Gym rats beware: A protein powder shortage is here

We protein-maxxed too close to the sun. You may soon notice higher prices on foods containing whey powder as suppliers struggle to handle the rush to add it to everything from Doritos to Starbucks cold foam, Bloomberg reported yesterday.A major squeeze is underwhey:Whey powder’s wholesale prices jumped to the highest levels on record in April, according to market data reported by The Atlantic.Some whey suppliers are sold out for the rest of the year, according to the USDA, as companies scramble to buy out inventories.Straight-up protein powder has already been affected: A whey powder tub that cost ~$40 on Amazon roughly six months ago hit $54 last month, per The Atlantic. A different supplement company recently paused sales of their tubs of whey after their costs jumped more than 300% from 2023, Bloomberg reported.Now, food companies that planned to counter slowing snack sales by appealing to gains-obsessed Americans and the GLP-1 crowd are considering alternatives like soy powder or milk protein concentrate, which could change the flavors and textures of whey-boosted foods.This shortage may be just a blip. The North American dairy industry is undergoing a $12 billion expansion that’s projected to close the current supply-demand gap in “the near future,” per The Atlantic, since whey protein is a byproduct of cheese making.—ML