: ‘Forced to discontinue’ low-cal kettle chips
Emtiaz Uddin, founder at EkkoBar, added that “EPG’s unavailability eliminated our ability to launch a product that would have directly competed against David’s Bar.”
Spencer Krug at better-for-you brownie maker Legion Foods, added that, “After substantial investment in this company and its products, I had intended to expand my line of brownies in the future, but instead I am currently in the process of shutting down our website and all sales.”
Noah Bernett at Snack Owl claimed that the firm has been “forced to discontinue” low-calorie kettle chips formulated around EPG and “dispose of $70,000 worth of stranded materials, including perishables that cannot be repurposed.”
He added: “There was no offer of long-term supply or invitation to negotiate volume commitments.”
No offer of long-term supply agreements
Ruz Safai, founder and CEO at OWN Your Hunger, also took issue with David’s argument that firms only had themselves to blame for failing to secure long-term supply agreements with Epogee, despite the fact that they didn’t know it might be sold: “Had Defendants offered reasonable alternatives such as minimum order quantities, advance purchase commitments, or pooled ordering arrangements, OWN would have readily participated to meet volume requirements.”
Peter Han at Bricks Protein highlighted the “devastating impact of losing EPG access” to his business, adding that his “entire formulation and production process” for protein bars was built around EPG.
According to Han: “We were building significant market share and had secured commitments from several major retailers.” David, he alleged, had effectively “eliminated” competition, “not through superior products or pricing, but by monopolizing the essential ingredient we all needed.”
Read more about David Protein’s defense in the case.
*The case is OWN Your Hunger, Lighten Up Foods, and Defiant Foods vs Linus Technology (which operates under the trade name David Protein), Epogee, and Peter Rahal, filed in the Southern District of New York on June 2, 2025. Case: 1:25-cv-04544
Further reading:
Peter Rahal, David Protein, sued over ‘bait & switch’ scheme to monopolize Epogee’s fat replacer
The post More EPG customers share tales of woe in David Protein, Epogee litigation appeared first on AgFunderNews.
