Global Whey Supply, Demand and Key Producers, 2026-2032
Description
The global Whey market size is expected to reach $ 780 million by 2032, rising at a market growth of 5.1% CAGR during the forecast period (2026-2032).
Whey refers to the liquid stream separated after curd formation during coagulation processing such as cheese or casein manufacturing, where milk, skim milk, or cream is coagulated and the resulting liquid phase is drawn off as “the liquid obtained after separating the coagulated solids.” Depending on the coagulation method, whey can be classified as sweet whey or acid whey: the former is produced via rennet coagulation with relatively limited conversion of lactose to lactic acid, while the latter results from acidification or fermented acid coagulation, involving greater lactose-to-lactic-acid conversion and a lower pH. Whey is primarily water, yet it retains soluble nutrients from the original milk, including lactose, mineral salts, vitamins, and small amounts of soluble proteins. As a result, whey is both a foundational source of dairy solids for the food industry and a high-BOD co-product stream that requires standardized recovery and proper handling. For easier storage, transportation, and standardized delivery, whey is typically clarified and defatted, pasteurized, and cooled for temporary holding, then concentrated by evaporation and spray-dried into whey powder or acid whey powder; it can also be further demineralized into demineralized whey powder to reduce ash content and saltiness. Importantly, whey protein is only the protein fraction within whey; after downstream enrichment via membrane separation or ion exchange, it becomes ingredients or supplements such as whey protein concentrate (WPC) or whey protein isolate (WPI). In contrast, “whey” refers to the broader category that includes raw liquid whey and its powder and demineralized derivatives. In trade and regulatory terms, whey powder is commonly defined as a powder obtained by preheating, evaporating, and drying fresh pasteurized whey; its composition should maintain a relative proportion similar to that of the original whey on a dry-matter basis, and it may be graded by metrics such as lactose, protein, fat, and ash. Codex standards also specify composition requirements for whey powder and acid whey powder and allow the use of the designation “sweet whey powder” when certain thresholds are met. In end-use applications, whey and its powders are more often used to enhance dairy flavor and browning, improve dough and confectionery texture, serve as sources of lactose and minerals in premixes and dairy formulations, and can also be used as fermentation substrates or feed materials, enabling the resource utilization of cheese co-product streams.
Whey is increasingly shifting from “a byproduct to be disposed of” to “a standardized ingredient that can be scaled and reliably used,” and this shift shows up first in how production regions are structured. Because whey supply is tightly linked to cheese and curd-product capacity, global production capability is naturally concentrated in mature cheese belts—most notably the EU and the United States—where large-scale coagulated dairy processing makes it possible to upgrade whey from a variable plant sidestream into an ingredient stream with defined specifications. Through demineralization, fractionation and separation, concentration and crystallization, and optimized drying parameters, producers can stabilize mineral load, lactose crystallization behavior, microbiological risk, and flavor control, enabling predictable performance across processing environments such as infant formula, bakery, confectionery, and beverages. Meanwhile, export-oriented dairy countries such as New Zealand tend to emphasize stable bulk delivery and cross-border supply capability. China, by contrast, is still in a catch-up phase: domestic whey-related supply is constrained by the scale of its cheese industry and its depth of downstream processing, with capacity and process capability still ramping up. As a result, the market places even greater weight on “specification-driven functionality and batch consistency,” and purchasing decisions are moving beyond basic solids and moisture compliance toward finer technical criteria such as ash and demineralization grade, solubility and powder flowability, and stability under specific heat-treatment and acidic conditions.
Demand-side changes are equally clear. Whey is evolving from a conventional dairy-processing sidestream into a reusable source of carbohydrates and minerals—and a formulation tool for texture and flavor—across food industries in multiple regions. This is why sales regions increasingly show pronounced differences by end-use structure and price sensitivity. Markets like China function as “super buyers” in global whey trade: demand is anchored both in cost-sensitive, high-volume applications such as animal feed and in high-threshold scenarios such as infant formula, where requirements around demineralization grade, ash control, and traceability are far stricter—together accelerating the uptake of specification-grade products such as demineralized whey. Parts of East Asia and Southeast Asia, meanwhile, are more closely tied to food manufacturing and consumption upgrading; they value whey’s formulation role in bakery, beverages, snacks, and dairy drinks, with greater focus on solubility, flavor alignment, and system stability, and they tend to strike a more nuanced balance between price and specification. Emerging markets in the Middle East often display stronger cyclicality, with visible step-changes in import volume that are more directly driven by global price cycles and higher substitution elasticity. Overall, whey’s sales-region profile is shifting from a single, undifferentiated bulk-trade pattern toward a structured demand landscape segmented by application.
