January 13, 2015 – Countries like China and India are increasingly looking for animal proteins, with other global economies likely to follow suit. Consumers the world over are catching on to health and wellness trends. However, this also puts protein-enhanced products at risk. With so many proteins, so little time, how to choose those that meet consumer demand can present challenges?
“Global protein demand is growing faster than supply, and the U.S. is struggling to keep up,” said Daniel Best, President of Best Vantage, Inc. This failure to sate the global demand increases volatility. “Volatility in animal protein pricing and availability will continue to be a risk factor—as far as we can see into the future—and that will also help fuel interest in plant-based proteins,” he added.
Best went on to say, “One of the driving attractions of switching [from animal- to plant-based proteins] is that, for now, the raw material costs are much lower, even though the volatility is still high. Animal protein prices and volatility are being driven, in part, by high demand in export markets. In the case of plant- based proteins, there often is a lack of capacity. Although plant protein manufacturers are still a small part of the industry, just this last year, we ran out of pea protein, simply because there wasn’t enough protein processing capacity. That will be fixed, but it’ll take some time.”
Best stressed that it’s incumbent upon the industry to learn more about plant proteins and for suppliers to teach how to use them. In the meantime, he warned, be prepared to factor availability and volatility into R&D strategies and secure interchangeable protein sources from multiple suppliers.
“So Many Proteins, So Little Time…How to Choose?”, Daniel Best, President of Best Vantage, Inc.
The summary above is from the “2014 Protein Trends & Technologies Seminar: Business Strategies” Magazine.
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