Even Starbucks is hopping on the protein trend.
If you’ve been on the internet in recent months, you’ve probably seen an increase in interest in protein-heavy food and drinks.
Now, Starbucks is testing a new way to instantly add a whopping 15 grams of protein to nearly any beverage.
The coffee giant is testing a protein cold foam at five locations in the US through its Starting Five program. It’s part of CEO Brian Niccol’s hopes to expand into the wellness category, the company announced during the Starbucks Leadership Experience in Las Vegas.
“This thing is going to be a rocket,” Niccol said on stage in Las Vegas. “It’s on trend. It’s delicious.”
Niccol explained to Axios that the new innovation is geared toward a number of consumer groups, such as 20-year-old males, 50-year-old females and people taking GLP-1s.
“I was watching people coming to our stores, they would get three shots of espresso over ice,” Niccol explained. “And in some cases, they pull their own protein powder out of their bag, or in other cases, they have a protein drink, like a Fair Life, and they’d pour that into their drink.”
“I’m like, well, wait a second, we can make this experience better for them,” he added.
There’s currently a huge push for protein with Gen Z, with different recipes and trends such as the “100 grams of protein daily” challenge going viral on TikTok.
And with the continuous rise of GLP-1 drugs, research has shown that a high-protein diet is vital to maintaining muscle with the appetite-suppressing injectable treatments.
“The good news is now I think we’re right on trend, and we can do it, I think, arguably better than anybody else,” Niccol said.
According to Fast Company, the protein cold foam will be identical to the cold foam Starbucks customers know and love — but it will be packed with somewhere between 15 and 18 grams of protein.
The world’s largest coffee chain reportedly initially imagined that the protein blend would simply mix into drinks, but it kept getting clumpy — something that protein powder consumers may know a thing or two about — and they wanted to solve that problem.
The development team found that blending the powder into foam got rid of the clumps, which led to the protein cold foam innovation.
Starbucks shared that their protein powder should be able to be added to any of its cold foam flavors, but the current testing version is a banana cold foam, FoodSided reported. They’re starting the testing with Starbucks’ Iced Caffe Latte.
While it’s being tested in just five locations at the moment, Niccol told Axios he thinks the nationwide release of the protein cold foam will be sooner rather than later.
“It’s not one of those things that’s years away. It’s months away,” he said.