News

Euromonitor sees protein growth

1 Apr 2016

According to a new report by Euromonitor, few ingredients in recent memory have experienced protein’s sustained and meteoric rise, with marketers scrambling to piece together the increasingly disparate drivers affecting consumption.

According to a new report by Euromonitor, few ingredients in recent memory have experienced protein’s sustained and meteoric rise. As consumer interest in the ingredient reaches fever pitch, the company notes in its new report “Global Trends in Protein”, marketers are scrambling to piece together the increasingly disparate health and cultural drivers affecting consumption. A foundational understanding of the categories, markets and lifestyle trends impacting consumer health and health and wellness packaged food and beverages will be essential, Euromonitor believes, to capitalising on growth opportunities in the future.

Per capita consumption of protein, including from fresh food, varies significantly by market, the report notes. Additionally, there is not necessarily the connection between levels of market development and consumption that are apparent across other consumer packaged goods categories.

The average supply of protein per day in 70 of the world’s 80 largest consumer goods markets is higher than the roughly 65g an 80kg person would require. Protein’s popularity is generally growing much faster than consumers’ awareness of how much protein they need and, indeed, how much protein they are already consuming.

Thanks to a greater emphasis on communicating protein’s health claims beyond muscle health, marketers are generating interest among new demographics, including females, Millennials and the elderly, Euromonitor claims.

As protein’s health halo continues to shine brighter, food manufacturers are increasingly pumping up the protein content of their fortified/functional food and beverages, in an attempt to capture consumer spending. In some cases, this is leading to a blurring of the lines between standard foods and dietary supplements.

Around the world, the supplement categories built around protein –sports nutrition protein products, protein supplements (VDS), supplement nutrition drinks and meal replacement slimming –are expected to post growth rates from the mid-to-high single digits between 2015 and 2020.