Opportunities in Whey Products and Lactose: Market growth and new product development in sports and infant nutrition

Advances in whey processing technology and investments in research and development have combined with a greater understanding and recognition of the potential health benefits of Whey Products. As a result both ingredients suppliers and product manufacturers alike seeking to exploit the potential of an area which many see as currently “exploding”.

Undoubtedly the functional benefits of certain Whey Products (in particular concentrates and isolates) are driving renewed interest and market momentum. But less-hyped areas should not be forgotten: use in Animal Feed and in human food use as a food (as opposed functional) ingredient will fuel demand. Lactose’ use as a relatively cost effective, low glycemic index, carbohydrate source should not be overlooked either as this category will see greater volume growth in the future than overall Whey Products.

Functional applications will be at the forefront of shaping the future direction of Whey Products however, with markets like Sports Nutrition, Seniors’ Nutrition and Nutritional Management creating demand for higher quality, value-added Whey Products in the future. Certain Whey Products, particularly concentrates and isolates (WPI) are potentially well placed to take advantage of these developments.

But growth will not just happen by itself - there are significant problems to overcome. First, much greater scientific substantiation of product benefits is required to establish efficacy and to pass regulatory hurdles, particularly in Europe. Beyond that marketers must also ensure the marketing messages have high integrity and accurately represent product benefits as misleading marketing has the potential to undermine the market. The potential for growth is there, but successful targeting requires carefully constructed strategies to be followed.

Scope of this report

• Provides extensive market data on the size, growth and segmentation of the Whey Products and Lactose markets across 4 major regions and 15 countries, with forecasts up until 2013. Assessments of use by end-use markets are also provided.
• Analysis of the relative strength of demand both now and in the future from different uses of Whey Products and Lactose, both as an ingredient in product formulation sand as a specific functional ingredient.
• Uniquely detailed product launch analysis examines the pattern of product introductions containing Whey Products and Lactose across the globe over the past 3 years.
• Detailed chapters provide extensive insight into the emerging role of Whey Products in both the Sports Nutrition and Infant Formulas markets, highlighting the growth potential for Whey Products in these areas and how manufacturers can effectively utilize these ingredients.
• Examination of the latest scientific evidence that points towards the likely future direction of Whey Product use in burgeoning markets like Seniors’ Nutrition and Immunity and Gut Health.
• Examination of the key issues that marketers need to be addressed in order to unlock the full potential of the Whey Products and lactose markets.

• Fill a gap in market understanding by knowing the size, segmentation and growth of the Whey Product markets across the globe. This provides clarity when developing marketing plans for suppliers and allows product manufacturers to understand the growing importance of these ingredients by product market and by country and region.
• Identify product development opportunities (for both manufacturers and ingredients suppliers alike) using the detailed scientific evidence of the areas where Whey Products can play a role in the development of foods with added health functions.
• Learn how to avoid the potential pitfalls in the development of this market by first identifying the problem areas (from consumer to regulatory issues) and then understanding ways in which these problems can be targeted and overcome.
• Understand competitive activity in product launches to identify hot areas of activity by product market, region and country and use this information to refine your own product pipelines and product launch tactics.
• Examine the growth potential in functional product markets like Sports Nutrition and Infant Formulas for Whey Products and how these can help grow your business’s sales.

• Global production volumes for Whey Products in 2008 were over 3.2 million metric tonnes, and over 0.9 million metric tonnes for Lactose. Europe is the dominant region in global Whey Products and lactose production, accounting for more than 50% of total production in both markets in 2008.
• Functional uses for Whey Products are the hot area of the market due to the potential for Whey Products to leverage their excellent nutrition profiles (in particular their amino acid and protein profiles) into high quality nutrition for consumers.
• Product markets which offer a role for Whey Products as a functional ingredient include Infant Nutrition, Sports Nutrition & Body Composition, and Immunity & Gut Health products, Weight Management and Satiety and Nutritional (disease) Management.
• Issues that require addressing for growth in the market to continue include; the need to maintain product integrity and to market these products responsibly, the need to tackle head-on consumer mistrust of functional foods and the need to mitigate, as far as possible, price fluctuations.

• The key challenge for Whey Products remains how can ingredients suppliers and manufacturers maximize their potential? To achieve this a key aim will need to be taking the more refined Whey Products beyond specialist markets like Sports Nutrition and into the mass market.
• Achieving widespread distribution will require careful marketing approaches. In common with all functional foods marketers must take care to ensure that products have demonstrable benefits and that marketing messages are clear and accurately portray product benefits.
• Furthermore, consumer mistrust of marketing messages also needs directly tackling. In 2008 around 77% of Europeans and 67% of American s did not feel that “nutritional claims on food and drinks were trustworthy”. This is a massive barrier which needs to be overcome for growth to continue in functional applications of Whey Products.
• Competition between suppliers of Whey Products is likely to be intense in the future. For suppliers this means that establishing effective whey processing capabilities now is important. For manufacturers this means that more, better, Whey Products will become available in the future for them to use in product development.
• Whey Products also need to establish their credentials compared to other high nutritional value ingredients (such as soy proteins) in consumers’ minds. This needs to be achieved in a manner which does not bombard consumers with claims and counter-claims for different ingredients, as this runs the risk of alienating consumers from functional foods altogether.

• How large are the Whey Products and lactose markets and how fast are these markets growing?
• Which end-use markets are fuelling demand for Whey Products? How important will the Human Food and Animal Feed sectors be in the future?
• In which products are Whey Products being used most extensively in order to drive new product development and what does this say about where future demand is likely to be coming from?
• What roles can Whey Products play in providing superior formulations for infants compared to products currently available on the market?
• What are the new roles for Whey Products in Sports Nutrition that new science is uncovering? How can these areas be effectively targeted?
• What scientific discoveries about Whey Products are likely to create future opportunities for product development that I should be aware of now?