Why Have Protein Powder Prices Risen Insanely?

Honestly they have skyrocketed. It's insane. Even Amino Z have gone up. Bulk Nutrients are high too.

Any sneaky specials out there for WPI for like 40 bucks?

If not then I guess no more protein powder for me.

To add to this: I buy ceremonial cacao every so often. There is a notorious cacao shortage. The cacao place I usually buy from only upped their prices by 5 bucks. Only (profanity) 5 bucks. How the (profanity) can a cacao place only raise their prices 5 bucks even with a cacao shortage and Cadbury is 5000 dollars a block now but Protein Powder is price gouged to high hell ?

Comments

  • +16

    The official email communication from @AminoZ is

    TL:DR; is that protein prices have almost doubled recently with global supply shortages, inflation, supply chain disruptions and the falling Aussie dollar.

    • +1

      @AminoZ

      • +1

        Thanks Asian Jim! No more WPI it seems. I'll just hit the Pepitas and Sunflower seeds more I guess.

        • Curious how often do u drink protein powders?

        • Do people still drink raw eggs for protein?

          • +8

            @ATTS: can you even buy eggs these days?

            • +11

              @meong: It's a carton of eggs, Michael, what could it cost? $4.20?

              • +3

                @Gdsamp: I think $10 would be the correct price these days!!!

        • Going to be painful when going to the toilet. I once got into a habbit of eating a lot of sunflower seeds, never again, was very painful for many days.

      • +15

        Thought I'd jump in here to share some background on WPI pricing (thanks for pinging me @Jimothy Wongingtons).

        Yep, WPI pricing is currently insane, I totally agree. As compared to 12 months ago, pricing has practically doubled for the raw materials.

        The primary reason is demand has increased significantly whereas production/supply has not increased proportionally. Supply/demand.

        In our email communication, we mentioned a few other factors. These are no where near as prominent, but worth mentioning:

        • Inflation (in general) has played a smaller role, but has been a consideration.
        • The Aussie dollar has (in the more immediate term) been lower since December last year. Most WPI is imported from EU/US the weaker dollar has impacted pricing.
        • US Tariffs. The longer-term impact is still anyone's guess. In the immediate term, it's more around uncertainty and the impact this has had on the markets. Our dollar remains relatively weak as compared to the long-term, despite bouncing around recently. China is now pulling more protein from EU (which drives up EU pricing considerably). US domestic demand is very increasingly high for US protein to avoid tariffs.

        Manufacturers of WPI generally will also have the capacity to produce WPC. But given that WPI requires some additional equipment with a relatively minor investment, and that WPI has increased substantially relative to WPC pricing (ie. higher profits), many producers are reducing their production of WPC to produce more WPI. Yet, at least for now, demand is still not being met globally.

        WPC has increased in price, but WPI has increased notably more. Historically WPI is generally 50% more than WPC. It's now trading at around 100% more, give or take.

        So this is why WPI based products are so incredibly expensive relative to what they were last year.

        For this reason also, we have not been able to do any promotions on our WPI and we have been forced to raise our prices. Others have done similarly too as noted in this discussion. It's not only an increase in raw material pricing, but also a real lack of supply. Frankly we do not even have the quantity available to do any form of discounting on our WPI.

        I cannot comment on what's going to happen later this year, it's really anyone's guess and no one has a crystal ball. Some predict whey protein pricing may go higher, others predict that it may fall as current prices are unsustainable. At this stage it's like tossing a coin. But for transparency, I would not rule out further price increases at this stage.

        We are receiving daily enquiries about when our next promotion is, so perhaps I can share some insight. What we are doing is working on a new product which will come in at a lower price point. WPI is very quickly moving into the "premium" price end of protein powders. We are developing a new formulation that is not so heavily reliant on WPI that we can sell at a lower price point. This will likely be the focus of our next promotion here on OzBargain (but as of yet, we have no firm ETA as we are still developing the product).

        I hope this provides a bit of background.

        Jay

        • +1

          Thanks Jay

          Very informative . Seems reasonable to me.

        • We have a big dairy industry in Australia, excuse my ignorance but why cant we source locally?

          • +1

            @nomoneynoproblems: A very small amount of WPI is produced in Australia, much more in NZ.

