Global whey shortage is driving up protein prices everywhere
Wholesale whey protein concentrate hit $13 per pound, up 250% year-over-year, as demand outpaces supply across food and supplement makers.
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Global demand for high-protein foods is outpacing the dairy industry's ability to supply the ingredient making it all possible: whey protein.
Athletes and older adults have long blended whey protein concentrate — a powdered byproduct of cheese-making — into shakes. But food companies have recently sprinkled it into everything from breakfast cereals and Pop-Tarts to potato chips, bagels, tortillas, and Starbucks drinks to meet surging consumer demand.
The average U.S. supermarket now carries 38,708 products advertising protein content, according to NielsenIQ, a market research firm. That hunger for protein-boosted everything is causing acute shortages and pushing prices to record highs.
Whey protein concentrate with 80 per cent protein — the type food makers and supplement companies use as a booster — is trading at more than $13 per pound in the U.S., up 250 per cent from a year ago, according to Ever.Ag Insights. The more refined whey protein isolate (at least 90 per cent protein) is 150 per cent more expensive than last year.
U.S. consumer prices for whey protein concentrate powder have increased around 15 per cent over the past year. More premium whey isolate powder has climbed steeply. In Europe, 80 per cent whey protein concentrate hit a record average of 26,450 euros ($30,518) per metric ton in late May — more than double from less than a year earlier.
Every pound of cheese yields nine pounds of whey, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. U.S. milk consumption has fallen for decades as Americans shifted to sodas, but cheese appetite remained strong — generating lots of whey. The domestic hunger for high-protein snacks is now keeping more whey in the U.S. instead of exporting it. U.S. exports of whey protein to China fell 47 per cent from January through April compared to the same period a year ago.
"There simply isn't enough product for the U.S. customer, and exports have therefore been paused as much as possible," said Jasper Endlich, a dairy analyst at Vesper, an Amsterdam-based commodity tracker. China is now seeking more whey from Europe, which is also seeing shortages thanks to reduced U.S. exports.
The surge has also been supercharged by the use of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, which has ramped up demand for whey protein concentrate among consumers seeking muscle-building nutrition.