When dairy met soy: How dairy and plant-based proteins can work together
There is plenty of room in the growing protein category for dairy-based and plant-based sources. In fact, there are good reasons to formulate with a blend of dairy and plant proteins.
Demand for plant proteins — and not just soy, but pea, seed, bean and more — is reinvigorating the sector in whole new ways. While a 2015 report by the research firm MarketsandMarkets predicted dairy proteins will reach a value of $18 billion by 2020, plant proteins are hardly far behind. Mordor Intelligence research from 2017 estimates their value will top $14 million by 2022.
And though dairy insiders could be forgiven for viewing plant proteins’ rise as a risk to dairy’s dominance, there’s enough demand to go around. The 2016 International Food Information Council Foundation (IFIC) Food & Health Survey found that fully 64% of American adults intend to get more protein in their diets, period.