According to Danish ingredients consultancy CILNorth, the market for both milk proteins and plant proteins is getting tighter, with prices are rising, with demand from Asia meaning that the hoped-for stabilisation is not currently happening.
Milk proteins, being by far the biggest of the powder proteins, have the most effect on the global protein prices, said CILNorth, and the market for milk proteins continues to be strong and rising. The current price for whey protein concentrate (WPC 80) is above €7.00/kg, and there is an expectation that the price will further increase due to Asian demand.
CILNorth believes that the increasing price, together with fear of material shortages in the future, are pushing large milk protein users in sports and infant nutrition to look for other options to replace preferred proteins, even if only partly. This has resulted in increased use of vegetable proteins in the sports nutrition segments over the past few years, said the company.
Suppliers of vegetable proteins are working hard to overcome the technical and organoleptic challenges these proteins have and companies are getting much better at incorporating vegetable proteins into new consumer products, according to CILNorth.
The price for pea protein concentrate has gone up by 30% in recent months, reaching prices above €5.00/kg. It is, says CILNorth, primarily the lack of European sourced material that is pushing prices up. The price for rice protein has also increased due to increased demand, with even infant food producers starting to consider rice protein as a possibility. The price for rice protein concentrate is currently € 5.50/kg and upwards. Soy protein could be the next to follow the trend, claims CILNorth
Karsten Lindved, the CEO for Upfront Chromatography, a provider of industrial scale chromatographic extraction technology.confirms this trend.
“We have had many inquiries in the last months for our technology,” he says. “With our technology producers can isolate soluble proteins from various origins. The concentration of the proteins in the starting material can be very low and we’ll still be able to produce a protein isolate with over 95% concentration. The protein will have a neutral taste making the application work less challenging. With the increasing protein prices many producers are re-evaluating their current production flow and trying to identify possibilities for improvements.”
Milk proteins, being by far the biggest of the powder proteins, have the most effect on the global protein prices, said CILNorth, and the market for milk proteins continues to be strong and rising. The current price for whey protein concentrate (WPC 80) is above €7.00/kg, and there is an expectation that the price will further increase due to Asian demand.
CILNorth believes that the increasing price, together with fear of material shortages in the future, are pushing large milk protein users in sports and infant nutrition to look for other options to replace preferred proteins, even if only partly. This has resulted in increased use of vegetable proteins in the sports nutrition segments over the past few years, said the company.
Suppliers of vegetable proteins are working hard to overcome the technical and organoleptic challenges these proteins have and companies are getting much better at incorporating vegetable proteins into new consumer products, according to CILNorth.
The price for pea protein concentrate has gone up by 30% in recent months, reaching prices above €5.00/kg. It is, says CILNorth, primarily the lack of European sourced material that is pushing prices up. The price for rice protein has also increased due to increased demand, with even infant food producers starting to consider rice protein as a possibility. The price for rice protein concentrate is currently € 5.50/kg and upwards. Soy protein could be the next to follow the trend, claims CILNorth
Karsten Lindved, the CEO for Upfront Chromatography, a provider of industrial scale chromatographic extraction technology.confirms this trend.
“We have had many inquiries in the last months for our technology,” he says. “With our technology producers can isolate soluble proteins from various origins. The concentration of the proteins in the starting material can be very low and we’ll still be able to produce a protein isolate with over 95% concentration. The protein will have a neutral taste making the application work less challenging. With the increasing protein prices many producers are re-evaluating their current production flow and trying to identify possibilities for improvements.”