            But even so, the under supply isnt restricted to certain regions, the price has increased globally.

            In fact, Australian and NZ protein is generally more expensive than US.

            Jay

        • Apologies for a change of topic, but while we have you here - It seems like there is no recent lab tests for the Marine Collagen - any particular reason for that?

          https://www.aminoz.com.au/amino-z-marine-collagen.html

          Thanks

          • @smartialarts: I just checked and that still is the latest set of results we have for current product. The date on the website shows the date of the test itself. But I can see it was last received into our warehouse this year. So we're still receiving the same batch from our supplier, as we upload a new certificate with each delivery we receive.

            I hope this clarifies. Thanks for asking!

            Jay

            • @aminozcomau: Thanks for a quick response.

              I honestly have no idea about the food/supplements manufacturing, but are you saying that you are buying a 2 year old batch (last test done in 2023, assuming that's when it was made, give or take)?

              Quick google search seems to suggest that shelf life is 3-5 years, so I assume it's fine, tho still curious what's your take on this.

              Thanks

              • @smartialarts: It will be ingredient dependent, but also based on storage conditions. But yes generally collagen will have a long shelf life at ambient temperature.

                As part of our standard processes, we undertake testing as we produce batches to confirm conformance of the ingredient. This is done for all ingredients and with every batch produced.

                Jay

    • The Aussie dollar fall was a blip on the map. Surely they would not have factored in any price change based on that ? The only realistic excuse they may have is shortage but again where's the proof? Probably just a popularity price rise under the guise of a bunch of other crap.

      • +7

        The email communication from aminoz did also reference tariffs as well now that I re-read it. But yeah I guess this must be some giant conspiracy by Big Protein, Big Cacao, and Big Global Economy.

        I thought we might see a reply now from Jay at Aminoz seeing there was/is a huge following from ozbargain members.

        • And here we are 6 weeks later, and all that's happened to US whey exports is that their opportunities have plummeted due to China placing tariffs on them instead… so their 2024 price rises should have started disappearing in response.

          US whey should be extremely cheap now that they've lost a third of their usual export market… so what's going on? It was never good enough quality to justify this kind of pricing.

          @aminozcomau

          • @jasswolf: Good point hopefully hear back from rep soon

            • +2

              @Jimothy Wongingtons: Hi @jasswolf @Jimothy Wongingtons,

              Raw material pricing on WPI is relatively firm worldwide. While my understanding is exactly as stated above (US Whey exports have decreased to China), global demand has not decreased. Trade routes are re-routing, so China may source elsewhere (most likely Europe), creating more demand in Europe and so US product flows elsewhere. I can only wish that US was sitting on a stockpile, but this is not the present scenario.

              The US have a very strong domestic demand too which has risen sharply in the last 12-18 months.

              It does remain a global issue. Demand has increased and supply has not kept up with the increase.

              Given that WPI has seen such a sharp increase since 2024, it is absolutely possible that pricing may come down. While this has not transpired, if it did, we would not see an immediate impact across all retail pricing. The core reason why is due to lead times. It will typically take 2-4 months to confirm an order with a supplier and have it ready to ship. Then there is transport to the port, shipping and receiving, which can add another couple of months.

              You are looking at extremely long lead times. So hypothetically if pricing halved today, you probably wouldn't see a reduction in retail pricing for at least 6 months as an absolute best case scenario.

              Here I am referring to the retail price generally. There are always going to be exceptions where some businesses may be overstocked, sitting on some product they purchased early 2024 (before prices jumped), running a loss leader deal or need to sell a lot of product for whatever reason. So you will of course see some deals popping up every now and then.

              Anyway, I cannot predict where pricing will land and I am very much hoping that raw material pricing falls back to levels comparable to 2024 (as I know many businesses are).

              I hope this provides a little more insight. Happy to be of further assistance if you have any questions.

              Jay

              • @aminozcomau: Thanks for your reply Jay!

                I think previously you mentioned aminoz was looking at offering a more budget offering - any word on what the progress has been on that front?
                I still have a decent chunk of store credit to blow up but happy to wait as I have 1 bag left of your protein haha.

                • +1

                  @Jimothy Wongingtons: @Jimothy Wongingtons we are doing exactly that, but this likely won't be ready for release until later this year.

