Protein products are booming in Asia – here’s how businesses can seize the opportunity

PROTEIN has officially moved out of the gym bag, and into the everyday food basket.

Once confined to sports nutrition, it is now showing up in everything, from yogurt and noodles to ready-to-eat meals and baked goods.

DBS Research estimated that the global protein market will reach US$3.6 trillion by 2030, with Asia-Pacific leading the global growth.

The question for businesses is no longer whether they should participate in the protein economy. It is how they build enduring growth from it.

Adapting to nutrition demands

In the short term, food manufacturers do not need a radical reinvention to enter the protein economy. Many viable opportunities already sit within their existing product lines.

High-protein innovation is breathing new life into established names, giving consumers reasons to return to familiar brands.

For instance, Fraser and Neave (F&N) infused its trusted hydration brand 100Plus with protein and launched its new product, the 100Plus Pro High Protein.

The opportunity is not necessarily to create new brands, but to strengthen existing ones by adding the nutritional value consumers increasingly seek.

This momentum is being driven by structural shifts in how societies age and view well-being.

Food is increasingly viewed through the lens of preventive health, and not just as sustenance.

Policymakers, too, are reinforcing this trend. National initiatives in Singapore, China, Japan and Australia are making nutritional information more visible, which is helping consumers make better food choices.

Hence, future demand will be increasingly shaped by more specialised nutritional needs.

The global wellness economy reached US$6.8 trillion in 2024, and is projected to surge 44 per cent to US$9.8 trillion by 2029.

Demographics are also reshaping the market. By 2050, one in four people in Asia-Pacific – close to 1.3 billion individuals – will be aged 60 and above, creating sustained interest in products that support strength, mobility and healthy ageing.

In Singapore, one in two older adults already falls short of the recommended protein intake. Declining appetites and smaller meal sizes only add to the difficulty.

The challenge is not simply producing more of it, but making it easier for those who need it most to consume. That means higher protein density, smaller portions, and familiar formats that are better suited to changing palates and chewing ability.

Medical nutrition offers another signal of where the market is headed.

The growing use of glucagon-like peptide-1 therapies for Type 2 diabetes and obesity is reshaping nutritional needs by suppressing appetite, making it harder for patients to consume sufficient protein and other nutrients.

Clinical guidance increasingly emphasises adequate protein intake alongside resistance exercise to preserve muscle mass during weight loss.

Though still nascent, this points to a broader evolution in food innovation: away from mass-market formulations and towards nutrition designed for more specific physiological needs.

Businesses that can anticipate these shifts early will be better positioned to build resilience against changing consumer and healthcare trends.

Growth beyond mature markets

The protein economy will not develop at the same pace across Asia.

Protein-enriched products are already more established in markets such as Singapore, Australia and North Asia. However, in much of South-east Asia, adoption is still at an early stage.

Future expansion will not come solely from competing for share in mature markets. It will also stem from moving early into developing ones, where protein adoption is still gaining ground.

As disposable incomes rise and health priorities evolve, demand is likely to shift towards products that offer nutrition, convenience and everyday relevance.

But building sustained growth will require more than product innovation.

As food companies expand into new markets, invest in manufacturing and build regional supply chains, access to financing, industry networks and local expertise will become increasingly important.

The first chapter of the protein economy was about increasing consumption. The next will be about delivering protein with greater precision.

As nutritional needs diversify and growth becomes more uneven across markets, the companies best placed to succeed will be those delivering the right protein, to the right consumer, in the markets where it matters the most.

The writer is head of food and agribusiness, institutional banking group, DBS