By Gabby Lenzmeier
Within recent years, consumer trends and statistics demonstrate a mass movement into the health and wellness realm. Across many food and beverage sectors, there’s an increasing demand for the development of various high-protein applications, including extruded/texturized products, confectionery goods, bars, beverages, fermented foods, and more. Global demand for high-protein products and ingredients is predicted to continue rising from 66.8 billion dollars at a compound annual growth rate of 6.2% until 2030.
The rise of the high-protein diet represents an overall transition for the food and beverage business area. Due to the surge of customer interest in nutrition, fitness, and wellness, research and development teams are working to create innovative and cutting-edge applications. We now see a wide variety of on-the-go high-protein products instead of the typical supplements or protein shakes/powders. Investors are continuing to look for markets on the rise that align with the additional consumer trend of sustainable, clean, and nutrition-based food. As the high-protein market advances, producers must continue to meet the sustainable and clean-label needs of a growing customer base.
This past summer, I worked as a digital marketing intern at Actus Nutrition, a leading global protein ingredients manufacturer. Diving into this hands-on, in-person corporate environment allowed me to observe the growing demand for innovative high-protein products. Working with entrepreneurs and customer brands across the globe gave me insight into this rapidly expanding space. I got the opportunity to observe how Actus’ research and development team works to create the newest high-protein products.
Actus CEO David Lenzmeier believes that the protein industry is immense and will continue to grow. People are continually seeing and searching for high-protein food options across the grocery store. Research projects in a mere decade or so, the whey protein and processed food markets will achieve $33.4 billion in market size. As the consumer grows into a health-conscious individual, the protein industry will rise to the top of markets and the forefront of grocery store shelves.