(Food-Beverage-News.Com, November 13, 2019 ) The global protein ingredients market size estimated at USD 49.8 billion in 2019 is expected to be worth USD 70.7 billion by 2025, driven by increasing demand for protein functionalities and awareness about healthy diet & nutritional food. Additionally, new technological development in the protein ingredients industry, growth in demand for superior personal care & healthcare products, and increase in consumption of animal by-products, which in turn, supported by the economic growth, technological advancements, and consumer preference for functional products.
Increasing demand for proteins as nutritional and functional ingredients
Protein ingredients sourced from both animals and plants are well-known for their emulsification, gelation/viscosity, water-binding/hydration, foaming, aeration properties; other attributes of protein ingredients include thickening ability, stabilizing ability, and solubility. These functionalities, along with nutritional aspects of proteins, are a major advantage to end-user industries, and are, thus, one of the major market drivers. Another advantage associated with protein sources used for specific functional properties is that they are often less price-sensitive than those that are used only for their nutritional properties. This often benefits the end-user industries with cost advantages.
In the end-user industries such as cosmetic & personal care, protein ingredients are largely used for their conditioning and moisturizing properties in the hair and skin care industries. In major applications such as food & beverages, the use of protein ingredients continues to grow with the increasing demand for improved functionalities. The ability of protein ingredient manufacturers to design and develop specific isolates, concentrates, and other forms of protein ingredients for dairy products, beverages, dietary supplements, infant formula, bakery products, confectionery, and other food products is likely to drive the growth of the protein ingredients market during the forecast period.
Demand-based price fluctuations in cropping pattern challenging the market
Even though the prices of soy proteins are comparatively lower than most of the proteins, the supply can prove to be a significant factor in price escalation. The raw material for soy protein ingredients is soy meal, which is also highly demanded by the feed industry. Unless there is no drop-in cultivation area under soybeans, the supply is expected to remain unfazed for both feed and protein manufacturers.
Sometimes, crop growers, in order to avail better crop value, change their crop patterns, which can marginalize the flow of supply, and thereby, lead to an increased demand for protein manufacturing and price escalation. In 2013, increased diversion to biofuel and vegetable oil consumption led to more corn and canola production than soybean in North America. However, soybean cultivation has been maintaining better positive year-by-year growth in this region. So, the crops cultivated by growers are subject to change, based on the crop demand and price value. A wide-scale change in the cropping patterns can be expected with the decline in price levels for a crop after a certain point of price saturation. Around 2020, this can play an important role in seeking a cost-effective supply channel to maintain operational efficiency, as Latin America is expected to near its optimum land resource utilization for soybean by that time.
The market has seen substantial fluctuations in recent years and is expected to experience extensive changes in the way protein ingredients are used in different industries. However, factors such as stringent government regulations on animal-sourced protein are expected to restrain the market growth of animal protein.
Asia Pacific is projected to be the fastest-growing region during the forecast period.
Asia Pacific is projected to be the fastest-growing region during the forecast period. The market in the region is driven by increase in population growth especially in countries such as China and India. Further, rise in demand for healthy food products having high nutritional value such as soy, wheat, and vegetable protein is driving the market in this region.
Major vendors in the protein ingredients market include Cargill (US), ADM (US), DowDuPont (US), Kerry Group (Ireland), Omega Protein Corporation (US), Friesland (Netherlands), Fonterra (New Zealand), Arla Foods (Denmark), AMCO (US), Roquette (France), Gelita AG (Germany), Kewpie Corporation (Japan), AGARNA (Austria), AMCO Proteins (US), Hilmar Ingredients (US), Axiom Foods (US), and Burcon Nutrascience (Canada).
