Whey Protein Is Running Out as Americans Want It in Everything

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2:53It's funny how food trends work. And yeah, protein is the trend of the year. We'll see if this trend sticks. And what it's actually doing is having the industry grapple with some shortages and skyrocketing prices when it comes to whey protein. Here with the story, Bloomberg News food reporter Christina Peterson joins us from the Bloomberg Washington, D.C. Bureau. That was a very inelegant segue on my part, but we had to talk about Hewlett Packard Enterprise before we talked about protein maxing. So apologies to everybody, including you, Christina. First of all, I got to tell you, I'm seeing whey protein everywhere on social media.

3:26Like people are just sprinkling it on everything. Before we get to what's actually happening in the industry and what we're seeing as far as numbers look, what is it a byproduct of? How is it made? Where does it come from? Yeah. So whey protein is a byproduct of making cheese. and that's a big part of the essential challenge right now. You can't just make more whey protein without making more cheese and then you would have to store it and sell all that cheese. So it's a protein that's very popular for a bunch of reasons. It's easy to dissolve and add it to food. It's easy to digest. It's a complete source of protein, which means it has all the amino acids.

4:04So that's why it's one of the top picks for food companies looking to, as you put it, put protein in everything. So it's not just consumers that are buying straight up whey protein. You have the companies, the CPG companies that are saying, wait a second, consumers want protein the way we can protein max our product and then put like how many grams of protein are on the front of the package is by adding whey protein. Exactly. And it's a tough time for packaged food companies. People are skeptical of ultra processed food. But when you can say that a food has added protein, people are much more persuaded by it, and it appears healthier.

4:42So there are a lot of reasons for food companies, in addition to just consumer demand, to want to tout protein-enriched products, and to do that, they are often turning to whey protein. Okay, so Christina, your story out today with Elena Peng from Bloomberg News is about maybe some alternatives to whey protein and the limitations that those have presented. Yeah, that's right. Food companies faced with much more expensive whey protein are looking at what their options are. And they do have different alternatives that they are looking at with more seriousness now. The problem is that whenever you change ingredients, you often have to reformulate.

5:28So I spoke with one company that used just a different source of whey protein, and they said it turned their pancake baking mix to sawdust. So they have to reformulate now. And if you switch to something like milk protein concentrate, that has a different mouthfeel. And so there's just a lot of complexity. The proteins don't all interact with other ingredients the same way. You said something that caught my ear, which was it appears healthier. Is this stuff healthy? I think it depends on the product. I'm not sure that just adding protein is enough to make a product healthy. Is a Dorito with protein healthier than a Dorito?

6:11That's for you and your nutritionist to decide. But certainly consumers view it as healthier. What about just straight up whey protein? Like if we were to, as consumers, were to take whey protein and add it to our yogurt, as some people do, or put it in a smoothie, is that healthy? I think it probably depends on sort of if you're getting enough protein. One thing that experts often say is what are you eating that instead of? So if you're eating that instead of, you know, lots of fruits and vegetables, I don't know. But if you're eating that instead of junk food, it probably is healthier. And Christina, I know that we've spoken before about non-way sources of protein, particularly meat and, you know, big meat and meat sticks.

6:53I thought you were going to go to the non-dairy stuff. like the non, you know, the plant-based stuff. Well, tell us more broadly, Christina, about just what are the alternative ways that you're now seeing people try and consume protein? Yeah. So one thing that we do see hugely on the rise is dried meat, meat sticks, jerky. Those are doing really well. And some companies are super creative with how they're incorporating meat proteins. Wild protein snacks uses chicken breast and egg white to make chips and crackers. So people who are providing protein in formats that aren't whey protein have kind of an advantage right now.

7:32And then there's also plant-based protein like soy protein, pea protein. Those I think got kind of a bad rap when we saw some of the plant-based meat alternatives. So I think people are struggling with sort of whether they want to use those or not, if that makes a product seem more processed or not. But some of those can be good alternatives for whey protein. We don't have a ton of time. We have like 30 seconds, but we spoke with Dr. Michael Swanson, chief agriculture economist over at the Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute last week, and we asked him if he sees this as being a fad. And he said, no, I think he thinks protein is here to stay.

8:11What's your general view? Yeah, I agree. There don't seem to be a lot of signs of waning interest in protein. yet. All right. There it is. Just got to get the whey protein back. I like cheese, though. I like, you know. Yeah, I like I like a cheese, but I like a meat stick. It's like protein on the go. We have some upstairs here. Yeah, I do. It's really helpful. Yeah. Christina Peterson, food industry reporter for Bloomberg News. Check out her story on the Bloomberg Terminal. She joins us from Washington, D.C.

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