Dairy and meat makers embrace protein moment as snack and alcohol makers falter

Nutrition companies such as Glanbia have raised their guidance while alcohol makers such as Diageo contend with weakening volumes

Glanbia has raised its guidance, citing sales of protein powders, healthy snacks, and vitamins for both athletes and health-conscious everyday consumers.

Europe’s dairy and poultry producers are having a moment as the global trend toward high-protein diets intensifies, in a stark contrast with Big Food’s struggle to revive volumes.

Glanbia, the Irish producer of nutrition products, raised its guidance recently, citing sales of protein powders, healthy snacks, and vitamins for both athletes and health-conscious everyday consumers.

British meat producer Cranswick recently said its premium ranges outperformed, thanks to consumers’ growing appetite for protein, while Swiss dairy manufacturer Emmi AG boosted its sales guidance as it benefited from the global drive toward “healthy nutrition, naturalness and high-quality proteins”, with the high-protein category growing more than 20% a year.

“If you look at the underlying performance of beef, even with that fairly significant inflation in the sector, consumers are still continuing to demand protein,” said Cranswick chief commercial officer Jim Brisby earlier this year. 

Meat’s very much back on trend from a health perspective.”

Upbeat outlooks from those smaller companies stand at odds with recent updates from Europe’s biggest snack, chocolate, and alcohol makers, which are contending with weakening volumes even as food inflation normalises. Just in the past six months, Nestle shares have dropped 14%, Heineken has lost 17%, and Diageo has slid 7.6%. Glanbia is up 40% and Cranswick is 3.8% higher.

Anti-obesity drugs

The rising adoption of anti-obesity drugs is a “major headwind” and “more of a challenge than an opportunity” for companies such as Nestle, Heineken, and Guinness-owner Diageo, Bloomberg Intelligence strategists Laurent Douillet and Aditya Khanduja wrote in a note.

While companies such as Nestle have introduced new products to cater to this growing consumer segment, including smaller pack sizes and high-protein content, the effect on profit remains limited so far, said the strategists. Smaller rival Danone is faring better, having emphasised dairy categories such as its Activia yoghurt to drive growth.

At least 30% of users of GLP-1 drugs cut back on sweets, snacks, and alcohol both during and after treatment, a survey of 2,327 patients found recently.

“If a big portion of those companies’ revenue faces a headwind of 20% or 30%, happening over maybe five or 10 years, that’s going to be very difficult to offset even with new products,” said Mr Douillet.

Volumes declined over the second quarter for companies such as Nestle and Heineken. In a sign of further weakness down the road, organic sales growth estimates for European consumer staple companies in 2025 have been cut to 3.2%, compared with 4.1% earlier this year.

The retreat from indulgence is not just confined to users of weight loss drugs, with younger generations as a whole embracing healthier and more sober lifestyles.

“Alcohol is under pressure because younger people drink less while GLP-1 users also cut consumption,” said Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Jon Cox.

“A shift toward protein-based diets for quite a few years is now accelerating. 

This is having a major impact on certain categories, not least dairy and yoghurt, which a few years ago was declining, but is now having a reboot.”

Data from Ocado Group shows searches for high-protein foods more than doubled in 2025 compared with last year, while Renub Research said that the Europe-wide protein market is projected to grow to €8bn by 2033 from around €4.9bn in 2024.

This means big food and drink firms are increasingly at risk of losing their defensive credentials, with the next cycle of growth nowhere in sight.

“It’s very difficult to see what is going to drive the volume back up, with an increasing penetration of GLP-1 drugs, lower consumption from the new generation, competition from startups and new companies in that space,” said Mr Douillet.

Without that volume growth, and considering a limited ability to raise prices given potential consumer backlash, Mr Douillet’s mid- to long-term view is flat to declining revenues for those companies. “There’s nothing in the medium term to really be optimistic about.”

• Bloomberg