New report looks at dairy and plant proteins in weight management and healthy ageing

Sales of weight management products, globally estimated at $17.6bn in 2019 and growing, is correlated with overweight and obesity rates.

The report​ notes the major product category in weight management is meal replacements such as powders or bars designed to provide a complete nutritional, calorie-reduced meal. Healthy ageing products typically come in a nutritional, ready-to-drink format to supplement their diet with key nutrients like protein, calcium and certain vitamins and minerals.

According to 3A Business Consulting, Herbalife is the major player in weight management, with its Formula 1 meal replacement brand being its main product. Abbott is a key player in healthy ageing with its Ensure and Glucerna brands, having successfully transitioned products from a clinical nutrition positioning to being available for purchase in stores and online. Nestlé is another major player with its Boost brand with other weight management players being Atkins Nutritionals (Simply Good Foods), Glanbia and Beachbody.

The report outlines how protein plays a key role in weight management and healthy ageing, with a combined usage of dairy and plant proteins currently estimated at more than 100,000 MT. per annum.

In weight management, the company said, protein is a critical component in maintaining lean muscle mass while trying to lose fat with certain protein types also marketed as promoting satiety to help stick to a diet. Weight management products often label protein content on the face of the product along with calorie and sugar content, the latter due to sugar now being widely considered the main culprit of obesity.

The report said weight management consumers are generally less fussy than sports nutrition consumers in terms of the type of protein consumed with whey protein considered the premium muscle building protein.

However, in weight management and healthy ageing products, milk proteins and caseinates are more common, given their properties as a slowly digested protein, providing a sustained release of protein to the body over time, and promoting satiety. Plant-based proteins are also used significantly in weight management and healthy ageing products alongside with dairy proteins. Soy proteins are common, whereas other plant-based proteins such as pea and rice proteins have only more recently emerged.

The report provides an overview of the current and future global market for dairy and plant-based proteins in the two categories, and includes sections on market size and growth by product category and region/country; key market developments, drivers and trends; major players, brands, market shares and distribution channels; major whey-, milk- and plant protein processors; protein ingredient volumes and trends in weight management and healthy ageing; new product launches per region, major players, categories and per protein ingredient 2014-2019; and a market and ingredient outlook from 2020-2024.