Protein Stack, Whey Isolate

Review

Presents extremely well and performs poorly on the dimensions that matter to the plate. This is not a contradiction and the review is structured around it.

Structural integrity at 4.3 is genuine. The stack is dense, holds a clean edge, and can be stacked five high without deformation. On paper it is one of the better structural performers in the cohort.

Syrup retention at 1.6 is the lowest score recorded on any dimension by any stack under evaluation. The concrete observation is that syrup applied to the top surface reached the plate in under four seconds and pooled there. The crumb is closed, so there is nowhere for syrup to go. At the end of the sitting the stack was dry and the plate was not.

Growth area: absorbency and syrup retention are the two dimensions the stack has never scored above 2.2 on, in three quarters of review, with no movement in either direction. Stability at a low score is not the same as consistency, and it has been read as consistency in prior quarters. That reading is corrected here.

A support plan is open. The plan specifies one change, a reduction in isolate proportion, and one measurement, syrup retention above 2.5 in 2026-Q4. The stack has the structural headroom to absorb that change without losing its strongest dimension.

Rating movement this quarter follows the increase in syrup retention weighting from 0.20 to 0.25. The underlying weakness predates the reweighting by three quarters.

Calibration note. Moved to the fourth bucket in 2026-Q3 following the increase in syrup retention weighting. A support plan is open.

Dimension breakdown, 2026-Q3

Each dimension is scored from 1.0 to 5.0 and multiplied by the weight in force for 2026-Q3. The weighted column sums to the composite.

Trajectory

Composite, rank and rating for every quarter this stack has been calibrated in.