Recent research has shown that manufacturers are losing more than $50 million in potential sales by not listing protein content on food and drink packaging, hence missing out on the protein trend sweeping the world. This is not a market to be missed either, Research and Markets have predicted that the global protein market will reach $48.77 billion (USD) by 2025. More specifically, in Australia, the sale of items that clearly list protein content have leapt by 22% compared to 2% in total grocery growth with the fasted growth recorded in the dairy and chilled meals categories.
It’s clear this significant increase in demand presents an opportunity for food and drink manufacturers to promote their products’ protein content and take their slice of the protein trend sweeping the globe. It seems that new products particularly in the meat alternative, peanut butter and ice cream categories are taking charge when it comes to addressing consumers’ protein desires. So-much-so these categories have seen significant growth between 16% to 54% — impressive to say the least!
Review your packaging to take advantage.
If manufacturers want to maximise this opportunity and take advantage of this protein trend it’s vital that their product packaging lists their protein content clearly. For example, the category of ‘nutritious snacks’ saw a 6% growth in the past year for products which listed their high protein content. Whereas, products that qualified for the high protein claim but didn’t list this on their packaging only grew by 3%. Similarly, yoghurts with protein claims grew 4.9% while products with high protein but no claims declined by -6.2%. So, the stats certainly don’t lie.
So, who is demanding protein-enriched products?
The demand for protein has been building for the last 8 years or so and is related to an increase in consumers trying to live a healthy lifestyle as well as individuals active in sports and fitness that use protein to rebuild muscle. It also appears that it’s not just the health-obsessed millennials that are driving the demand for protein-enriched products. Families with children aged between 6- 18 years and senior couples are also putting high protein foods into their shopping trolleys as well. Especially, dairy as it is the top category for high protein items chosen by senior couples for health reasons.
The Millennials, on the other hand, are searching for alternative options like convenient snack products that fit into their on-the-go lifestyle. As you can see both the ‘Baby Boomers’ and ‘Millennials’ are demanding protein in different formats for different reasons so to ensure success in this market you must specifically target the right audience at the right time with your protein offering.
How can you access protein ingredients to add to your food and beverage products?
Maxum Foods is one of Australia and New Zealand’s principal suppliers and manufacturers of dairy ingredients to the food, health and animal nutrition industries. We can provide the following range of protein ingredients to add to your food and beverage products.
- Whey Protein Concentrates
- Whey Protein Isolates (including fully grass fed and fermented versions)
- Milk Protein Concentrates
- Calcium Caseinates
- Sodium Caseinates
- Protein Pods/Puffs
Boosting the protein content in your product – how can Maxum Foods help?
There is much more to Maxum Foods than supplying dairy ingredients. One of the ways in which we can add value to your business is by offering the expertise of our Technical Services Manager, Barry Young. As an expert in the functionality of dairy products, Barry has helped numerous Maxum Foods customers improve the performance of their products. For example, Barry has assisted our customers with the protein fortification of yoghurts and desserts to meet the needs of these protein-savvy shoppers. This service is all part of the Maxum experience and something that is available to all Maxum Foods’ customers free of charge.
If you’re interested in learning more about our protein ingredients and how we can help with protein fortification, contact the Maxum Foods Sales team on (07) 3246 7800 now.
