High rise in milk protein prices worldwide

Demand for whey protein is rising rapidly, with prices jumping 250% in the past year alone. CNN's Matthias Greis reviews this surprising trend.

The rapid rise in demand for these products has caused the price of one pound of whey protein in the United States to increase nearly six-fold, from just under $2 in 2023 to about $13 in 2026.

What is interesting is that we cannot simply increase production to meet the growing demand, because whey is a by-product of cheese making. For most of the history of cheesemaking, producers paid to remove the whey.

While demand for whey is increasing, there is a lack of facilities capable of converting liquid whey into consumable protein powder.

The whey crisis has been exacerbated by the recent increasing trend towards the use of GLP-1 drugs, such as "Wegovi" and "Zipbound", with doctors increasingly recommending additional protein intake alongside weight-loss medications to compensate for the loss of muscle mass.

In addition, we've seen a rapid rise in young people, especially members of Generation Z, going to gyms, and the "protein maxing" trend on social media is encouraging people to increase their daily protein intake.

Companies around the world are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in state-of-the-art facilities capable of producing consumable whey powder. This will be critical to help alleviate the inventory shortages that manufacturers face during the remainder of 2026.