The Great Protein Bluff: Why Switzerland Already Eats Too Much – and Still Buys More

Blog (EN)

clarus.news | Analysis | May 8, 2026 | Thierry Leserf

"High Protein" has become the dominant sales argument on the shelves of Migros, Coop, Aldi and Lidl – from yogurt to bread and pasta to chocolate bars. At the same time, the national nutrition survey by the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) shows that the Swiss population on average already consumes more protein than official recommendations suggest. An industry is therefore selling added value where most consumers have no deficiency at all – with price premiums of up to 339 percent. An analysis of the Swiss protein trend between consumer protection, nutritional science and marketing calculation.

From Bodybuilder Powder to Supermarket Megatrend

What stood in fitness studios years ago now fills meters of shelf space in retail. Migros launched private brands like «You» and «Oh!» with protein bread, lentil pasta, skyr and pudding; Coop launched a parallel private line. Even discounters like Aldi and Lidl as well as milk processor Emmi massively expanded their ranges. A Coop spokesperson told the Tages-Anzeiger in 2023 that the range had been "significantly expanded" – this newspaper's research found almost 300 hits in Coop's online shop for the search term "protein," including breaded vegan schnitzels, Pizza Margherita and even Lyon sausage slices.

Market research company GfK already designated protein-rich products as the "growth segment of the year" in 2018. The trend has not subsided since then, quite the contrary. The program "10 vor 10" (SRF) reported record sales in January 2025. Emmi states that the "most important protein brand" segment Energy Milk is growing in double digits percentage-wise – while the entire Swiss yogurt market overall is declining. The hype has an economic logic: it opens up growth where the classic market is shrinking.

What "High Protein" Actually Means Legally

A product may be advertised in the EU – and effectively also in Switzerland – with "high protein content" or "High Protein" if at least 20 percent of the total energy value comes from protein. For the weaker claim "protein source," 12 percent is sufficient. Many unprocessed foods naturally reach these thresholds: low-fat quark, cottage cheese, tofu, lentils, chickpeas, legumes in general, eggs or lean meat. The "High Protein" label on packaging therefore often says nothing about a special recipe – but advertises a property that the food already possesses.

For highly processed products – protein breads, bars, drinks, puddings, chips – protein concentrate is added: whey, wheat, soy or lupine protein. This allows even chocolate, pudding or a Snickers bar to be pushed to the required value. The result is often a highly processed food with similar or even more calories than the original – but more expensive.

The Swiss Finding: Too Much Instead of Too Little

The central finding comes from the federal government itself. The evaluation of the national nutrition survey menuCH by the FSVO shows: Swiss women consume on average 1.10 g protein per kilogram body weight, men 1.23 g – the official recommendation of the Swiss Society for Nutrition (SSN) is 0.8 g/kg BW for healthy adults. In plain language: anyone who eats normally already exceeds the requirement without any additional protein drink.

However, the study also shows a second, more important picture: the averages mask relevant variation. 26.8 percent of respondents do not reach the recommendation. The situation among those over 65 is particularly striking: almost half of women (48.5%) and men (51.8%) in this age group consume too little protein – even though a higher requirement of 1.0 g/kg BW is recommended here to counteract muscle loss (sarcopenia). At the same time, 4.5 percent of the population consumes more than 2 g/kg BW – an amount that according to the FSVO can lead to health damage with prolonged intake.

In other words: there is a protein problem in Switzerland – but not where marketing locates it. The target groups that would actually benefit from higher protein intake are older people with reduced appetite, people with illnesses, and high-performance athletes. However, advertising almost always targets healthy, young, fitness-oriented adults – precisely the group that statistically consumes the most protein anyway.

Professional Voices: Remarkably Unanimous

A remarkably consistent picture emerges across German-language leading media and professional societies. Nadia Leuenberger, scientific collaborator in the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at Bern University of Applied Sciences, said in May 2025 on Radio SRF 3: "No, as a healthy adult person, these high-protein products are not needed." She describes the message that everyone must "consume extremely many, including artificial proteins" as misleading.

Stéphanie Bieler, expert at the SSN, came to the same conclusion in NZZ Bellevue: protein intake according to the Swiss food pyramid already exceeds recommendations without any use of high-protein products. Antje Gahl from the German Society for Nutrition (DGE) referred in the Ärzte Zeitung to the narrow need: three to four slices of whole grain bread, a quarter liter of milk, a cup of yogurt, a portion of potatoes and a piece of fish together provide around 60 grams of protein – clearly exceeding the daily requirement of a 60-kilo woman. CSS advisor Soraya Laurenza also states: with a varied diet, the need can be "easily covered," high-protein products are dispensable.

