While plant-based diets are increasingly emphasized by a growing number of people, there is still plenty of demand for innovation in the animal proteins space based upon the surging popularity of collagen supplements online, market researcher New Nutrition Business reports.
 
“People are […] open to innovation in animal-based products,” Julian Mellentin, director of food and nutrition consultancy for New Nutrition Business, said. “Collagen is an excellent example, with its image as a ‘protein plus’ ingredient with benefits for skin, nails, hair, and joints. The evidence from growing sales of supplements is that consumers find these benefits credible and compelling.”
 
Mellentin, author of the recently-published 10 Key Trends in Food, Nutrition, and Health, identifies collagen as a key way to connect consumers with the latest innovations in animal protein.
 
“Collagen is a protein that makes up about a third of all the protein in the human body,” he said. “It has a whole ‘nutrient that can do no wrong’ protein health halo, plus delivers the benefit that people want most – to look good. And when you look good, you feel good.”
 
Collagen consumption skews toward Gen Z and younger Millennial women, even including those who describe their diets as plant-based or at least flexitarian. These consumers still eagerly embrace bovine collagen, with young women most likely to add collagen powder to their morning smoothies, older men and women adding collagen powder to their first coffee of the day, and others preferring collagen-rich bone broth.
 
Research from New Nutrition Business concludes that during 2020, collagen was one of the fastest-growing health ingredients on Instagram, based on a growth in the hashtag #collagen of 29%. Most of these posts relate to collagen’s topical use in personal care products, but the company reports a tendency that ingredient trends in skincare often migrate to foods and supplements wherever relevant. This is backed by data New Nutrition Business cites from Mintel which shows that there was a 70% jump in launches of food and beverage products containing collagen between 2015 and 2020.
 
Scientific studies examining the human health benefits of collagen use have also doubled since 2,000, with bone health, skin/aging, muscle, and joint health being the most commonly studied benefits.
 
“These factors combined present food and beverage companies with a unique opportunity to innovate with collagen,” Mellentin said. “Major companies are already embracing and seeing success with the collagen opportunity and we will likely continue to see this for the next few years.”
 
Nestlé entered the collagen business with the acquisition of Vital Proteins in 2020. Sales of its drinks, snack bars, and supplements, which source collagen from grass-fed cattle in Brazil, are growing strongly, the company reports. The products are now available in outlets in North America and Europe, including Whole Foods, Costco, Target, Walgreens, and Kroger, as well as through D2C channels.
 
“Food industry executives tend to fall into the trap of thinking that it is in plant-based where most of the trendy innovations happen that take off with younger consumers,” Mellentin said. “But animal protein still has significant competitive advantages, including taste, texture, versatility, and nutritional quality. And now that livestock farmers are increasingly focused on sustainability and becoming carbon-neutral, this will create a ‘permission to indulge’ halo for animal proteins.”