Have you noticed just how pricey whey protein is?
In fact, if anything, it seems to get more expensive year-after-year.
You know yourself that the amount of money you spent on protein powder a few years ago has almost doubled now.
Then again, let’s face facts, whey protein has never actually been that cheap, especially when you compare it to other supplements.
So, what exactly is going on here?
One of the main reasons that whey protein is so expensive is due to the supplier’s profit margins. You’ll typically find that most suppliers will initially offer heavily discounted prices in order to bring in new customers. However, this doesn’t make much profit, so eventually you’ll see huge price hikes. Additionally, supply and demand has increased, so this once more is reflected in the price. Plus, the manufacturing and marketing costs, as well as the need to import whey protein makes it so costly.
Whey Protein Supplier’s Profit Margins
You’ve probably noticed that many whey protein suppliers offer huge discounts.
Then again, they have specific discount codes you can use to purchase any of their products.
Obviously, this is true when you purchase your whey protein online.
The aim here (as a supplier) is to entice you as a customer, and find a whey protein product that you can use and enjoy.
Suppliers will sell you on the benefits and may even try to scare you into thinking you could lose muscle if you dont continue taking their brand of whey protein.
Then hopefully you’ll become a loyal customer.
However, all these discounts, codes, and “buy one get one free” offers won’t last forever.
In effect, the supplier is making very little profit from sales to new customers.
So, eventually the prices will go back to “normal”, but by now you like the whey protein that you’ve been using and you don’t want to go anywhere else to get it.
Essentially, you are now paying the usual price for your supplements.
With that being said, I know this isn’t always the case.
In fact, you may simply go to your local health store or sports store and purchase a tub of whey protein whenever you need it.
However, once more, quite often they are offered at “discounted” prices.
So, it’s actually quite shocking once the price returns to normal.
This is looking at things from a sales and consumer perspective, but whey protein is still so much more dear than you would think.
The Whey Protein Manufacturing (and Marketing) Process
Now, you’ll probably find many articles online that tell you the manufacturing process is both long and expensive.
Admittedly, to some extent this is true, but it’s not actually as expensive as many make out.
Okay, there is the expense of machinery and employees when it comes to extracting protein from both plants and animals.
However, as whey protein is produced in bulk, this still doesn’t explain why whey protein is so pricey by the time it hits the shelves.
With that being said, if you look at the costs of macronutrients in their simplest form, then protein is usually more expensive anyway.
As an example, look at the difference in price between 1kg of beef (protein) and 1kg of rice (carbohydrates).
In fact, you can’t really even compare the two, as there’s such a huge difference in price.
So, the cost of protein is always going to be fairly expensive.
However, even once the manufacturing process is done with, you also have to consider packaging and then marketing of the product.
Once more, there is the expense of machinery and human employees when it comes to packaging whey protein.
But, the largest expense typically comes down to marketing the product.
Now, you wouldn’t think this would be an issue, as so many people regularly consume whey protein.
In fact, it is estimated that nearly 50% of all Americans actually take a whey protein supplement.
However, this isn’t so much about the demand (although, I’ll get to that in a moment), but rather the competition for sales among “non-producers”.
Basically, there are protein marketing companies who don’t actually produce the products, but simply want to get in on the action.
If you think about it, wherever you go online to search for whey protein, you’ll be greeted with literally thousands of different options.
Plus, it is said that approximately 60% of the price of your tub of whey protein comes down to marketing costs.
This is also why it makes sense to shop around before making your purchase.
The Cost of Whey Protein Import & Export
Not only are there costs for manufacture, packaging, and marketing, but also for actually importing and exporting whey protein.
Okay, the initial manufacturing process of whey protein will typically start on a dairy farm, but that doesn’t mean that every country in the world is doing this.
The country with the largest whey protein production is Germany, with almost 14,000,000 metric tons produced annually.
The Netherlands comes second with just over 8,000,000 metric tons per year.
Plus, Poland, Italy, the UK, France, Turkey, Ireland, Denmark, and Spain make up the rest of the top 10 largest whey protein producers in the world.
So, in effect, there are the costs of shipping and importing whey protein, and obviously the export costs from the source.
Therefore, depending on exactly where you are in the world, you could find that whey protein is significantly more expensive than other parts of the world.