{"id":633555,"date":"2026-06-11T18:44:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T18:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/633555\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T18:44:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T18:44:22","slug":"no-whey-why-there-is-a-looming-shortage-of-the-protein-in-canada-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/633555\/","title":{"rendered":"No whey? Why there is a looming shortage of the protein in Canada – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether you\u2019re a gym rat or just someone trying to eat healthier, you\u2019re likely about to pay more for food containing protein powder as food businesses struggle with the rising cost of whey protein<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen you own a food brand, you always are putting your business in the hands of your ingredient suppliers, the quality and the amount that they can supply,\u201d said Aelie Swift, founder of Calgary-based health food brand HelloAmino.<\/p>\n

The company makes a range of health foods, from beverages and desserts to breakfast foods, with protein.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single product we sell carries and uses whey isolate,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In the last year or so, Swift has found her costs going up as the domestic supply of whey protein from Canada has dried up.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, we\u2019ve had to go to the United States to do it though. So that has come at a 50 per cent increase in cost. Whey has gone up about 100 per cent in cost over the last few years,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

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She says the turning point for businesses like hers came last year, when large companies including coffee giant Starbucks launched a new range of protein products.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, protein powder was everywhere \u2014 in everything from waffles and lattes to chocolate bars, with both Mars and Snickers coming out with high-protein variants of their popular candies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat seemed to really shift things when big brands started to grab onto the protein because at the end of the day, there\u2019s only so much cheese production,\u201d Swift said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fear is that manufacturers of protein will want to take the big contracts and they won\u2019t deal with the small business,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t5:14
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNutrition Month: Protein Everywhere\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\u2018Once in a generation supply crisis\u2019\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The global whey market is facing a \u201conce-in-a-generation supply crisis,\u201d a report by global market research firm Market Decipher said on Monday.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhey protein concentrate \u2014 for decades a cheap byproduct of cheese manufacturing, priced as an afterthought on dairy balance sheets \u2014 has become the most sought-after, strategically contested ingredient in the global food industry,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

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The demand has only gone up with the skyrocketing popularity of GLP-1 drugs for both weight loss and diabetes treatment, the report said.<\/p>\n

Women over 35 using GLP-1 medication have emerged as a key consumer for this category, the report said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNutritionists are worried that the weight they lose might be more muscles than fat, and so they want them to increase their protein consumption to compensate for that,\u201d said University of Alberta agriculture economist Ellen Goddard said.<\/p>\n

Protein has transcended niche health food brands and leapt onto our grocery shelves, the market report said.<\/p>\n

\u201cProtein has embedded itself in Pop-Tarts, Kraft Mac & Cheese, Doritos, and thousands of mainstream food products that previously had no protein positioning whatsoever,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

But that hasn\u2019t made it any easier for small businesses to get their supply.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe surge in the category is exciting if you can keep the supply,\u201d Swift said.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBusiness Matters: Canada well-positioned to deal with global fertilizer shortage\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tCan we make more whey protein?\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Whey isolate is a byproduct of cheese production, but the problem Canadian food businesses run into when trying to source local whey is that producers are not allowed to make more cheese, Swift said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s only so much cheese production,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

This is because Canada has a system of production and import controls known as \u201csupply management.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canada uses a quota system<\/a>\u00a0that allows a set amount of some foreign dairy products into the country, and high tariffs only apply if countries try to exceed that allowed quota coming into Canada.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s supply management system, which dates back to the 1970s, has restricted foreign access to the Canadian dairy market in order to protect domestic producers and set quality standards for products.<\/p>\n

Whey is not the first product to face a shortage under this system. In 2015, the Canadian Dairy Commission had to lift limits on the imports of butter and change domestic quotas after a butter shortage in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they see a shortage of a component of milk that might go into producing something like butter, they try to change the component price to send the signal to producers to increase butter fat production,\u201d Goddard said.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore on Consumer
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The Dairy Farmers of Canada said they acknowledged \u201cthe strong demand for dairy protein in Canada and are proud to produce the high-quality milk used to make the dairy products Canadians enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs demand continues to grow, farmers are working with dairy processors under the guidance of the Canadian Dairy Commission to match supply with the domestic demand for dairy proteins,\u201d a spokesperson for the industry group told Global News.<\/p>\n

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The Canadian Dairy Commission told Global News that while \u201cCanada\u2019s supply managed system aligns production with domestic needs,\u201d it \u201cdoes not regulate market activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIndustry partners work to adjust production and support efficient use of milk components to meet demand for dairy proteins,\u201d a spokesperson for the commission said.<\/p>\n

The approval of generic GLP-1 drugs could mean this supply crisis could get worse, Goddard said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have generic versions of some of those weight loss drugs and it may even make the demand higher,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The shortage is not likely to be resolved soon, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cChanging feeding strategies is one thing, but changing breeding strategy for cattle to encourage them to produce different components in their milk is a long-term strategy, so, it\u2019s not going to happen overnight,\u201d Goddard said.<\/p>\n

What food businesses are facing today, consumers who want to buy tubs of their own whey protein off the shelves will face down the line, Swift said.<\/p>\n

While the big protein brands have already procured their supply for the year, that will run out eventually, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTowards the end of the year, early next year, I think you\u2019ll start to see it more so on shelves,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGeneric Ozempic arrives in Canada: How to know if it\u2019s right for you\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tAre there alternatives to whey protein?\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Food businesses are already beginning to pivot and diversify.<\/p>\n

HelloAmino is looking into splitting whey protein with some amount of milk protein concentrate and adding other health products like collagen and fibre to lower costs but still maintain value.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Milk protein) is not inferior, but different,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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The higher cost of whey is also likely to drive interest in plant-based protein, Goddard said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the crops we grow, like peas, have higher protein content, and so, it\u2019s possible there will be a positive increase in demand for those proteins,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Canada is emerging as a leader in the plant-based protein market, the Market Decipher report noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanadian pea protein processing capacity expanded by 1 million metric tons. Roquette\u2019s 120,000-metric-ton Manitoba facility now supplies approximately 40% of North American plant-protein isolates,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Swift hopes the changes she is planning for her business are easy to digest for her most loyal customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we tie emotion to our food, we become very particular and sensitive to change,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whether you\u2019re a gym rat or just someone trying to eat healthier, you\u2019re likely about to pay more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[626,1319,11566,1294,102,2222,6636,214395,56,54,55,67666],"class_list":["post-633555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-canada","tag-consumer","tag-dairy","tag-economy","tag-health","tag-money","tag-nutrition","tag-supply-management","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-whey-protein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}