High-Protein Industry Snapshot
Key Trends in the High-Protein Food & Beverage Market
- Rising Health & Fitness Lifestyles: Increasing consumer focus on muscle health, weight management, and active living is fueling demand for high-protein products across age groups, from everyday health-conscious consumers to elite athletes.
- Shift Toward Convenient Nutrition: Busy lifestyles are driving demand for on-the-go, ready-to-eat formats such as protein bars, shakes, and fortified snacks, making convenience a key growth catalyst.
- Plant-Based Protein Momentum: Growing interest in nutritious plant-based diets is accelerating innovation in soy, pea, hemp, and other plant proteins, with flexitarians driving mainstream adoption.
- Perceived Healthfulness of Plant-Based Diets: Consumers continue to associate plant-based products with health, wellness, and sustainability, reinforcing category growth and mainstream acceptance.
- Clean Label & Functional Benefits: Consumers increasingly prefer products that prioritize superior nutrition with reduced sugar, low net carbs, and high fiber with added functional benefits (e.g., gut health, immunity, energy), elevating protein from a macronutrient to a holistic wellness solution.
- GLP-1 Medications Affect on Snacking Habits: Spending patterns among GLP-1 users show a clear move toward protein-rich snacks, aligning with the broader consumer shift to protein-forward eating.
Industry Snapshot
$56.7B
Estimated size of the high-protein food market in 2025
8.4% CAGR (2025-2032)
Projected growth of the high-protein food market
71% of Americans
Actively increased protein intake in 2024
57% of consumers
Check nutrition labels specifically for protein content
63% of consumers
Seek protein from snacks, reflecting lifestyle-driven convenience demand
105% YoY increase
In online searches for “high protein”
40% of U.S. households
Purchase plant-based milk, up from 27% in 2015
