Walk into any supermarket in Singapore today and the word "protein" is hard to miss. Alongside the usual fresh food suspects of chicken, salmon and eggs – which most shoppers would readily recognise as high in protein – a multitude of other products sit on the shelves, vying for your attention.From cereal and yoghurt, to even chips and water, packaged products are screaming out how they are packed full of protein goodness.Their protein content is not hidden in the nutritional label, but displayed front and centre on the packaging in bright, large font.
Ms Chloe Lim, 29, a regular supermarket shopper, said: "In the early 2000s, everything used to be low-fat. "Now, there are 'high in protein' labels everywhere."Ms Lim, an account manager at a marketing agency, has been making a concerted effort to track and increase her protein intake since September last year with the aim of getting leaner and physically stronger.Though her daily protein tends to come from whole foods, the occasional bottle of high-protein milk from a vending machine or supermarket shelf has become part of her routine, and she is far from alone.High-protein products, once associated mainly with avid gym-goers such as Ms Lim and people with special diets, have now become much more commonplace in the shopping carts of everyday consumers.Ms Emil Fazira, the Asia-Pacific insight manager for food at market intelligence company Euromonitor International, said that the high-protein trend has now reached new audiences and penetrated more categories and aisles than ever before.Convenience store chain 7-Eleven, for example, has "significantly expanded" its high-protein range of products, carrying close to 100 protein-focused products spanning both domestic and international brands across its network of more than 460 stores, its Singapore managing director Anushree Khosla said. "In around 60 per cent of the stores, we have created dedicated protein bays as well as added clear protein call-outs within the chillers that offer a wide range of ready-to-drink and ready-to-eat options," she added.A representative for online food and grocery delivery platform Foodpanda said that it, too, is seeing more targeted searches for products on its app for protein yoghurt, protein shakes, granola bars and other protein-rich products, for example.
