Supplement makers swap expensive whey for plants

Soaring whey prices are reshaping India’s fast-growing protein supplement market, squeezing margins and forcing companies to redraw growth strategies as consumption rises.

- Sowmya Ramasubramanian

Global supply tightness, surging demand from sports nutrition and packaged food manufacturers and logistics constraints have pushed whey protein isolate and concentrate prices to multiyear highs. India, which imports a large share of its whey from the US, Europe and New Zealand, is additionally exposed to currency volatility.

Over the past year, raw whey costs have climbed almost 70% to as much as ₹3,000 per kg, intensifying pressure across the value chain, according to suppliers who spoke to Mint. As a result, retail whey protein in India (largely in powder format), today typically ranges from about ₹2,000 per kg for budget products to ₹4,000-5,000 or more for premium offerings, with 2 kg packs costing ₹4,000 to ₹7,000.

As input volatility clashes with mainstream adoption, protein companies are being pushed into expanding beyond dairy-based formulations to plants and diversifying channels to protect margins in a market where raw material costs are expected to remain elevated in the near term.