On the supply side, differentiation is emerging under this dual dynamic of concentrated production regions and increasingly segmented sales regions: it is moving from “having whey available” to “proving provenance, delivering reliably, and converting processing depth into consistent product performance,” with trade policy and cross-border economics playing an outsized role. Because whey supply rises and falls with cheese output, companies that can document source integrity and sustain stable delivery are more likely to win the trust of high-threshold customers—especially in infant-formula-related demineralized whey, where traceability systems and quality systems become core barriers to entry. Many suppliers therefore emphasize whey sourced from in-house cheese plants or tightly controlled supply chains to reduce customer onboarding risk and compliance-audit friction. At the regional-flow level, tariffs and trade agreements can directly reshape market shares and purchasing cadence: for instance, tariff disruptions affecting U.S.-to-China flows can undermine sales stability and prompt demand to switch among origin regions, while changes in New Zealand–China trade terms can translate into relative price advantages that strengthen New Zealand’s competitiveness in China. In product strategy terms, suppliers often pursue a portfolio approach: scale through base whey powders, differentiation through graded demineralization and fractionated products, and premium capture through deeper processing and value-added sidestreams—while extending application-support capabilities downstream to help customers execute formulations with higher certainty across different regions, end uses, and regulatory requirements.
This report studies the global Whey production, demand, key manufacturers, and key regions.
This report is a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the world market for Whey and provides market size (US$ million) and Year-over-Year (YoY) Growth, considering 2025 as the base year. This report explores demand trends and competition, as well as details the characteristics of Whey that contribute to its increasing demand across many markets.
Highlights and key features of the study
Global Whey total production and demand, 2021-2032, (K MT)
Global Whey total production value, 2021-2032, (USD Million)
Global Whey production by region & country, production, value, CAGR, 2021-2032, (USD Million) & (K MT), (based on production site)
Global Whey consumption by region & country, CAGR, 2021-2032 & (K MT)
U.S. VS China: Whey domestic production, consumption, key domestic manufacturers and share
Global Whey production by manufacturer, production, price, value and market share 2021-2026, (USD Million) & (K MT)
Global Whey production by, production, value, CAGR, 2021-2032, (USD Million) & (K MT)
Global Whey production by Application, production, value, CAGR, 2021-2032, (USD Million) & (K MT)
This report profiles key players in the global Whey market based on the following parameters - company overview, production, value, price, gross margin, product portfolio, geographical presence, and key developments. Key companies covered as a part of this study include Arla Foods Ingredients, FrieslandCampina Ingredients, Lactalis Ingredients, Fonterra (NZMP™), Glanbia Nutritionals, Hilmar Ingredients, Agropur Ingredients, Leprino Nutrition, Actus Nutrition, Carbery Group, etc.
This report also provides key insights about market drivers, restraints, opportunities, new product launches or approvals.
Stakeholders would have ease in decision-making through various strategy matrices used in analyzing the World Whey market
Detailed Segmentation:
Each section contains quantitative market data including market by value (US$ Millions), volume (production, consumption) & (K MT) and average price (USD/MT) by manufacturer, by, and by Application. Data is given for the years 2021-2032 by year with 2025 as the base year, 2026 as the estimate year, and 2027-2032 as the forecast year.
Global Whey Market, By Region:
United States
China
Europe
Japan
South Korea
ASEAN
India
Rest of World
Global Whey Market, Segmentation by:
Acid Whey
Sweet Whey
Global Whey Market, Segmentation by Process Route:
Demineralized Whey
Non-Demineralized Whey
Global Whey Market, Segmentation by Form:
Liquid
Solid
Global Whey Market, Segmentation by Source:
Ovine Whey
Cow Whey
Global Whey Market, Segmentation by Application:
Food
Feed
Health Care
Personal Care
Others
Companies Profiled:
Arla Foods Ingredients
FrieslandCampina Ingredients
Lactalis Ingredients
Fonterra (NZMP™)
Glanbia Nutritionals
Hilmar Ingredients
Agropur Ingredients
Leprino Nutrition
Actus Nutrition
Carbery Group
Armor Protéines
Ingredia
Eurial Ingredients
DMK Industry (DMK Group)
Saputo Dairy Australia
Westland Milk Products (Westpro)
Sachsenmilch Leppersdorf
Associated Milk Producers
Brewster Cheese Company
MILEI
Dairygold Co-Operative Society
FEIHE
MENGNIU
Yili
Yeeper
Competitor
sanyuan
brightdairy
AUSNUTRIA
Key Questions Answered:
