18. March 2026

The Protein Arms Race

Protein is rapidly becoming the new “added value” badge across food and drink — cereals, yoghurts, snacks, even soft drinks are now being fortified and premium‑priced on the promise of extra grams.

But here’s the interesting part: this trend may already be heading towards saturation.

For people who understand nutrition, the sudden wave of protein‑everything feels like a novelty. They know the difference between meaningful protein and marketing protein, so they ignore it.

For people who don’t understand nutrition, the promise initially feels compelling — “more protein = healthier” — but the effect doesn’t match the expectation. They pay a premium, don’t feel any different, and eventually drift away from the category altogether.

And when a functional benefit becomes too widespread, it loses its signalling power.
Consumers become immune to it.
It becomes background noise.

This is the pattern we see across categories:

• A functional claim becomes fashionable
• Brands rush to adopt it
• Consumers overestimate the benefit
• The benefit fails to deliver
• Trust erodes
• The claim loses meaning

The real risk for brands is not that protein stops selling — it’s that consumers stop believing.

The opportunity?
To understand what customers actually value, rather than chasing the latest functional trend. Because when everyone is shouting the same benefit, differentiation comes from clarity, not claims.

Sometimes the most interesting insights come from the quiet moments when a trend starts to lose its power.