Why is there no Adapt Protein?…
Yes, here at Adapt Nutrition it saddens us to say that we do not have a High Specification, “Pure” protein powder in our range. By Pure we mean an 80% Whey protein, Diet Whey or high-spec protein blend. Why? We hear you ask. What sort of a brand doesn’t have a protein in their range? We hear you say…
Here’s the story…
Protein is the biggest selling Sports Nutrition supplement in the world, bar none! It accounts for a huge chunk of the total UK Sport Supplement market. So on the face of it, it doesn’t make ANY sense for ANY brand to not have a Protein in their range, right? Wrong!
Since the Sports Nutrition sector exploded worldwide (around the late 2000’s) from a niche bodybuilding market to a wider physical fitness & general health market, Whey protein prices have soared. Most companies now before they add any flavours or package the raw WPC 80 are looking at around £6-£8 per KG and WPI 90 around £9-£11 per KG (depending on how much they buy). You also need to keep in mind that since October 2012 there has been 20% VAT on all Sport Supplements including proteins.
The thing is, the money in the potential customer’s pocket hasn’t gone up in the same way as the price of Whey protein.
So how is it that there are so many companies advertising “Cheap Whey Protein” when in actual fact there is no such thing?
Well there are a number ways to make “Whey” protein look cheap. We will illustrate 2 methods here:
- Your 80% Whey Protein probably has quite a lot of Soy Protein, Pea Protein or Rice protein in it. Yep, legally to call it Whey Protein, it only has to have 51% Whey ingredients. Note we didn’t even say Whey Protein, just Whey Ingredients. Now, there’s not a lot wrong with Soy. But if you wanted Soy, I am pretty sure you would’ve bought Soy. As a guy using a protein supplement containing Soy, you’re actually cheating your gains. Soy protein is well known for lowering Testosterone levels. And it is CHEAP!!
- Amino Spiking! This isn’t a new thing but it is now becoming wide-spread and it is basically downright wrong! If you EVER see a protein product (especially a Whey protein) that has L-Glycine and/or L-Taurine within the first 5 ingredients on the label, put the product down and walk away.
For many years there has been a basic test to ascertain a protein product’s level of protein content. It is called a Nitrogen test. However, the Nitrogen test only calculates the total amount of Nitrogen within a serving of a protein product. It doesn’t calculate or differentiate between the different levels of specific aminos. In a nutshell, it has become too easy for some brands to “Spike” their proteins with cheap aminos (like Glycine & Taurine), reduce the amount of actual protein they add to the product, but still be able to say “our protein is 80% protein,” because it tests out for the right level of Nitrogen. Glycine and Taurine test out at pretty much 100% Nitrogen making them a much cheaper alternative to Whey Protein. In actual fact a product could probably only be between 50% & 60% actual protein but still test at 80% according to a Nitrogen test. Here are some cases that are currently going on in the US. Hopefully the UK & EU authorities will follow suit because we see A LOT of dodgy protein out there.
http://www.classactionsnews.com/consumer/protein-powder-class-action-lawsuits
But spiking isn’t the only problem. The public want to believe that protein is cheap, when actually to make a good quality protein is anything but. That is why you are seeing prices for high-quality proteins at the £44.99 – £49.99 mark. But price isn’t everything, check the ingredients for cheap aminos!
So to be blunt, the reason why we don’t have a High Specification protein product at the moment is that we cannot compete with products that they are something that they are not. It is almost impossible for a new brand to compete in a massively saturated protein market. We are not established enough to be able to command the prices necessary for a high-quality protein powder.
Our CEO is proud that he uses EVERY single product in our range and he wants that to always be the case. He will not put the Adapt name to ANY inferior products that he wouldn’t use himself, just in the name of increasing profit.
BUT rest assured, when the time is right and we believe we are in a position where people would buy our High-Spec protein formula (which he has already developed) we will bring this to the market.