                  We are waiting on ingredients to arrive which takes a very long time (see above). Then once received, we have to manufacture the stock which adds more time.

                  Right now I don't have any definite time frame around this as things don't always go smoothly I'm afraid. Sorry I cannot give you a better answer than this.

                  Jay

              • @aminozcomau: Odd to see that the global dairy industry isn't managing to scale to demand shifts, but the doubling of pricing by your metrics should have occurred 3-4 years ago, though I concede we are a small speck amongst US exports and demand.

                None of this is on you though, you're 100% right that this is across the board, I'm just surprised that local suppliers - particularly cheese makers - haven't seized on the opportunity given they'd generally have a superior product.

                • +1

                  @jasswolf: While I'm by no means an expert in the raw material manufacturing space, my understanding from my many discussions is that the challenge about scaling to meet demand centres around many factors. A couple of note are dairy production/availability and facility capacity.

                  Production of dairy is extremely weather dependent. If an area has a dry or wet season, this can greatly affect yield. Also, dairy will be distributed across multiple channels - cheese production, butter, milk etc. By way of example, butter was previously fetching a much more attractive price for producers relative to cheese (which is a primary source of whey). Product therefore flows into butter and away from cheese/whey proteins.

                  There's also factory capacity. It can take years to build a factory capable of producing whey protein isolate along with a very heavy capital investment. Even if there is a sudden surge in demand, even a factory capable of producing whey protein concentrate cannot immediately pivot to whey isolate. I am aware of existing factories either increasing their capacity, or new ones being built, but this will not have an impact on the market for a while.

                  It's due to this massive capital investment that there are a very limited number of whey protein producers worldwide, with some very dominant players in the space (huge corporates).

                  Also interestingly in relation to your note above, there was a doubling of WPI pricing about 3 years ago. Though this was very short lived. We managed to hold out on buying stock during this period and fortunately the price came down very quickly. In contract, this recent price increase has now persisted and is now making its way through to retail pricing.

                  I hope this provides some further insight.

                  Jay

    • -1

      Greed based Inflation is what it is, why? because they can, why? because there are enough idiots paying stupid high prices

  • -1

    Tariffs?

    • +4

      they were extremely expensive way before this tariffs BS came to light

    • +7

      No. We are not US consumers importing protein powder from Chyna.

      • +2

        Many AU supplement companies buy their raw materials from the US. So perhaps the US suppliers are passing on the increased costs of obtaining the materials (unless they are actually produced in the US).

  • -1

    Aim for more pulse grain in your diet (chickpeas, lentil, faba bean, field pea) They all have plenty of protein and fibre as well.

    • +14

      Meat protein >

    • You might want to check the digestibilty of the protein.

    • -1

      Do you know how many beans I'd need to eat to consume 150g of protein a day?

      I really can't wat 2kgs of beans a day, sorry.

      • +3

        If you eat nothing but roasted chickpeas (quite a yummy snack) it would be 250-350g.

      • 600g of red lentils. Even less if you drink milk powder.

    • Lay off the cacao

      Lay off the pipe.

      • -1

        Lay off the sOsHul MeEjA

  • +17

    Some alternatives ranked courtesy of our AI friend:

    Rank Food Item Price per kg Protein per 100g Energy per 100g (kJ) Energy per 90g Protein Cost per gram of Protein Notes
    1 Woolworths Black Beans (Canned) $1.00 9.4g 441 kJ 4222 $0.01 Plant-based protein; good in various cuisines
    2 Katoomba Red Lentils $3.00 24.5g 1272 kJ 4673 $0.01 Quick-cooking; versatile in dishes
    3 Woolworths Red Kidney Beans (Canned) $1.00 8.4g 466 kJ 4993 $0.01 Ready-to-eat; great in salads and stews
    4 Katoomba Chana Dal $2.80 22g 1464 kJ 5989 $0.01 High in protein and fiber; requires cooking
    5 Woolworths Skim Milk Powder $6.00 36g 1460 kJ 3650 $0.02 Long shelf-life; mix with water
    6 Woolworths Tofu (Firm) $3.00 14.8g 541 kJ 3290 $0.02 Plant-based; absorbs flavors well
    7 Woolworths Roasted Peanuts (Salted) $6.00 26.5g 2134 kJ 7248 $0.02 High in calories; good for snacking
    8 Woolworths Chicken Drumsticks $4.50 17.6g 645 kJ 3298 $0.03 Economical meat option; bake or grill
    9 Coles Whole Chicken (RSPCA Approved) $6.00 23.1g 685 kJ 2669 $0.03 Whole bird; multiple meal uses
    10 Woolworths Eggs (Dozen) $4.50 13g 533 kJ 3690 $0.04 Versatile; complete protein source
    11 Woolworths Pork Leg Roast (Boneless) $8.00 22g 686 kJ 2806 $0.04 Roast option; lean protein
    12 Coles Simply Tuna in Springwater (95g) $1.00 25.3g 464 kJ 1651 $0.04 Convenient; high-quality protein
    13 Mayfair Knob Devon $5.00 11.4g 874 kJ 6900 $0.04 Processed meat; check sodium content
    14 Amino Z Whey Protein Isolate (WPI) $50.00 90g 1530 kJ 1530 $0.06 High purity; quick absorption; ideal for post-workout supplementation
    15 Woolworths Beef Mince (Regular) $10.00 15.9g 953 kJ 5394 $0.06 Commonly used; various fat contents available
    16 Woolworths Greek Yogurt (Plain, 1kg tub) $5.00 5g 489 kJ 8802 $0.10 Probiotic benefits; snack or meal addition

    • What bot did you use for this? Does it have all the Australian info or did you provide it?

      • +5

        Probably just hallucinations

        • A can of blackbeans is ~400g normally… cheapest brand will cost a dollar for that amount!

    • +3

      1 beans
      5 milk
      7 peanuts
      11 pork
      13 ???

      • +3

        This is my favourite recipe

    • You might want to adjust for digestibility of the protein.

    • +11

      There's a lot of fart on that list.

      • Yeah exactly my thoughts. My poor guts can't tolerate a lot of that stuff.

        • You do have to slowly build into a lot of foods

    • +4

      Take these prices and protein numbers with a grain of salt, woolies canned black beans are certainly not $1/kg, they are $1 a can though (420g)

    • +6

      Just FYI, most people buying protein are doing it for low carbohydrates and something easy to consume.

      The majority of your ChatGPT list wouldn't work.

    • +2

      I like Kangaroo mince at $11/kg usually at Coles.

      Add some mexican spices, and you've got some lean nachos/burritos/chili con carne etc.

    • Just checked the nutritional information of skim milk powder on the Woolies and Coles website. It's 3.5g of protein per 100g, not 36g per 100g…
      DYOR before grabbing anything from this list.

  • +11

    Inflation has hit gains Albo has gone too far this time

    • -6

      Many aussies think Albo is the messiah lol

      • -3

        90% of voters are morons, but in their defence 100% of those on the ballot don't deserve a vote.

      • -1

        It’s been the battle of the dregs for years. Who’s the least dreggy of the dregs.

      • +4

        He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy.

        Still better than the spud though

      • +5

        Uhh…that comment appears to be facetious because it's obvious to anyone with a brain that Albo didn't have anything to do with global inflation…..

        • -1

          Australian household inflation-adjusted real disposable income felt 8% (Mar-2024) compared to Mar-2022 : this is the worst among 20 OECD economies.

          • +4

            @duluxe2000: Yep, real incomes fell 8% — after the LNP spent 9 years smashing wage growth and loading households with record debt.
            Labor walked into a mess, still delivered a surplus, halved inflation, and now Australia has the 2nd strongest economy in the G20.

            • -2

              @Nuclearvodka: Spewing credits for Labor delivering surplus is abit of BS and I feel like Im obligated to say it : it's because of recorded commodity price and recorded income tax (coming from recorded number of immigration). The recorded income tax explains the fell in disposable income.

              Last 3 years are the worst personally. Do people really think they are better off 3 years ago ?

              • +5

                @duluxe2000: Mate, the Coalition were in power for nearly a decade and left behind wage stagnation, record debt, housing chaos, and a cooked energy market.
                Three years isn’t magic — it’s barely enough time to stop the bleeding.
                Labor didn’t get a blank slate — they got a bin fire. And it’s slowly being put out.
                Do you really think we were better off under Morrison?

