It’s hard to walk around the supermarket these days without seeing protein-packed products on the shelves.
Demand for high-protein foods is soaring. Online supermarket Ocado Retail said searches for ‘lean steak’, ‘high protein’ and ‘high protein granola’ jumped sharply over the past year, while cottage cheese sales rose almost 85%. Younger consumers are driving much of the shift, amplified by TikTok’s explosion of protein-focused recipes and wellness content.
Food and drinks market research firm Lumina Intelligence’s head of insight Andy Crossan said the recent interest in protein was less down to an isolated factor, and more a convergence of multiple shifts in consumer behaviour.
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Health awareness, the cost of living, government policy and growing wariness of ultra-processed foods are making minimally processed protein-rich foods, like yoghurt and cottage cheese, feel like a ‘safer bet’ for shoppers, he said. Everything from chicken and peanut butter to snack bars to dairy products are being repositioned around their protein content, meeting multiple consumer criteria for nutrition, value and simplicity.
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Crossan said more mindful eating and the clean label movement (listing food ingredients with recognisable names rather than synthetic additives) are seeing people favour ‘real’ proteins derived from natural sources, rather than artificial alternatives.
Investing in food trends
Protein demand is no longer just the domain of bodybuilders and elite athletes; awareness of its benefits are reaching far and wide. Such changing consumption habits often support several demographic themes or megatrends investors can take advantage of.
With a global population living longer, preventative care is on more people’s radar, said Jeneiv Shah, portfolio manager of the Sarasin & Partners Food and Agriculture Opportunities Fund.
He highlights Gen Z’s penchant for wellness and gym culture, plus their propensity to follow influencers and seek health-conscious recipes as driving this trend, although older groups were catching up.
Baby Boomers are increasingly aware of the role of protein in supporting bone strength and younger generations are hoping to ward off future problems earlier, he said.
Shah also pointed to the rise of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. As users and clinicians become more focused on preserving muscle mass during weight loss, higher protein intake is increasingly viewed as complementary alongside these treatments.
Lumina Intelligence research indicates that 5% of UK adults are taking GLP-1 weight loss drugs, with a further 5% considering them while in the US, J.P. Morgan estimates as many as 30 million people will be taking them by 2030 – suggesting a persistent demand for a higher-protein diet rather than a short-term fad, said Crossan.
He also flags the role of politics in influencing our shopping habits. In 2022, the government introduced regulations on food and drinks high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS) amid concerns over childhood obesity, restricting their prominence on supermarket shelves and how they are promoted.
Crossan explained this contributed to the rise of ‘healthier’ snacking alternatives, like protein bars, that could take more visible shelf space.
How broad are the investment opportunities?
Demand by protein sources varies. While many health and environmental advocates will raise concerns over excessive consumption of red meat, Shah points to the nuance that sits within the broader ‘protein’ trend – healthier and cheaper white meats and fish and dairy products overtaking overly processed items.
The global cottage cheese market is set to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5% from 2025 to 2034, according to global market research business USD Analytics, compared with a stagnating broader cheese category.
Another disruptor is whey, which has seen prices skyrocket this year. In cheese-making, milk is treated to make it coagulate, separating into two parts: the solid curds (used to make most cheeses) and liquid whey).
Whey used to be mostly used as a fertiliser or animal feed. These days it’s more likely concentrated, filtered and turned into powder, creating a high-protein ingredient for adding to different foods. Analysts say whey is moving from a by-product to a strategic ingredient with standalone demand, causing prices to surge this year to their highest-ever levels as manufacturers are increasingly adding protein to cereals, snack bars and dairy products.
Sarasin’s Shah explained this breadth of opportunity.
“This isn’t just about food preferences; it’s about broader demographic trends, such as health and ageing.”
He names two companies in the portfolio that present interesting ways to play the theme.
Denmark-listed Novanesis supplies cultures and enzymes used in high-protein dairy products and has “strong relationships with all the leading fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, like Danone”. Shah said the market underappreciates the company’s steady growth profile.
Another is GEA – a German-listed industrial company.
“Its equipment is used by livestock dairy farmers… but [also] sits inside the likes of Danone’s factories.”
Danone, the French multinational food and beverage giant that includes Activia, Alpro and Actimel among its portfolio of brands is also on the team’s watchlist, having identified its potential for generating consistency of growth rates across its regions simultaneously and that it can persist for longer than the market believes.
“There are initial signs we are approaching that situation, which is why it was on our radar,” added Shah.
How can you invest in the protein theme?
For investors who favour the approach of ‘buying what you love’, this growing consumer trend may well inspire some targeted investment ideas.
But it’s important to not let the narrative supersede the fundamentals, warns Malcolm Steel, chartered financial planner at Edinburgh-based Mearns & Co.
He said that spotting a cultural trend and making money off investments related to it were two very different things, recalling the pain of investors who backed Beyond Meat.
The plant-based, meat alternative company illustrates the danger of chasing a compelling narrative. After surging following its 2019 IPO, the stock later lost around 98% of its value through slowing sales, overcompetition and valuation concerns.
That said, playing a theme in a single stock carries a lot more concentration risk than a conglomerate with exposure to the theme through a broader portfolio of brands or products.
Steel, too, names Danone, as an example of a more established company with a strong presence in the yoghurt and higher protein dairy categories, feeding into the theme.
He added: “Perhaps it’s more sophisticated investors that might favour these themes they want to exploit, which may explain the popularity of specialist ETFs as sophisticated DIY investors tend to be more cost-conscious.
“But if you’re looking to access a particularly niche theme, you would like to think that an active manager with a well-resourced team could give you an edge – like the specialist thematic investing houses. But obviously these will cost more. Because if you’re going to tap into a broad market then why would you not just buy the index?”
Steel namechecks Sarasin’s fund and Pictet Nutrition on the active side, though both have underperformed in the short term.
“I think investors looking at these funds would need to have a little bit of patience and a higher risk tolerance,” he said.
Two relevant ETFs include VanEck Sustainable Future of Food (LSE: VEGB) and Rize Sustainable Future of Food (LSE: FOGB).
While timeframe may well be a factor – a relatively new theme may sit at odds with a long-term investment horizon – Steel also said the obsession with highly profitable US megatech in recent years has possibly made it harder for other companies to attract investment.
How can you tell if the high-protein food trend is here to stay?
Shah said he looks for three things to assess a long-term structural trend rather than a short-term fad: sustained corporate investment; changing consumer habits; and supportive healthcare trends all offer evidence that the protein shift will be lasting rather than a passing fancy.
