Research Overview

Protein ingredients are the ingredients extracted in the form of hydrolysates, concentrates, and isolates from protein-rich plants and animal sources to serve various application industries. This study primarily focuses on assessing the growth opportunities for the protein ingredients market with respect to animal protein ingredients and plant protein ingredients. The key driver of the global protein ingredients market is the growing awareness regarding health and fitness among in age group of 20 to 40 years, which drives the demand for sports nutrition products that are convenient for obtaining protein in the diet. The growing food and beverage industry across the globe is also driving the demand for protein ingredients in applications such as bakery, confectionery, and dairy products. Technological advancement in terms of extraction technologies (cold processing), membrane filtration (micro-filtration), and unique functionalities of proteins are also boosting the growth of the protein ingredients market. Furthermore, the growing flexitarian, vegetarian, and vegan population across the globe, coupled with increasing consumer interest toward meat alternatives and meat analogs are augmenting the growth of the plant protein ingredients market.

In animal protein ingredients, the whey-protein-ingredient category is expected to continue driving the animal protein ingredients market for the next 5 years, owing to its strong preference in high-end applications, such as sports nutrition, medical nutrition, and adult nutrition products. In the plant protein ingredients market, the soy protein ingredient dominates the market due to its excellent amino acid profile and texture characteristics. However, owing to the concerns related to its GMO characteristics, the use of soy protein is gradually decreasing in developed economies. The pea protein category has been witnessing growing traction in recent years and is expected to show the strongest growth in the coming years due to its consumer-friendly characteristics such as non-GMO, gluten-free, allergen-free, and sustainability.

Geographically, the protein ingredients market is studied with respect to North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Rest of the World. The animal protein ingredient market in North America and Europe are relatively mature; Asia-Pacific is expected to boost the growth of the animal protein ingredients market in the coming years due to growing economies, rapid industrialization, growing per-capita disposable income, increasing consumer awareness regarding health and fitness, and increasing consumer purchasing power. For the plant protein ingredients market, North America is expected to dominate the market in the next 5 years due to the growing flexitarian population in the country that is focusing to cut its meat intake and start a plant-based diet.