The protein boom isn’t over – it’s evolving

For years, the food industry has treated protein as a nutritional silver bullet. Add extra grammes to a bar, shake or cereal, stamp ‘high protein’ on the pack, and consumers would come running. 

But shoppers are becoming more nutritionally literate, and more sceptical. The next era of protein won’t be driven by quantity alone. It will be defined by overall health.  

Consumers increasingly recognise that ‘protein at all costs’ comes with trade-offs. Many high-protein products are also ultra-processed, packed with additives and lacking nutrients critical for longer-term health like fibre, antioxidants and micronutrients such as iron and calcium. A protein-packed snack that compromises the gut microbiome isn’t a health food. It’s clever marketing. 

At the same time, fibre is having its moment. After decades of neglect, consumers are waking up to the reality that gut health, metabolic health and long-term wellbeing rely on more than simply hitting a protein target. Conversations around blood sugar, digestion and microbiome diversity are exploding – and fibre sits at the centre of them all. 

The science behind nutrition

Science supports this shift. Not all proteins behave the same way in the body. Health outcomes are influenced not only by protein quantity, but by amino acid composition, digestibility and the wider food matrix surrounding it. Fibre, polyphenols, vitamins and minerals all shape how foods affect satiety, metabolism, inflammation and gut health – and isolating protein from the rest of nutrition misses the bigger picture. 

The brands that will win in the next decade are those that stop treating protein as an isolated ingredient and start delivering nutritionally complete foods – products with high-quality protein and nutrients that support whole-body health. That means nourishing the microbiome, improving satiety naturally and delivering nutritional density without relying on excessive processing. It also means answering to what consumers trust: moving away from long ingredient lists and towards recognisable foods. 

Crucially, sustainability and nutrition are no longer separate conversations. Consumers want protein sources that are better for their health and for the planet. That’s why naturally protein-rich foods such as tofu, tempeh and beans are seeing renewed momentum. They don’t just provide protein, they also deliver fibre, iron, calcium and antioxidants while carrying a far lower environmental footprint than many conventional protein sources. 

The irony is that some of the healthiest protein foods on the planet did not originate from laboratories. Fermented foods like tempeh have delivered complete protein, gut-friendly compounds and exceptional nutrient density for centuries. The future of protein may actually look far less engineered than the industry expected. 

The end of the protein-at-all-costs era

For brands and retailers, this creates both an opportunity and a warning. The era of ‘protein at all costs’ is coming to an end. Consumers are asking harder questions: where does this protein come from? What else is in the product? How processed is it? Does it genuinely support health? 

Brands pushing ultra-processed high-protein products with little regard for overall nutrition risk becoming the nutritional equivalent of fast fashion: profitable in the short term, outdated in the long run. The long-term winners will be those that move beyond protein theatre and deliver foods built around genuine nutritional value – high-quality protein, fibre, antioxidants and macronutrients that support better overall health outcomes. 

Because the future is not ‘protein at all costs’. It’s about nutritional quality, not simply more protein. Retailers that fail to recognise that shift risk being left behind with yesterday’s health trend on their shelves. 

Dr Ando Ahnan-Winarno is co-founder and COO at Better Nature