Has high protein ‘jumped the shark’ with Lidl’s new meat range?

Meat is already among the highest-protein foods available, so the phrase ‘high-protein meat’ seems a tautology, like saying ‘banana-rich bananas’.

But a “first-to-market high-protein meat range” is exactly what Lidl launched last week.

So, does anyone need it? Or is it simply the sign we have finally reached peak protein?

Lidl’s new range consists of mince, meatballs, burgers and sausages, each providing at least 20% more protein than their more traditional counterparts. The protein supercharging ingredient is – you guessed it – pea.

High-protein hybrids

Despite the first-to-market billing, it appears to be part of a developing trend in ongoing high-protein mania. Heck launched ‘high-protein sausages’ made with lean chicken earlier this month. The brand followed up this week with its a veg-enhanced Easy Mince range, to help shoppers find “cost-effective ways to put protein at the heart of a family meal”.

As for adding veg to mince, Tesco did that as long ago as 2019. 

But it is Lidl’s move that has drawn most reaction. “I had a good laugh,” says Stuart Phillips, professor of kinesiology at Canada’s McMaster University, who has been studying protein metabolism for 30 years. “These products could be useful for some people, but the case for adding protein to a food already rich in protein needs explaining. Meat was hardly waiting for a protein upgrade.”

Phillips says it underlines how the high-protein craze “jumped the shark” in about 2025. “My concern is that an essential nutrient has become a marketing promise that more is always better.”

Nutritionist Claire Baseley says that while certain groups may benefit from concentrated protein – such as the growing numbers of GLP-1 users with reduced appetites – “it is largely unnecessary for the majority of the population”.

As The Grocer reported in August, British Nutrition Foundation data shows most UK adults already consume more than their government recommended daily intake of protein. That should be unsurprising, since “for many healthy people eating a varied, balanced diet, protein requirements can readily be met through ordinary foods”, says Dr Emma Derbyshire, founder of Nutritional Insight.

Dietician Myroslava Berezova argues that “‘high-protein meat’ is, in reality, a textbook ultra-processed meat product”.

“When pea isolate gets added to sausages, isn’t that an admission of how poor they are nutritionally?”

As well as protein, Lidl’s new lines provide more fibre than their traditional alternatives. The meatballs, for example, contain 1g per 100g, twice the amount in Lidl’s traditional version.

But Phillips would favour simply “adding peas, beans or lentils to the meal”.

“Extracted pea protein does not provide the same nutritional package as the whole food. A concentrated ingredient can be convenient when food volume is a constraint, but it is not a substitute.”

Plant-based changes

Lidl has made no specific health claims of its new products, beyond saying they are a “way for shoppers to add more protein to their meals without giving up the meat they know and love”.

Instead, the discounter has focused on price and sustainability. 

While high-protein options generally carry a price premium, Lidl’s are cheaper. The four high-protein quarter pounders, for example, cost £2.99, compared with £3.29 for the traditional version.

But the “bigger idea behind it”, Lidl revealed on Linkedin, is to help towards its target of plant-based protein making up 25% of its total protein sales offering by 2030. It is the only UK retailer to have set such a target, aligned with Eat-Lancet Planetary Health Diet ambitions of cutting consumption of carbon-intensive foods such as red meat by 50% globally by 2050. Last year, as Lidl adopted its target, it called on the government to add a plant-based metric to its plans to make all large food businesses report on their sales of healthier options.

Baseley says: “Beef is one of the higher carbon-usage meats, so if you can reduce consumption for someone who habitually eats it, by replacing some of it with pea protein, that’s not a bad thing.”

She also thinks the lure of ‘high-protein’ will undoubtedly lead many shoppers to try Lidl’s new lines amid continuing high demand for such options, not to mention fibre.

“The high-protein claim did make me laugh, in the famously high-protein meat category, but I think it has applications, both for people wanting to reduce intake without compromising protein, and for those with smaller appetites looking for high-protein in a small portion,” Baseley says.

Plus, “from a sustainability point of view, it’s a useful exercise in reducing meat consumption in a product that is still meat based”.