A few days in Bangalore gave me a protein high diet of an all-new kind. The first surprise was at an ice-cream parlour. No added sugar, high protein dark chocolate. Never have I ever seen that before. And yes, I was brave enough to try it, and it was pretty damn good. Taste wise at least. Not sure how good it was for me, but it was a guilt free indulgence at the end of a long day. Just for that, I would say, it was good for me.
The next morning at the airport, at a leading coffee chain counter as I scanned the menu two things jumped out at me. Zero sugar flavours of hazelnut, vanilla, and something else plus a range of coffees with protein in them (or protein foam). Never have I ever heard of a protein spiked coffee before. This time I was not so brave, and I stuck to my latte with a dash of zero sugar hazelnut. My tryst with protein coffee will have to wait for another day.
These two spikes of protein in unexpected places got me thinking. Is good food marketing following the same principles of SEO or GEO? Key word stuffing. Find out what key words are trending in the minds of consumers and then add them into the menus and off course by extension into a whole range of products. The old phrases “with a cherry on top” will now read “with some protein powder on top”. This quest to up one’s protein intake may take us to places unimagined.
Next will come regulatory scrutiny to figure out what protein, how much protein and a whole host of labelling requirements to make credible protein claims. And then some research that turns all of this on its head and suddenly we will have a new word that is springing up on menus around the world. But till then, get ready and hold on for the protein Merry go round is just starting to take us around and around.
Healthy ageing and GLP-1 friendly diets are at work behind the scenes. The script is shifting in favour of more protein and fibre. So, it’s not just a protein fest, fibre is making its presence felt too. The phrase “fibre maxxing” is a new one that I came across. Gut health and appetite control seem to be getting attention. Where attention goes, product innovation flows. So high fibre, high protein products are making their presence felt.
Fitting this into an already packed day is not easy. So, integrate it with a cup of coffee and add a sprinkle into a scoop of ice-cream. And there you have it. An important lesson in change communications comes to mind. Find a project that already has traction and add your message into something that’s already working. Coffee and ice-cream seem like they are working wonderfully.
Oh and don’t forget to check you macros (whatever those are) someone recently told me that I need to consume double my body weight in terms of grams of protein and since each egg only gives me 6 grams and I start my day with 12 grams, I am in search of another 88 grams through the day. Ice cream with protein, coffee with protein, and anything else I can get my hands on sounds promising. Oh, by the way, I have also tried some whey protein powder when I was on a diet a few months ago. All in all, a protein has got me and my world all shook up.
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