              • +1

                @duluxe2000: Morrison — the guy who vanished during the bushfires, secretly took over five ministries, oversaw Robodebt, botched the vaccine rollout, and blew millions on rorts and fake car parks.

                Dutton — the guy who tried to deport Indigenous Australians, gave $532 million to Paladin (a shady company registered to a beach shack with no security experience), and whose big idea is blocking everything Labor proposes.

                You seriously think either of them would’ve done better?

    • +2

      This wasn't a political decision. Even the inflation pre-dates this government. Why get political over protein powder of all things?

      • Just here for the bargains

      • Feels more like a tongue-in-cheek comment than an attempt to get political. Big fan of Albo but I still +ed the comment because it gave me a chuckle

      • Because some people are either trolling, or they have an agenda they need squeeze into every scenario

    • meanwhile Dutton thinks a dozen eggs cost $4.20.

  • +2

    Drop back to WPC or try some Micellar Casein. Both can be bought for <$40/kg.

    Interestingly WPI still represents good value when comparing $/g of protein, especially when adjusted for quality.

    • +1

      I've found even WPC has risen significantly. My last order on bulk nutrients was around $33/kg and the new price is $42/kg.

  • +1

    That's some good gains.

  • -1

    Try Bulk Nutrients soy Isolate. It's cheaper than WPI.

    I know whey is better than soy but soy is still a complete protein and my man boobs haven't grown yet

    • +2

      A mate works in the bulk food industry and he says soy powder is essentially all it is and the "industry" is buying it super cheap and making an absolute killing on it. It costs $2 a kilo at the docks. The prices have not doubled, we get most of it from China. The "doubling" in prices is probably the owners of the protein peddlers needing to buy another Lamborghini to keep up with their mates.

      • +3

        Your mate is ill informed. The protein content is much higher in soy Isolate than soy powder

        • How do you know they're not cutting the isolate with basic soy powder?
          It happens with olive oil (gets cut with small amounts of cheaper seed oils).
          No one is policing it.

          • +5

            @tenpercent: If you don't trust the nutritional info on the packaging, why buy any products then??

            • +2

              @Ozbar Gain: Just buy cement, the bag is lying as they actually fill it with blueberry flavoured whey mix.

              • @Dsiee: Cement actually tastes better than some protein shakes and clogs less.

    • Never thought about soy or vegan. From what I gather, vegan blend is better with the acids etc and Myprotein has the vegan protein on special for a reasonable price.
      Cheers

      • +2

        Vegan tastes fairly nasty though

        • Stop drinking your ice cream thick shake masquerading as a whey protein shake and drink your pea protein powder with water like a real man.

          • @serpserpserp: Hah, I've even ordered egg protein from BN to get around a ridiculous lactose sensitivity.

            Pea protein in water is so much nicer than egg protein water shakes lol

            • +1

              @buckster: Egg protein shakes idea makes me want to vomit. I'd rather just crack raw eggs into my mouth and swallow.

      • Bulk Nutrient’s pea protein in chocolate flavour is really good - has a slightly grainy / thicker / floury texture but easily drinkable and eliminates a dairy source from your diet if that’s your thing (is for me).

  • +9

    Can’t put a price on gainz.

    • Tell that to my dealer.

  • +1

    Just wait for the Woolworths/Coles half price specials. Every 4-6 weeks they have half price on the bulk of their fitness supplements and you can get good prices on the BSc range and Muscle Nation range. That's when I tend to stock up.

    • when was the last one or next sale you reckon? Running low on supplies…

      • I reckon Woolworths may be this week, or next. Coles is possibly 2 weeks off.

  • It's most likely to do with fluctuations in the global dairy trade index. Butter is the highest it's been in the past five years. Dairy manufacturers in this situation will most likely switch to butter production over cheese (whey powder is a bi product of cheese making).

  • +4

    You don't need protein powder, its too expensive these days. Chicken, lean beef mince, turkey mince, eggs, cottage cheese etc are very high in protein and very cheap for the amount of protein you get per serve. Also reconsider whether you need as much protein as you think you do.

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