1. How big is the global Whey market?
2. What is the demand of the global Whey market?
3. What is the year over year growth of the global Whey market?
4. What is the production and production value of the global Whey market?
5. Who are the key producers in the global Whey market?
6. What are the growth factors driving the market demand?
Whey refers to the liquid stream separated after curd formation during coagulation processing such as cheese or casein manufacturing, where milk, skim milk, or cream is coagulated and the resulting liquid phase is drawn off as “the liquid obtained after separating the coagulated solids.” Depending on the coagulation method, whey can be classified as sweet whey or acid whey: the former is produced via rennet coagulation with relatively limited conversion of lactose to lactic acid, while the latter results from acidification or fermented acid coagulation, involving greater lactose-to-lactic-acid conversion and a lower pH. Whey is primarily water, yet it retains soluble nutrients from the original milk, including lactose, mineral salts, vitamins, and small amounts of soluble proteins. As a result, whey is both a foundational source of dairy solids for the food industry and a high-BOD co-product stream that requires standardized recovery and proper handling. For easier storage, transportation, and standardized delivery, whey is typically clarified and defatted, pasteurized, and cooled for temporary holding, then concentrated by evaporation and spray-dried into whey powder or acid whey powder; it can also be further demineralized into demineralized whey powder to reduce ash content and saltiness. Importantly, whey protein is only the protein fraction within whey; after downstream enrichment via membrane separation or ion exchange, it becomes ingredients or supplements such as whey protein concentrate (WPC) or whey protein isolate (WPI). In contrast, “whey” refers to the broader category that includes raw liquid whey and its powder and demineralized derivatives. In trade and regulatory terms, whey powder is commonly defined as a powder obtained by preheating, evaporating, and drying fresh pasteurized whey; its composition should maintain a relative proportion similar to that of the original whey on a dry-matter basis, and it may be graded by metrics such as lactose, protein, fat, and ash. Codex standards also specify composition requirements for whey powder and acid whey powder and allow the use of the designation “sweet whey powder” when certain thresholds are met. In end-use applications, whey and its powders are more often used to enhance dairy flavor and browning, improve dough and confectionery texture, serve as sources of lactose and minerals in premixes and dairy formulations, and can also be used as fermentation substrates or feed materials, enabling the resource utilization of cheese co-product streams.
Whey is increasingly shifting from “a byproduct to be disposed of” to “a standardized ingredient that can be scaled and reliably used,” and this shift shows up first in how production regions are structured. Because whey supply is tightly linked to cheese and curd-product capacity, global production capability is naturally concentrated in mature cheese belts—most notably the EU and the United States—where large-scale coagulated dairy processing makes it possible to upgrade whey from a variable plant sidestream into an ingredient stream with defined specifications. Through demineralization, fractionation and separation, concentration and crystallization, and optimized drying parameters, producers can stabilize mineral load, lactose crystallization behavior, microbiological risk, and flavor control, enabling predictable performance across processing environments such as infant formula, bakery, confectionery, and beverages. Meanwhile, export-oriented dairy countries such as New Zealand tend to emphasize stable bulk delivery and cross-border supply capability. China, by contrast, is still in a catch-up phase: domestic whey-related supply is constrained by the scale of its cheese industry and its depth of downstream processing, with capacity and process capability still ramping up. As a result, the market places even greater weight on “specification-driven functionality and batch consistency,” and purchasing decisions are moving beyond basic solids and moisture compliance toward finer technical criteria such as ash and demineralization grade, solubility and powder flowability, and stability under specific heat-treatment and acidic conditions.
Demand-side changes are equally clear. Whey is evolving from a conventional dairy-processing sidestream into a reusable source of carbohydrates and minerals—and a formulation tool for texture and flavor—across food industries in multiple regions. This is why sales regions increasingly show pronounced differences by end-use structure and price sensitivity. Markets like China function as “super buyers” in global whey trade: demand is anchored both in cost-sensitive, high-volume applications such as animal feed and in high-threshold scenarios such as infant formula, where requirements around demineralization grade, ash control, and traceability are far stricter—together accelerating the uptake of specification-grade products such as demineralized whey. Parts of East Asia and Southeast Asia, meanwhile, are more closely tied to food manufacturing and consumption upgrading; they value whey’s formulation role in bakery, beverages, snacks, and dairy drinks, with greater focus on solubility, flavor alignment, and system stability, and they tend to strike a more nuanced balance between price and specification. Emerging markets in the Middle East often display stronger cyclicality, with visible step-changes in import volume that are more directly driven by global price cycles and higher substitution elasticity. Overall, whey’s sales-region profile is shifting from a single, undifferentiated bulk-trade pattern toward a structured demand landscape segmented by application.
