Transforming protein delivery: Arla Foods Ingredients' protein concepts respond to consumer needs

Live from SupplySide Global 2025, Nutritional Outlook Associate Editor Erin McEvoy interviews Clara Komischke-Konnerup, sales developer at Arla Foods Ingredients. In this clip, Komischke-Konnerup discusses the newest functional protein innovations, highlighting the Easy Bite bar and a soda featuring beta-lactoglobulin, plus protein's impacts on gestational diabetes management and for GLP-1 support.

Transcript

Erin McEvoy: Hello, everyone. I'm here at Arla Foods with Clara. Thank you for joining us. Could you tell us more about the new Easy Bite bar concept?

Clara Komischke-Konnerup: So this is something we developed to fit the trends in the market a little bit. We experience a lot of customers who have a problem with texture over time, so over shelf life, or customers that have super short shelf life. So we developed this concept to sort of battle that. So the cool thing is that it stays soft and really nice over time. And also it has super short ingredients list, which is something we're seeing more and more customers are really asking about. I think the average is 24 ingredients, is in a protein bar these days. And this one is super lean, so we're sort of combating that. It also does not have maltitol, so that's something customers are looking for a lot as well. So super lean and ingredients, and also you're able to take it up to, I think it's 40% protein, so where a lot of them only have 20% and then they get super hard. If they put in more this one, you're able to take up.

McEvoy: So what are some new features of the new protein soda?

Komischke-Konnerup: So the new protein soda that we developed is to sort of showcase our BLG, so that's beta-lactoglobulin, which is our newest ingredient, and basically it's a whey protein that has way higher levels of leucine, which stimulates muscle protein synthesis. So we showed this in our new soda, just to sort of show that this is one of the applications. You can use it for multiple, you can use it for shots, you can do it for RTDs, and that's something with GLP-1 coming up, we see a lot of need for new applications. People want it in their everyday drinks just to hit their protein goals. So if you can have that soda that you're going to drink anyways, but it has nutritional benefits with beta-lactoglobulin, that's something that could help out a lot of people.

McEvoy: So recent research shows that Lacprodan ISO.WaterShake can benefit women with gestational diabetes mellitus. What motivated Arla to study this particular population?

Komischke-Konnerup: I think it's something that is an issue, and for us, it's just we're trying to stay on top of everything, of how can we, with protein, help certain issues? Is there anything we can do? So we've been looking into different areas, and this one in women is super exciting, because it does show that it has an effect. You're more likely to develop diabetes if you have certain glucose spikes over time. So if we could sort of stabilize that by using protein and not having to do insulin or something, that’s something we thought maybe we can help out in a more nutritional way.

McEvoy: What are some of the trends you're seeing with whey protein?

Komischke-Konnerup: I think these days you see whey protein in everything like you go into the supermarket, it is just everywhere. So I think there's a huge ask for application, and we sell the ingredient, right? But it needs to be able to go into anything these days and be super diverse. You need to be able to use in your soda and your shot in your RTDs, and you're just mixing the bar. So I think that's something we see a lot, that we're getting more and more strange questions on, what can we put our protein into? And then I think just clear way in general is where the market is really going. So you're moving a bit away from your Milky Ways and all the way over to clear, more water, like, more soda like applications. And then with GLP-1, we see the need for smaller formats as well. So that's also where Easy Bite comes in, right? Because maybe you can need a whole bar because you are on the GLP-1 medication. So smaller formats. That's also where BLG shots come in, because we're able to take the protein levels up so high, so that it really helps out. In GLP-1, you see that the mass people lose is actually 40% of their lean muscle mass. So to combat that, the need for protein is so high that it's just spiking now.

McEvoy: All right. Thank you.