Trend check: Popcorn, ramen, soda—Is everything protein now?
From gourmet sauces to snacks you actually crave, smart founders found gold in the gaps everyone else ignored.
Our monthly trend tracker: exclusive data, breakout merchants, and the opportunities hiding in plain sight. From market earthquakes to micro-moments, here’s what smart entrepreneurs are betting on.
The TL;DR: Food brands are springing up every minute to snag a piece of the $56 billion protein market, but the real money is in finding angles nobody else thought of.
What the data says: Traditional protein shakes crashed 40% YoY as consumers ditched chalky textures for innovative alternatives. Meanwhile, protein coffee sales exploded 507% over the same period. Talk about a market flip.
Key players: From Plant Up’s flavor-first snacks to She’s the Sauce’s functional condiments, everyone’s chasing the protein craze. Even icons are getting in on the game, with the latest including Khloe Kardashian’s Khloud popcorn and Serena Williams’ partnership with wellness brand Ritual.
The breakdown
Seriously, protein is everywhere.
The protein revolution isn’t happening in supplement aisles or gym smoothie bars. It’s happening in your kitchen. Ramen, ice cream, pizza, soda—no category is safe. While muscle-obsessed brands duke it out over gym bros, smart entrepreneurs recognize it’s no longer a niche: 70% of US adults actively try to consume protein—more than any other nutrient.
Take Nicole Glabman who cracked this code by going rogue. When her PCOS diagnosis demanded more protein and nutritionists told her to “use condiments sparingly,” she said “watch me.” She created She’s the Sauce, a line of protein-packed sauces, so she didn’t have to compromise. Turns out, her target market of one had some company.
Nicole found customers in moms with ketchup-obsessed kids, in women with other health concerns, and even in her own grandparents. Unsurprisingly, when Nicole launched her first batch, she sold out in 48 hours. “I turned off pre-orders because I was like, holy shit, I don’t know if my manufacturer is ready for this.”
While Nicole solved for health issues, Plant Up’s founder Aamir Malkani took a completely different route. He wasn’t worried about protein-maxxing. Instead, he obsessed over taste. “Protein products have this reputation,” he says. “People buy them for what they do, not because they enjoy them.” The concept: develop protein products people crave, not just tolerate. Bold flavors dominate Plant Up’s packaging while good-for-you claims take a more modest position. Aamir’s flavor-first approach landed Plant Up in over 1,600 Canadian stores.
The brand’s marketing stunts didn’t hurt either.
The strategy wasn’t rocket science—it was common sense. These two founders ignored the metrics others were chasing and competed on basic human desires: good taste, easy integration into daily life, and marketing to everyday consumers.
Why it matters
Here’s what this trend really teaches us about saturated markets: When everyone zigs, the smart money zags.
Trends come and go, but the brands that thrive aren’t the ones blindly chasing what’s hot. Long after protein gives way to the next nutrition craze, these brands will endure because they built something no one else could: products born from personal necessity, refined by market insight, delivered with authenticity to customers everyone else ignored.
Read more about the protein trend on Shopify Newsroom, including interviews with more founders in the space.