On the supply side, differentiation is emerging under this dual dynamic of concentrated production regions and increasingly segmented sales regions: it is moving from “having whey available” to “proving provenance, delivering reliably, and converting processing depth into consistent product performance,” with trade policy and cross-border economics playing an outsized role. Because whey supply rises and falls with cheese output, companies that can document source integrity and sustain stable delivery are more likely to win the trust of high-threshold customers—especially in infant-formula-related demineralized whey, where traceability systems and quality systems become core barriers to entry. Many suppliers therefore emphasize whey sourced from in-house cheese plants or tightly controlled supply chains to reduce customer onboarding risk and compliance-audit friction. At the regional-flow level, tariffs and trade agreements can directly reshape market shares and purchasing cadence: for instance, tariff disruptions affecting U.S.-to-China flows can undermine sales stability and prompt demand to switch among origin regions, while changes in New Zealand–China trade terms can translate into relative price advantages that strengthen New Zealand’s competitiveness in China. In product strategy terms, suppliers often pursue a portfolio approach: scale through base whey powders, differentiation through graded demineralization and fractionated products, and premium capture through deeper processing and value-added sidestreams—while extending application-support capabilities downstream to help customers execute formulations with higher certainty across different regions, end uses, and regulatory requirements.
This report studies the global Whey production, demand, key manufacturers, and key regions.
This report is a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the world market for Whey and provides market size (US$ million) and Year-over-Year (YoY) Growth, considering 2025 as the base year. This report explores demand trends and competition, as well as details the characteristics of Whey that contribute to its increasing demand across many markets.
Highlights and key features of the study
Global Whey total production and demand, 2021-2032, (K MT)
Global Whey total production value, 2021-2032, (USD Million)
Global Whey production by region & country, production, value, CAGR, 2021-2032, (USD Million) & (K MT), (based on production site)
Global Whey consumption by region & country, CAGR, 2021-2032 & (K MT)
U.S. VS China: Whey domestic production, consumption, key domestic manufacturers and share
Global Whey production by manufacturer, production, price, value and market share 2021-2026, (USD Million) & (K MT)
Global Whey production by, production, value, CAGR, 2021-2032, (USD Million) & (K MT)
Global Whey production by Application, production, value, CAGR, 2021-2032, (USD Million) & (K MT)
This report profiles key players in the global Whey market based on the following parameters - company overview, production, value, price, gross margin, product portfolio, geographical presence, and key developments. Key companies covered as a part of this study include Arla Foods Ingredients, FrieslandCampina Ingredients, Lactalis Ingredients, Fonterra (NZMP™), Glanbia Nutritionals, Hilmar Ingredients, Agropur Ingredients, Leprino Nutrition, Actus Nutrition, Carbery Group, etc.
This report also provides key insights about market drivers, restraints, opportunities, new product launches or approvals.
Stakeholders would have ease in decision-making through various strategy matrices used in analyzing the World Whey market
Detailed Segmentation:
Each section contains quantitative market data including market by value (US$ Millions), volume (production, consumption) & (K MT) and average price (USD/MT) by manufacturer, by, and by Application. Data is given for the years 2021-2032 by year with 2025 as the base year, 2026 as the estimate year, and 2027-2032 as the forecast year.
Global Whey Market, By Region:
United States
China
Europe
Japan
South Korea
ASEAN
India
Rest of World
Global Whey Market, Segmentation by:
Acid Whey
Sweet Whey
Global Whey Market, Segmentation by Process Route:
Demineralized Whey
Non-Demineralized Whey
Global Whey Market, Segmentation by Form:
Liquid
Solid
Global Whey Market, Segmentation by Source:
Ovine Whey
Cow Whey
Global Whey Market, Segmentation by Application:
Food
Feed
Health Care
Personal Care
Others
Companies Profiled:
Arla Foods Ingredients
FrieslandCampina Ingredients
Lactalis Ingredients
Fonterra (NZMP™)
Glanbia Nutritionals
Hilmar Ingredients
Agropur Ingredients
Leprino Nutrition
Actus Nutrition
Carbery Group
Armor Protéines
Ingredia
Eurial Ingredients
DMK Industry (DMK Group)
Saputo Dairy Australia
Westland Milk Products (Westpro)
Sachsenmilch Leppersdorf
Associated Milk Producers
Brewster Cheese Company
MILEI
Dairygold Co-Operative Society
FEIHE
MENGNIU
Yili
Yeeper
Competitor
sanyuan
brightdairy
AUSNUTRIA
Key Questions Answered:
1. How big is the global Whey market?
2. What is the demand of the global Whey market?
3. What is the year over year growth of the global Whey market?
4. What is the production and production value of the global Whey market?
5. Who are the key producers in the global Whey market?
6. What are the growth factors driving the market demand?
Table of Contents
177 Pages
- 1 Supply Summary
- 2 Demand Summary
- 3 World Manufacturers Competitive Analysis
- 4 United States VS China VS Rest of the World
- 5 Market Analysis by Type
- 6 Market Analysis by Application
- 7 Company Profiles
- 8 Industry Chain Analysis
- 9 Research Findings and Conclusion
- 10 Appendix
Pricing
Currency Rates
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