Market Analysis of Protein Supplements

New product strategy: idea generation

The ageing population is increasing across the world which has emerged a considerable challenge in the healthcare industry (Oliver et al. 2014). With this demographic change, sufficient intake of different dietary nutrients is essential for enhanced healthy and active aging (Osborn et al. 2015). Protein is essential for the aging population as it helps in maintaining muscle strength and mass: inadequate intake of proteins results in functional problems such as sarcopenia (Cruz-Jentoft et al. 2014). Sarcopenia can be defined as the reduction of skeletal muscle mass and strength which occurs with ageing, and results in functional decline and increased dependence among the people aged 60 years and above (Cruz-Jentoft et al. 2014). Numerous studies have established that physical activity and sufficient intake to high-quality protein significantly counters the sarcopenic process. Therefore, developing and marketing appealing protein-enriched prototypes is an important approach that food retailers can use to meet the nutritional needs of the elderly population. This paper develops and markets protein-enriched rye bread which is aimed at helping older adults gain a substantial increase in protein intake required in maintaining muscle mass and strength during aging. In particular, the paper explores the use of whey protein hydrolysate (WPH) in enriching the sensory attributes of rye bread for greater nutritional value for the ageing population. The whey protein-fortified rye bread is a new product in terms of formulation given WPH will be added in the process, underscoring the importance of healthcare dissertation help. Fortification with whey protein is likely to cause changes in flavour and texture of the rye bread.

Market analysis

High-quality proteins such as milk-based whey protein and soy-based protein are among the most prevalent protein supplements in the food industry and are commonly used to adequately support muscle protein syntheses and accretion among the elderly (Moore et al. 2015). In selecting protein-fortified foods, the elderly consider the quality of protein in their diet which has further increased the popularity of high-quality proteins such milk-based whey protein (Moore et al. 2015). Nonetheless, adding proteins to food carriers alters the sensory properties of these food carriers in varied ways thus affecting the acceptability of these foods among the ageing population. For example, Höglund et al. (2017) established that off flavours were reported in muffins where whey protein had been added. On the other hand, Aprodu et al. (2016) established that adding whey protein disrupts the gluten structure of wheat dough resulting in negative effect of the texture of the whey protein-enriched cookies. Cognisant of these affects, retailers in the food industry are increasingly investigating strategies through which they can counter the negative effects of protein addition on the sensory attributes of protein-enriched foods in order to develop products that are appealing and acceptable to different segments.

The voice of target consumers has played a significant role in the innovation of protein-enriched products in the food industry. According to Song et al. (2018), most of the elderly consumers perceive the healthy traditional food carriers as the most suitable components for protein-enrichment, and they are much more willing purchase and trial such products. As a result, many food retailers consider healthy traditional foods when targeting the ageing population. Based on this fact, this paper chooses rye bread for fortification with whey protein, since rye bread is a healthy traditional food with a significant role in the diet for the older people in UK. Indeed, rye bread is among the highly consumed staple foods, especially during breakfast and lunch among older adults in the UK (Mintel 2020). On the other hand, Höglund et al. (2017) write that rye bread forms a key part of the Northern European cuisine and is popular for its flavour versatility thus accompanying almost all savory foods in Northern European countries. Based on this levels of preference of rye bread and the perceived nutritional value, consumers especially the ageing have shown higher preference of rye bread as compared to other bread (Song et al. 2019), and this has significantly driven the demand of rye bread among the ageing population.

Health trends have also affected the demand of rye bread among the gaining population. In the UK, the Public Health England has suggested a number of dietary recommendations for health eating, one of which is to choose primary whole-grain products when eating cereal food (Public Health England 2018). Following this regulation, consumers have shown preference for whole-grain breads including those made of rye. In response, food retailers are turning to whole-grain including rye in bread production in order to meet the changing demands of the consumers. This implies that rye bread is not a new product in the UK market but fortifying it with protein will differentiate it from other rye breads in the market. Further, fortifying rye bread with proteins adds to its nutritional value creating a competitive advantage. Therefore, the WPH-fortified rye bread will compete on quality basis given it will have a higher nutritional value particularly for the ageing population as compared to other breads in the market: WPH-fortified rye bread is safe and nutritious for the ageing population.

Screening

Whey protein hydrolysate (WPH, 86.4% protein content) will be added to the basic ingredients of rye bread. In this case, the basic ingredients of rye bread are developed using Amo’s rye bread mix guidelines, but extra sunflower seeds will be added. Initial dough will be prepared: 20g yeast will be dissolved in 800ml water that will then be mixed with 1000g rye bread mix and 50g sunflower seeds. A hand mixer will be used when combining the ingredients and a medium speed will be applied for about 10 minutes. The rye bread mix contains wheat flour, rye flour, rye flakes, dried sourdough, sugar, salt, malt, wheat starch, sunflower seeds, and barley flour. While the rye bread mix has 9.9% protein, the extra sunflower seeds will add 21.0% protein thus significantly raising the protein content in the protein-enriched bread.

