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00:00Pop-Tarts Protein, why oh why? Why do we need this?
00:04High protein content.
00:05Protein drinks.
00:06Everybody wants protein.
00:07Protein is an essential macronutrient,
00:10and macronutrient just means that we need it in large amounts from our diet to help us be healthy.
00:17Joiva Barrow is a professor of molecular nutrition at Cornell.
00:21We can get them from vegetables, we can get them from soy products,
00:26and then we consume that protein, our body digests them,
00:29and then we take the essential units of the protein, we call them amino acids,
00:35and then we use them for a host of biochemical reactions to keep our body healthy and to keep our body well.
00:41In 1918, Lulu Hunt Peter's book Diet and Health first popularized the idea of calories in the American diet
00:49and the practice of counting those calories as a way to keep healthy and fit.
00:53Ever since, Americans have been trying to fill their plates with foods we think are good for us,
00:58but that's constantly changing,
01:01and today, Americans are eating more meat per capita than ever before.
01:05According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
01:08U.S. meat consumption has increased by more than 100 pounds per person since 1909.
01:15Brian Ernest is lead economist for animal protein at CoBank.
01:19The fastest growing segments in the grocery store when we look at fresh is yogurt, cottage cheese, and eggs.
01:28These three things really have kind of a halo effect when it comes to health for the consumer.
01:33Each one, I believe, is seeing double-digit sales at the grocery store here in 2025,
01:38specifically things that have stronger protein components to them,
01:42but also lend themselves very well to changes in flavor and fit a profile that accepts and adopts flavor profiles very well.
01:52Animal protein in general has seen strong growth over the last couple years.
01:56If we look over the last 10 years, with the U.S. consumer, chicken consumption has grown by nearly 19 pounds,
02:02whereas beef and pork have been relatively steady.
02:05We're seeing very strong demand overall.
02:08In fact, our value-added sales this year have been up versus last year, which is a great opportunity for us.
02:14And that goes well beyond just Thanksgiving turkeys.
02:17One of those sources of animal protein is turkey.
02:20And Jay Jandrain is the CEO of Butterball, the largest producer of turkey in the U.S.
02:26The iconic American brand has been in business since 1954.
02:31Butterball, when only the best will do.
02:33We know consumers are health-conscious right now, and there's a lot of focus on protein.
02:38And turkey is naturally a good fit for that.
02:41It's low in fat, high in protein, and it's a very economical source of protein as well.
02:46Particularly during the holiday, when you see product at about a dollar per pound, it's an incredible value for the consumer.
02:53One of the things that we're seeing in particular right now is a category that's real growth for us is our ground turkey business.
02:58And some of that is just because more and more consumers are realizing the opportunity is to use ground turkey in their everyday meals.
03:05But then also, given the incredibly high prices in beef right now, it's a very good advantage for consumers who are looking for a ground meat product to use turkey instead of ground beef.
03:17American consumption of protein from animals and other food sources is up.
03:21But so is the use of protein supplements from new companies like David Protein, maker of protein supplement bars.
03:29Its co-founder and CEO is Peter Rahal.
03:32In our first year, we'll do $150 million in sales, which I believe is the fastest-growing food company.
03:39And next year, we're forecasted to $300 million plus.
03:42Before David Protein, Rahal founded RxBar, which he sold to Kellogg for $600 million in 2017.
03:51Americans, we keep jumping from different diet trends.
03:54So first there was Atkins, then there was the paleo diet, then there was Whole30, and then there was keto, fasting, plant-based had a moment.
04:04And if you look at the fundamental reason for those trends and what drove them, they're really around body composition changes or weight loss.
04:14Every January, everyone feels like they need to get back in shape, and so you're looking for diet as a solution to that.
04:20We don't want to be susceptible to those diet trends, and we wanted a position that was factual and around something that is true.
04:30But do we really need all this protein?
04:34Barrow says that for most Americans, the quantity of protein itself isn't the problem.
04:40For the average American, we recommend 10 to 35 percent of your total calories should really come from protein.
04:48And so narrowing that down to, let's say, a 2,000-calorie diet,
04:52if 10 percent of that needs to come from protein, that would be 200 calories of my total protein needs should come from protein.
05:01And then equating that to grams of protein, that would be about 50 grams of protein for the average American.
05:09And so if you want to translate that to what that means in terms of food,
05:12if you eat a six-ounce piece of steak, that's going to give you about 50 grams of protein,
05:17which is plenty for your protein needs for the entire day.
05:21What explains the recent interest in protein, and why is consumption on the rise?
05:27Rahal says part of the answer is GLP-1s.
05:32For the first time, we actually don't have Americans going to a diet to lose weight.
05:36We have Americans going to a drug to lose weight.
05:38And so that's changed this whole entire pattern and how Americans are thinking about nutrition.
05:43Roughly 8 percent of the U.S. population is currently on a GLP-1 weight-loss drug like Ozempic or Manjaro,
05:51a share that may grow after President Trump reached a deal with drug makers this week to make their weight-loss drugs more affordable.