Even voices from clinical practice strike the same note. Physician and Instagram commentator Doc Esser (Heinz-Wilhelm Esser, WDR) commented in June 2025: "Much of this is marketing." Anyone who eats normally and balanced doesn't need shakes or bars; they make sense at most with intensive strength training.

The Price Premium: Not 20, but Up to 339 Percent

The price difference between original and protein variant is the economic punchline of the entire trend. Consumer magazines Kassensturz (SRF) and K-Tipp have repeatedly documented how hefty the premium is:

  • Snickers: The high-protein variant at Lidl costs around 339 percent more than the classic bar.
  • Aldi Mozzarella: The protein-enriched version costs more than double the normal mozzarella.
  • Emmi Energy Milk High Protein: around 60 percent premium over standard Energy Milk; in a Tagesanzeiger sample, the chocolate variant's premium was even over 50 percent.
  • High-protein milk at Coop: 2.50 francs per liter versus 1.55 francs for normal milk (Blick).

Retailers justify the differences with "higher processing effort," additional development, raw material and packaging costs. Consumer advocates like Josianne Walpen from the Foundation for Consumer Protection counter: behind the "pretext of promoting health" is primarily a strategy for margin expansion. Marketing expert Stefan Vogler confirmed to the Tages-Anzeiger that manufacturers deliberately test what premium they can achieve for health-connoted products.

The Dark Sides: Sugar, Additives, Calories

A second contradiction concerns the health claim itself. An investigation by German Stiftung Warentest, referenced by NZZ Bellevue, found that some protein products – especially protein breads – contained even more calories than the unenriched originals. Added are additives, sweeteners and sometimes considerable amounts of sugar, especially in drinks and bars. The magazine Watson also reported in July 2025, citing Lausanne nutrition consultant Ioana Chelemen, that many of these products are highly processed and contain hardly any fiber and micronutrients.

On the medical side, professional societies point to two documented risks of permanently excessive protein intake. First: with intake of 2 g/kg BW or more over long periods, harmful effects on kidney function cannot be excluded according to systematic review; with pre-damaged kidneys, deterioration is likely. Second: a study led by the German Institute of Human Nutrition (DIfE) found reduced insulin sensitivity in overweight individuals with very high protein intake – a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.

This results in a sober picture: for healthy adults with normal nutrition, high-protein products are health-wise neutral to irrelevant. For people with kidney disease or diabetes risk, they can even be detrimental. The promised "health plus" is – outside clearly defined athlete and senior target groups – not scientifically sustainable.

What Really Delivers: Domestic Foods

Anyone wanting to obtain protein from natural sources widely available in Switzerland will find comparatively affordable options in retail that do without "High-Protein" labels. Low-fat quark and cottage cheese provide around 11–13 g protein per 100 g; skyr similarly. Eggs provide around 13 g, lentils (cooked) around 9 g, tofu around 12–15 g, chickpeas 8 g, lean fish like whitefish or perch 18–22 g, lean poultry around 23 g, hard cheese like Sbrinz or Gruyère up to 28 g per 100 g. A slice of Appenzeller provides around 10 grams of protein according to the SSN. Plant sources provide solid amounts from oats, quinoa, buckwheat and legumes – combined with grains or dairy products, "biological value" also increases.

In other words: anyone with increased needs – such as an elderly person, athlete or convalescent – can meet these with domestic standard foods at a fraction of the price a protein pudding or shake demands.

Conclusion: A Market That Justifies Itself

The Swiss protein boom is a case study in the inherent dynamics of modern food communication. An industry whose organic growth segment is stagnating has found a new "healthy" label – with a legal hurdle that many products naturally exceed anyway. It sells added value to a target group that statistically has no deficiency and charges premiums of 50 to over 300 percent for it. The responsible professional societies – SSN, BFH, DGE – are unusually unanimous across language regions: consumption of these products is not necessary for healthy adults.

More interesting is what the hype politically and consumer-politically conceals. The actually relevant supply gap concerns seniors – that group whose half, according to FSVO data, consumes too little protein and to whom current marketing offers almost nothing. The consumer protection question concerns transparency: threshold values exist for health-connoted claims, but no obligation for honest communication of added value compared to the original. And the economic question concerns retailers' margin policy – a field that has hardly been regulated so far.

