FOR THE first time on record, sales of protein products have overtaken sales of milk at Scotland’s largest dairy. This is part of a wider trend – demonstrating unbelievable sales in protein products, which are huge on the continent, and growing in popularity in the UK at an incredible rate.
Protein sales at Graham’s The Family Dairy, which now equate to 25 per cent of total sales, have seen a 67 per cent growth over the last year – outperforming sales of conventional milk and heralding a new era for the family run business. Sales of protein pouches have increased by 800% since last year, pinpointing the growing demand for on-the-go, high-protein, fat free and low sugar natural goodness. Graham’s The Family Dairy is no stranger to innovative growth, having seen their business grow from a modest 220 pints of milk, hand delivered by horse and cart, to around 530,000 pints of milk now being sold each day.
Protein dairy is now worth upwards of half a billion pounds 1 and animal protein has been one of the top-five growth trends since 2019 2. Dairy as a protein source boasts multiple advantages which contribute to its steep growth in popularity, notably how simple, natural and easy to understand the products are and, according to a Mintel 3 report, one third of adults use high-protein food and drink products.
Robert Graham, Graham’s Family Dairy Managing Director, said:
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Why? Free to subscribe, no paywall, daily business news digest.
“We first realised there was a huge demand for protein yogurts when we launched our Skyr pots in 2018, followed by pouches in January 2020. The development and launch of Protein 25 Pots yogurt followed suit and they quickly became some of our top-selling products. This led to us to create an exciting extension to the line, our dessert inspired Confectionery Protein 22 pots, which have recently appeared on supermarket shelves.
“Our dairy has seen many changes, from horse drawn deliveries of hand-milked pints to where we are today, not only selling over half a million pints of milk each day but developing new high-protein dairy rich products which are flying o the shelves. I am quite sure that when our Grandpa founded the business in 1939 he would have never have envisioned that one day sales of protein yogurts would outperform those of milk, or even that such a product would exist! It’s incredible to look back and see our journey as a family business and I am certain that Grandpa Graham would be delighted.”
Graham’s Family Dairy produces a wide range of high-protein products including a variety of flavours across Protein 25 pouches and pots and Skyr Icelandic style yogurts, also available in handy pouches alongside pots.
Following the success of the existing high-protein, fat free and low sugar protein range a new line of yogurt was recently introduced, initially launched in Asda and now stocked in Tesco stores throughout Scotland. Inspired by delectable desserts, the innovative Confectionery Protein 22 pots come in three flavours: Lemon Cheesecake, Chocolate Caramel and Stracciatella.
