• High-protein food, drinks and supplements topped USD3 trillion in retail sales in 2025
• Global protein demand projected to rise 11% between 2024 and 2029
• Fibre, creatine and peptides emerging as leading post-protein spaces

Findings from The Age of Proteinmaxxing and the Future of Protein Demand show high-protein food, drinks and supplements generated more than USD3 trillion in retail sales in 2025, while global protein demand is projected to grow 11% between 2024 and 2029.

Matthew Barry, global insight manager for packaged food at Euromonitor International, said: “The protein market is becoming more selective. The strongest growth and opportunities will come from consumers with lasting needs, including older adults, GLP-1 users, people doing resistance training and households in developing markets."

"High-protein" as a growth engine in multiple industries

Wellness trends have shifted against many industry stalwarts, as food and beverage prices remain high, and consumers are tired of high prices and supply chain issues. Despite these pressures, protein has continued to stand out as a key growth driver for consumer market. 

Alongside evolving wellness trends, lifestyle shifts and the emergence of GLP-1 drugs and regulatory structures have coalesced into an environment where consumers now strongly associate higher protein with better health.

Protein extends beyond food and beverage today. In the CPG space, beauty and personal care comes out on top in protein claims. The variety of protein uses in CPG has helped contribute to what sits at the heart of the modern protein boom: how well protein has slotted itself into major health trends. Skin health is one aspect of the multifaceted protein offer.

Quality will matter over quantity

Proteinmaxxing faces pressure from tighter household budgets and rising scepticism of ultra-processed food. Euromonitor Voice of the Consumer: Health and Nutrition survey 2026 (n=21,156) shows that 41% of global adults who want to improve their diet are eating less ultra-processed food, while high-protein ready meals carried an average 66% price mark-up in 2024.

Barry said: “Consumers will keep paying for protein when it feels natural, useful and worth the premium. Brands that rely on protein claims alone will find it harder to hold attention as scrutiny rises.”

The next protein may not be one protein

The challenge in finding the "next protein" is how varied the goals of today's protein consumer are. Consumers who try to increase protein consumption might be doing so for several reasons. This would require finding something that could do all of that, and it’s doubtful any single next protein can therefore exist. Rather, a fragmentation of the current use cases is most likely to occur.

The microbiome is the gateway to many other health benefits such as immune support, skin health, and that puts fibre the closest to protein’s current usage. In many ways this means fibre is the next protein, though this should not lead us to assume it is simply a matter of sticking fibre where protein is now.

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