Protein Power - New Foods, New Strategies

Protein is breaking out of the gym, shaking off its “body-builder” image and moving onto the radar screen of the “normal” consumer.

Weight management is the strongest and most-used health benefit platform for protein, driven by an increasing body of nutrition research suggesting that high-protein and low glycemic index diets are the most effective diets for weight loss.

However, creating successful products that deliver protein for weight management has not been easy. Among protein-fortified weight management products there have been many more failures than successes.

Senior nutrition is also a significant opportunity - particularly for products that help fight sarcopenia (muscle wastage), which affects everyone after the age of 60. Both corporate giants and “protein entrepreneurs” are carving out new space in this market.

Choosing the right format is crucial. Most companies have focused on bars and beverages to deliver a high dose of protein, but these are not formats that have a strong association in most people’s minds with protein. They are still a new and unfamiliar way of getting protein and this has been an important factor in the slow development of the market.

Currently, protein’s strongest association in people’s minds is as part of a main meal. The Quorn brand has used this link to successfully market a brand new protein - manufactured from fungi - precisely by positioning itself as a “meal centre”.

New proteins - such as Quorn - are set to become a $2.5bn business within this decade as soaring global demand for protein creates opportunities for new, healthier protein sources.

Quorn, and other novel protein sources - such as those being commercialized from fermented algae - are well-placed to benefit from dramatically-growing global demand for protein, driven by newly-wealthy countries such as China and India. Surging prices for animal proteins - which reached record highs in 2010 - are forecast to increase. This will create consumer demand for alternative sources of protein that are more affordable than animal sources - and may well be the mass-market opportunity.

This concise 70-page report will help you make sense of the opportunities and challenges of protein:

* Sets out the strategic options in a 23-page summary
* Outlines practical ways to make protein work for you, based on real life examples and detailed case studies
* Provides practical insights and examples for any company, large or small, wanting to understand and better-manage the risks and opportunities of launching protein-based foods
* Shows how companies are finding new ways to take protein to market in 10 detailed case studies, which include successes, failures and innovative start-ups

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