Market Trends of Wheat Protein Industry
Inclination Towards Fitness and Increasing Intake of Plant-based Protein
- With the increasing population and welfare, the demand for protein as a food-nutritional component is rising sharply. The high protein trend is gaining traction and will continue to evoke interest in the upcoming years.
- There is a growing demand for easy-to-cook or ready-to-eat meals due to the busy lifestyle, rising healthy packaged food consumption, rising global consumption of breakfast cereal, changing dietary patterns, and an increasing number of convenience stores that are driving the demand for wheat protein ingredients among packaged food manufacturers across the globe, especially in developing countries. This gradual inclination toward a plant-based diet is largely associated with different factors, such as sustainability issues, health awareness, ethical or religious views, and environmental and animal rights.
- In a survey published by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) in the United States in 2021, almost 24% of respondents said they had experimented with new milk substitutes in the previous year. Almost 21% of respondents said they had tried packaged foods with substantial amounts of plant protein. Additionally, the easy availability of wheat protein due to the high availability of raw materials and the acceptance of the protein source have been driving the market.
- According to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, the number of people with memberships to gyms in the United Kingdom has witnessed an increase over the past few years. The number of gym members in the United Kingdom increased from 8.28 million in 2020 to 9.57 million in the year 2021. As protein helps in muscle recovery and in maintaining muscle mass, people who are inclined towards fitness activities tend to consume more protein, and this factor, coupled with increasing demand for plant-based products, is expected to drive the market studied over the forecast period.
- Additionally, with the modified technologies, companies are targeting consumers by coming up with innovative products that have organoleptic properties like that of real meat. These meat substitutes are made with a combination of wheat and other plant proteins to attain the desired structure. The new compositional research and modified high-moisture extrusion process are helping the wheat protein market's growth.
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North America Holds the Largest Market Share
- North America is the dominant region for the wheat protein market. The demand for plant proteins, including wheat protein, is primarily driven by the rising need for protein functions, awareness of diets that are high in protein, and new technical advancements. As wheat protein and other plant proteins can replicate the texture of meat, they can be used in the manufacturing of meat substitutes and are in high demand across all food and beverage categories across North America.
- Wheat proteins are proteins derived from wheat or wheat flour used in various applications, including flour milling, bakery products, pasta, meat replacer, breakfast cereal, pet food, aquafeed, milk replacer, and more. The increasing awareness of wheat protein's unique functional properties and the growing use of all vegetable proteins augurs significant market growth over the forecast period.
- Additionally, a rise in the development of dietary proteins by different manufacturers that contain a variety of amino acids and serve certain purposes, such as satiety, muscle repair, weight loss, and energy balance, is anticipated to present the market with tremendous potential growth. As per the data published by the US Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service, with around 299.9 million bushels of wheat produced in 2022, North Dakota was listed as the state with the highest wheat production.
- In 2021, Kansas produced the most, at around 364 million bushels. This leads to the easy availability of raw materials for wheat products, which in turn leads to a reduction of prices of wheat protein among the rest of the plant-based proteins. The lower prices of wheat protein inversely affect the demand for the same, further driving the market.
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