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India witnessing huge demand for protein-loaded products

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Boom driven by high protein deficiency, not gym fad

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Consumer firms rush in, launch products with extensive

marketing

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India has world's most vegetarians; poorly ranked on meat

intake

By Dhwani Pandya and Praveen Paramasivam

MUMBAI/CHENNAI, Aug 26 (Reuters) - At McDonald's outlets

in South India, a 30-cent burger topping has been selling out

fast. It's not extra cheese or a fancy salsa dip, but a

vegetarian protein slice developed with Indian government food

scientists -- the brand's first such offering globally.

McDonald's has joined India's biggest dairy Amul, a

slew of startups and a company backed by Bollywood superstar

Ranveer Singh to unleash a marketing blitz with celebrity chefs

and cricketers promoting protein as a daily nutrition need for

young and old, not just a gym fad.

Ordering kiosks at the Golden Arches do not mention calories

but lure consumers by flashing the high protein in burgers,

tapping into a sudden craze in a nation with the world's highest

number of vegetarians and low meat consumption.

"The protein addition makes this easier to eat without much

guilt," said 53-year-old Baiju C.T., as he added the five-gram

protein slice to his $3 Chicken Maharaja -- described as India's

answer to McDonald's signature beef burger Big Mac.

The nutrition push is not only about $50 whey powder packs.

Protein has been infused into cottage cheese - a vegetarian

favourite - as well as ice creams, water, chips and 60-cent tiny

bottles of blueberry milkshakes. Indian flatbreads are next.

U.S. and other markets have seen similar protein booms, but in

India it is being driven by the country's distinct cereal-heavy

dietary profile. Nearly 30% of India's 1.4 billion people are

vegetarian and the government estimates 73% of the population is

protein-deficient.

Religious sensitivities mean beef is banned in most states, and

while chicken is popular, it remains costly for many low-income

households. Meat supplies in India stood at a mere 6.6 kg (14

pounds) per person a year - among the lowest globally, compared

with 123 kg in the United States, and 70.5 kg in China, U.N.

data from 2022 showed.

In July, McDonald's sold 32,000 pieces of its soy- and

pea-protein slice within 24 hours of launch. Most of its over

400 stores ran out of stock quickly and were replenished a month

later, according to Westlife Foodworld, its sole

franchisee for south and west India.

The slice is "inspired by consumer insights showing growing

interest in protein," Westlife CEO Akshay Jatia told

Reuters.

'SAVE OUR POPULATION'

India's high-protein dairy market grew 9.4% over a year to

touch $1.5 billion in 2024. This year, it's likely to grow by

another 12%, Euromonitor estimates.

Google Trends data from India shows the terms "protein

chips" and "protein bar" recorded their highest interest in five

years in June and August, with the highest search interest from

New Delhi, an urban hotspot.

Rural India is plagued by low protein consumption. A

research survey published in February found 80% of 785

households in semi-arid tropics consumed less protein than

needed, even though they had access to protein-rich foods.

Aashitosh Inamdar, a chief scientist at the government's

Central Food Technological Research Institute, said it took them

six months to refine McDonald's protein slice in their labs as

earlier prototypes received from the brand were "too chewy" and

"powdery" for Indian tastes.

The government lab last year partnered with billionaire

Mukesh Ambani's Reliance to develop protein-enriched cookies. It

is currently also developing local sweets and spices to make

their taste appeal to more Indians, though much like McDonald's,

protein products largely remain an urban phenomenon.

"To save our population, we need to put it (protein) into

something which is more edible," said Inamdar.

BOLLYWOOD & CRICKET

Movie star Singh and co-founder Nikunj Biyani's startup,

SuperYou, has sold more than 10 million protein wafers since

November, with sales hitting a record monthly high in July.

Singh has 47 million Instagram followers and is promoting

the brand himself. In one reel, he touted that SuperYou baked

chips contain 10 grams of protein, while mocking regular "guilty

potato" chips.

But they are pricey. SuperYou chips cost 100 rupees ($1.14) per

100 grams, more than double Pepsi's popular Lay's potato

chips.

SuperYou plans to launch biscuits and cereals and

target smaller towns, said Biyani, who calls protein a "knight

in shining armour."

Cricketers are also endorsing the protein craze.

In April, Amul sponsored several teams in the world's

richest cricket league, the IPL, and used the partnership to

make Instagram reels featuring dancing Indian and international

cricketers to promote its protein offerings. Some reels

generated millions of views.

The country's biggest milk and cheese producer is trying to

expand the protein category by encashing on the three million

litres of byproduct whey it ends up with each day, managing

director Jayen Mehta said in an interview.

With its online-sales-focussed strategy, Amul is attempting to

lure consumers with high-protein variants of its regular

offerings, such as buttermilk, ice cream and flatbreads.

"It's a very huge market opportunity," Mehta said.

(Additional reporting by Jatindra Dash in Bhubneshwar; Editing

by Aditya Kalra and Saad Sayeed)