Julian Mellentin

One of the many hot takes of consulting firms is that "fibre is the next protein”. The CEO of one of the world's biggest food and beverage firms repeated this claim early this year. But it is consumers, not CEOs nor consultants nor astrologers, who decide the future. And right now they're showing no sign of agreeing with the hot takes. At NNB we've been closely monitoring consumer beliefs and behaviours around fibre for three decades.

Groupe Bel, owner of successful snacking brands such as Babybel and GoGo SqueeZ, is acquiring the Brainiac and Little Brainiac brands. This takes Bel’s snacking portfolio in the US into the emergent kids brain health space, with a brand that can be found in 40,000 grocery outlets and is an innovator with science-based ingredients such as MFGM.

The many makers of fermentation-derived dairy proteins - and most seem to be focused on one called beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) - are wildly enthusiastic about the potential of their technologies. As "real" dairy protein gets more expensive, the lab-made proteins may be able to compete on price in some applications. Certainly they have the potential to add value in some areas like sports nutrition, medical nutrition and nutrition for seniors.