05:59You mentioned drugs.
06:00GLP-1s are very much in the news right now.
06:02Does that change your protein needs?
06:04So there's still a lot of ongoing research about that.
06:08The emerging evidence that we're seeing is that there are some patients that take GLP-1 agonists
06:13that experience lean muscle loss, right, lean mass going down along with, you know, the fat loss.
06:21And so the need to, let's say, can we compensate that with protein levels?
06:24And the rationale for why that happens is still under investigation.
06:29But in general, if you are losing lean mass, we do want to replenish that and make sure you're meeting your protein needs.
06:36While they're looking to reduce the caloric intake, they may be looking to increase the protein as a portion of overall caloric intake.
06:44So protein has lent itself very well to this.
06:47And we're starting to see products on shelf that are marketed towards users of GLP-1.
06:52And these are more inclusive of protein in general.
06:56GLP-1s are changing our nutritional needs as a country.
07:00And Rahal says that's welcome news for products like David Bar, which is a high-protein, low-calorie option that retails for around $3 a bar.
07:09So the big need we're addressing with our product is to deliver as much protein with the least amount of caloric impact.
07:17How do you basically be a vehicle for protein without having a lot of consequences on both sugar and calories?
07:23What is the sugar content?
07:25Zero.
07:25Zero grams of sugar.
07:26And how much protein?
07:2828 grams.
07:29I think one of the biggest problems with protein is affordability.
07:33If you're having a high-protein diet, it's very expensive.
07:35It turns out carbohydrates and fats are much less expensive.
07:39As other protein options get more expensive, I think it makes our product's position more valuable.
07:45You mentioned steak can be expensive.
07:48It's particularly expensive right now.
07:49The price of beef is really going up.
07:51Do you see that as affecting your marketplace position?
07:55Yeah, I think it helps us because one of the ways we drive consumer surplus is if you just look at what it costs to get 28 grams of protein,
08:03in a steak or a salad, it's $20, $30.
08:08In our product, it's $3.25.
08:10So it's a tremendous value, and then there's no preparation.
08:14You can just eat it.
08:16As Americans consume more protein, they look increasingly for ease and convenience.
08:21We're seeing the consumers reaching out for certainly our product and turkey in general,
08:25but they're also expanding beyond the whole bird.
08:27We're seeing the frozen products that we have to offer.
08:31We're seeing bone and breast.
08:32So oftentimes we'll find consumers who are buying a whole turkey,
08:36and they're supplementing it with more and other turkey products for their meal.
08:41The David Bar uses EPG, a proprietary plant-based fat component that has 92% fewer calories than traditional bars,
08:49while still delivering a similar texture and flavor.
08:52The people who buy and eat David Bars, what are they eating instead of?
08:57I think they're using it as an addition.
09:01So say you have an oatmeal breakfast, it's pretty absent of protein,
09:06so you can add David on top of that and get your close to 30 grams of protein in a sitting.
09:13So I think we're bridging the gap because it's very difficult to eat, say, 100 grams, 150 grams of protein a day.
09:21And so that's the problem where I think we're directly solving.
09:24Supplements like a David Bar will get more protein into your body, but is it the best way?
09:30So there's a new, exciting, emerging concept that's known as nutrient sequencing.
09:34So what it is, is taking our existing, well-balanced diet, right?
09:38So I'm eating my right amount of carbs, I'm eating my right amount of proteins,
09:43I'm eating my correct amount of fats.
09:45But nutrient sequencing simply takes those food items,
09:49and we change the order in which you consume those foods.
09:52We now give you the protein source first, alone, tell you to wait about 10 minutes,
09:59and then we give you the carbohydrate source after that.
10:03And what we're finding is just by simply changing the order of the food,
10:07we're seeing improvements in blood glucose,
10:09we're seeing just naturally more secretion of GLP-1 in the body,
10:14we're seeing better insulin profiles,
10:16just by changing the sequence or the order of the food.
10:20We prefer natural foods because it's not just only the protein that you're getting,
10:25we're getting all of the other healthy elements in the food that you don't get when it's ultra-processed,
10:31and you don't get if it's just like the supplement source.
10:34And Rahal does not disagree.
10:36If you talk to nutritionists, they'll say the best thing is to eat a truly balanced diet
10:41that has all the components that you need.
10:44Recognizing a lot of people just can't do that for some of the reasons you described.
10:48Are you a second-best alternative?
10:50I mean, if people could really eat a balanced diet, would they be better off?
10:54I would say yes.
10:56Reason being is, so if you have all the time in the world,
10:59you should eat three balanced meals,
11:01and the reason is you get all your macronutrients and your micronutrients.
11:05That's just not the reality most people live in.
11:07But as in so much of life,
11:09there's the issue of not letting the bests become the enemy of the good.
11:13Protein is great, especially in a world of GLP-1s.
11:17But for some, the good of convenience and affordability
11:20may outweigh the best of simply eating three well-balanced meals a day.
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