Dried sourdough, wheat gluten, and water will be used for flavour and texture modifications because these ingredients are a basic part of the original rye bread thus using them will avoid too much flavour interference in the protein-enriched bread. In addition, sourdough has 10.0% protein while the wheat gluten has 71.0% protein thus enhancing the protein levels of the suggested prototype. WPH (4%) will be added. The WPH-enriched bread is likely to be characterised by a clastic and crumbly texture, porous appearance, bitter after-taste, burned odour, and umami taste. The bread is likely to be negatively associated with attributes of compact appearance, sticky mouthfeel, yeasty odour, and soft texture. These predictions are based on the findings of a study conducted by Song et al. (2018) which reveal that WPH-enriched rye bread samples are located close to burned odour, which is explained by the enhanced Maillard reactions caused by adding WPH. The WPH-enriched bread is expected to have a bitter after-taste and higher umami taste, which can be explained using the findings of a study conducted by Aprodu et al. (2016). Although WPH will significantly increase the bitter after-taste of the WPH-enriched bread, the intensity will remain within the accepted level among the ageing population. Additionally, the bitter after-taste is a distinctive sensory attribute of the rye bread (Heiniö et al. 2016) thus it is not likely to affect the acceptability of the WHP-enriched bread. Further, the WPH will increase the umami taste of the bread given that some amino acids will be freed during the hydrolysis of protein, thus giving the prototype an advantageous effect among the foods that require an umami taste sensory attribute. Finally, the protein-enriched bread will have increased hardness and elasticity due to the heat induced during the aggregation of whey protein. The whey protein has a foaming property which might give the protein-enriched bread a larger volume, porous appearance, and crumbly texture. Furthermore, whey protein has high water-binding capacity, which could increase the perceived dryness during mastication.

Market testing

Based on the above sensory descriptive analysis, a questionnaire testing the overall liking of the bread will be developed. The product-evoked emotions to be measure would be desire, interested, bored, calm, pleasant, unhappy, or disappointed among others. The overall liking will be measured on a 5 point Likert scale (1 = extreme dislike, 2 = dislike, 3 = neither like nor dislike, 4 = like, and 5 = extreme like). In addition, a 5 point Likert scale will be used to measure the perceived healthiness of the WPH-enriched rye bread and consumers’ willingness to trial purchase the WHP-enriched rye bread (1 = not at all, 2 = somewhat, 3 = moderately, 4 = significantly, and 5 = extremely). Based on the perceived healthiness and willingness to trial purchase the protein-enriched rye bread, the respondents will be asked to indicate the price at which they would be willing to buy the bread. Analysis of this information will be essential in determining the acceptability of the protein-enriched rye bread.

Summarily, protein-enriched foods are recommendable among the ageing population given they help in maintaining muscle mass and strength during aging, and as such, protein-enriched rye bread is an appealing and functional food for the older people. The WPH-enriched rye bread in this paper will add 86.4% protein content to the unfortified rye bread, giving it a higher nutritional value for the ageing population. However, flavour and texture changes are major concerns that are likely to affect the liking of the protein-enriched bread. To counter the negative effects of taste and texture on the liking and acceptability of the bread, the suggested prototype will use dried sourdough, water, and wheat gluten which are ingredients already used in preparing rye bread, hence minimally interfering with the taste and texture of the WPH-enriched bread. Nonetheless, the protein-enriched rye bread will have a bitter after-taste but previous studies shows that bitterness has insignificant effects on the acceptance of protein-fortified rye bread as bitter after-taste is a distinctive attribute of rye bread.

References

Aprodu, I., Badiu, E.A. and Banu, I., 2016. Influence of protein and water addition on gluten-free dough properties and bread quality. International Journal of Food Engineering, 12(4), pp.355-363.

Cruz-Jentoft, A.J., Landi, F., Schneider, S.M., Zúñiga, C., Arai, H., Boirie, Y., Chen, L.K., Fielding, R.A., Martin, F.C., Michel, J.P. and Sieber, C., 2014. Prevalence of and interventions for sarcopenia in ageing adults: a systematic review. Report of the International Sarcopenia Initiative (EWGSOP and IWGS). Age and ageing, 43(6), pp.748-759.

Heiniö, R.L., Noort, M.W.J., Katina, K., Alam, S.A., Sozer, N., De Kock, H.L., Hersleth, M. and Poutanen, K., 2016. Sensory characteristics of wholegrain and bran-rich cereal foods–A review. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 47, pp.25-38.

Höglund, E., Albinsson, B., Stuhr-Olsson, G., Signäs, M., Karlsson, C., Rothenberg, E. and Wendin, K., 2017. Protein and energy enriched muffins designed for nutritional needs of older adults. Nutrition & Food Sceince, 2(4).

Moore, D.R., Churchward-Venne, T.A., Witard, O., Breen, L., Burd, N.A., Tipton, K.D. and Phillips, S.M., 2015. Protein ingestion to stimulate myofibrillar protein synthesis requires greater relative protein intakes in healthy older versus younger men. Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biomedical Sciences and Medical Sciences, 70(1), pp.57-62.

Oliver, D., Foot, C. and Humphries, R., 2014. Making our health and care systems fit for an ageing population. London: UK: King's Fund.

Osborn, R., Moulds, D., Schneider, E.C., Doty, M.M., Squires, D. and Sarnak, D.O., 2015. Primary care physicians in ten countries report challenges caring for patients with complex health needs. Health affairs, 34(12), pp.2104-2112.

Song, X., Perez-Cueto, F.J. and Bredie, W.L., 2018. Sensory-driven development of protein-enriched rye bread and cream cheese for the nutritional demands of older adults. Nutrients, 10(8), p.1006.

Song, X., Pérez-Cueto, F.J., Laugesen, S.M.B., van der Zanden, L.D. and Giacalone, D., 2019. Older consumers' attitudes towards food carriers for protein-enrichment. Appetite, 135, pp.10-19.