CHICAGO — The US whey protein ingredients business is experiencing record high prices because of demand. In response, there is an unprecedented amount of growth in investment to manufacture more, said Mike McCully, president of McCully Consulting, South Bend, Ind., during a Sept. 21 presentation at the International Whey Conference taking place in Chicago.
"Nearly one-third of foods in the grocery store now contain some sort of protein," he said. "Whey is in salad dressing, Pop-Tarts and Doritos."
To produce more, dairy processors need to increase cheese production, as whey is a side stream of making cheddar, mozzarella and other cheeses.
"Today, cheese has become the byproduct of whey production," McCully said. "The US dairy industry's investments will grow new cheesemaking capacity by more than 500,000 tonnes by early 2027."
He emphasized the net increase in capacity will be less due to lost capacity from the closure of older cheesemaking plants. Also, it represents capacity and not production. That will take longer.
In addition, drying facilities are converting capabilities from producing lower-value whey products, such as whey protein concentrate (WPC) with less than 80% ...