Casein and caseinates: new dynamics for an “old-school” product

Casein: an old-school product?

Caseins have been around for some time and became in many applications unrivalled and difficult to substitute. There are simply no other ingredients - dairy or from other origins - that can match the nutritional characteristics as well as the functional characteristics - sensory, emulsification, pH & heat stability for instance - of casein. they continue to grow and have become an invaluable ingredient for the food and nutrition industries worldwide.

The global casein and caseinates category traditionally used to be dominated by just a few players and new capacity mostly comes in the form of line extensions rather than new entrants into the market. Furthermore, market developments used to be overall gradual rather than dynamic but this can only be an assumption rather than a fact as public data about the product category are scarce. However, over the last decade a couple of new market developments have injected new life into this versatile product category:

• China is quickly becoming a significant importer of both casein and caseinates;

• Casein became a popular alternative destination for skimmed milk when the changing dairy trade balance between New Zealand and China created a global surplus in SMP;

• Milk Specialties Global became the first major producer of casein in the US;

• Micellar casein is quickly gaining popularity as an ingredient of sport nutrition.

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