Part two of my thoughts on Expo West. The protein arms race

Walk Expo West for ten minutes and you’ll see it.

Everything is high-protein.

Which means nothing is.

3,300 brands. Four days. A full-scale simulation of modern retail. And one pattern kept repeating: when everyone follows the same signal, everything starts to look—and feel—the same.

Last week I wrote about the handful of brands that actually cut through. This week is about the opposite. What happens when they don’t.

The Floor Was Swimming in It

Protein coffee. Protein pretzels. Protein boba tea. Protein pudding. Protein ice cream. Protein water.

At one booth I tried a protein popcorn so chalky it made me question the entire category. At another, a protein jam that tasted like ambition and regret. The products kept coming. The excitement didn’t.

The Taste Radio hosts—who’ve been covering this show for years—were blunt: there are categories where protein just doesn’t make sense. FoodNavigator went further, declaring that protein has lost its novelty. And Olga Osminkina-Jones, Group CMO at Flora Food Group, reframed it best: protein is no longer a trend. It’s normal.

And when something becomes normal, it stops differentiating.

It becomes expected.

Table stakes don’t build brands. They build categories.

The Data Confirms It

The demand is real.

54% of US consumers say they’re actively trying to get more protein. Among Gen Z and Millennials, that rises to 65%. Search interest is at an all-time high. Entire growth categories are built around it.

So the dashboards aren’t wrong.

But that’s exactly the problem.

When a signal becomes this obvious, it stops being a source of advantage. It becomes a race everyone enters at the same time, in the same way.

And most brands don’t win races like that.

There are categories where protein clearly belongs—pasta, cereal, snack bars, dairy. There are others where it clearly doesn’t—beer, cocktails.

But most of the market sits in the middle.

Chocolate, ice cream, chips, popcorn, water, coffee.

Not loved. Not rejected. Just… neutral.

And that middle ground is exactly where Expo West was most crowded.

That’s not innovation.

That’s clustering.

The Communication Problem Nobody’s Solving

Here’s where it shifts.

The challenge isn’t adding protein.

It’s making it matter.

Because adding protein often comes with trade-offs—cost, texture, complexity. And most brands aren’t explaining why those trade-offs are worth it.

That’s not a formulation problem.

That’s a brand problem.

It gets worse.

38% of consumers rank ultra-processed food as their top concern. Many high-protein products are exactly that—engineered, additive-heavy, hard to decode.

At the same time, 40% of shoppers still don’t understand what “natural” or “organic” means.

So what’s the industry doing?

Adding more claims.

More noise.

More things for people to process in less time.

We’re not simplifying decisions.

We’re making them harder.

The GLP-1 Paradox

There’s a growing group of consumers who genuinely need more protein.

GLP-1 drugs are changing how millions of people eat. Users are encouraged to increase protein intake to offset muscle loss. They’re more open to protein in almost every category.

That’s a real, expanding audience.

But almost no one at Expo West was speaking to it.

Because it’s not an easy story to tell. It’s functional, not aspirational.

And that’s where brand judgment matters.

The opportunity isn’t to shout about it.

It’s to quietly solve for it—without losing everyone else.

The Brands Going the Other Way

The most interesting brands at Expo West weren’t adding more.

They were choosing less.

Nic Trapani, a non-alcoholic beverage founder, put it simply: it tastes great and it’s non-alcoholic. That’s it. No stack of added benefits. Just a clear position.

Elizabeth Carter, president of Chomps, made a similar point: people don’t have time to decode products. They want something simple and trustworthy.

And then there’s Gorgie.

They launched a protein SKU at Target and sold over 100,000 cans before even announcing it. Why? Because it tasted exactly like their original product. No compromise. No “for a protein drink.” Just good.

That’s the difference.

A business decision adds protein because the data says so.

A brand decision adds it only when it doesn’t break what made people choose you in the first place.

In a market full of more, restraint becomes visible.

A Simple Diagnostic (Connect in FULL)

If you’re considering adding protein, start here:

Found

If I remove your logo, are you recognisable—or just another protein claim?

Understood

If protein disappeared tomorrow, would your brand still make sense?

Lived

Are you building memory—or just repeating a message everyone else owns?

Loved

What’s the story people tell about you that has nothing to do with protein?

If those answers are weak, adding protein won’t fix it.

It will hide it.

Three Questions Before You Add That Protein SKU

If you came back from Expo West thinking “we need a protein extension,” pause.

Is this true to our brand?

If it doesn’t connect to what you stand for, it’s imitation.

Will this make us more distinct—or more similar?

If it moves you closer to the category centre, it weakens you.

What are we willing to reject?

If nothing is being said no to, no real decision is being made.

The Choice

When everyone follows the same signal, the only advantage left is conviction.

Protein will sell.

But it won’t make you stand out.

The brands that win won’t be the ones adding more.

They’ll be the ones clear enough—and confident enough—to add less.

Because protein isn’t a strategy.

It’s an ingredient.

The strategy is knowing who you are.

Brands succeed when they’re Found, Understood, Lived, and Loved. Connect in FULL®.