The hype is therefore neither simply a myth nor a conspiracy. It is a soberly calculated business model that exploits a gap between nutritional scientific reality and consumer cultural perception. As long as this gap exists – and consumers trust packaging rather than reading labels – it will be reliably cultivated by the food industry.

The most honest answer to the question of whether one should consume high-protein products was given by Nadia Leuenberger: "We should question our needs and learn to read the packaging." That would be, at least, a good start.

Key Statements

  • The Swiss population on average already exceeds the SSN's official protein recommendation without any consumption of high-protein products.
  • Legally, 20 percent of energy value from protein is sufficient for "High Protein" claims – a threshold that many unprocessed foods like low-fat quark or lentils already reach.
  • Price premiums of 50 to 339 percent over the original are documented; the Snickers protein variant at Lidl provides the highest premium.
  • The only clearly recognizable supply gap in FSVO data concerns those over 65 – the group least targeted by marketing.
  • With permanently high intake (over 2 g/kg BW), risks for kidney and insulin sensitivity are documented; caution is advised with pre-existing conditions.

Critical Questions

  1. Data Quality: On what data basis do Migros, Coop and Emmi justify the documented premium of protein products – do transparent breakdowns of "processing and development costs" exist, or is this pricing-to-willingness-to-pay?
  2. Conflicts of Interest: How independent are nutrition-related recommendations from actors who themselves market protein products – such as retailers' in-house magazines or industry co-financed studies?
  3. Causality: What portion of documented consumption growth is due to actual need, what portion to marketing, social media influencers and packaging psychology?
  4. Counter-hypothesis: Would a comparable marketing offensive for natural protein sources like lentils, skyr or eggs be economically viable – and why isn't it conducted to the same extent?
  5. Feasibility: How could consumer information be improved so consumers can quickly and comprehensibly assess the added value of a high-protein product versus the original?
  6. Risk: What responsibility do retailers bear in marketing enriched confectionery (chocolate bars, pudding) as "healthy" – especially regarding children and adolescents whose protein consumption according to menuCH-Kids is already reported as high?
  7. Regulatory: Should the FSVO introduce a binding reference value for the claim "protein-rich" that shows actual added value compared to the unprocessed comparison product?
  8. Social Inequality: If the only relevant supply gap concerns the elderly population – why does the market target almost exclusively young, wealthy fitness consumers?

Bibliography

Primary Sources (provided by commissioner):

  • CSS Insurance: "High-Protein Trend: Is the Fuss About the Products Justified?", Soraya Laurenza, 16.12.2021. Link
  • NZZ Bellevue: "Are High-Protein Products Healthy or Just a Marketing Trick?", Patrizia Messmer, 16.11.2022. Link
  • SRF Radio SRF 3: "Protein Hype: Should I Also Consume These Protein Products?", Fabio Flepp, 20.05.2025. Link
  • Ärzte Zeitung: "What's Behind the Protein Hype?", 31.01.2018. Link
  • Instagram / Doc Esser (docesser), Statement on Protein Hype, 21.06.2025. Link

Supplementary Sources:

  1. Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO): "Protein Consumption in Switzerland – Analysis of the menuCH Dataset", Swiss Nutrition Bulletin 2021 (Kopf, Walther).
  2. FSVO: menuCH-Kids – Report V2, 11.03.2026.
  3. Tages-Anzeiger: "Protein Instead of Organic: The Big Business with Protein-Rich Foods", Erich Bürgler, 07.01.2023.
  4. NZZ: "High-Protein Trend: Why Coop and Migros Today Look Like a Fitness Shop", 06.11.2023.
  5. SRF Kassensturz / SRF News: "High-Protein Products – A Lot of Money for a Few More Grams of Protein", 24.05.2022.
  6. SRF News: "High Revenue, Uncertain Results – The Big Business with Proteins", 13.07.2019.
  7. SRF 10 vor 10: "Record Sales with High-Protein Products", 27.01.2025.
  8. Watson: "Protein Products Boom in Switzerland – An Expert Warns of Risks", 21.07.2025.
  9. Watson: "How an Expert Evaluates Protein Products from Migros and Coop" (Ioana Chelemen), 22.07.2025.
  10. Blick: "Major Retailers Expand Protein Range", 12.09.2018.
  11. Stiftung Warentest: Tests on protein products (multiple, cited in NZZ Bellevue).
  12. Swiss Society for Nutrition (SSN): Recommendations for protein intake and food pyramid.

Verification Status: ✓ May 8, 2026

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