Mathieu Frigon, president and CEO of the Dairy Processors Association of Canada.
Protein craze reshapes milk composition as weight-loss medications reshape appetites
Nelson Zandbergen
Farmers Forum
OTTAWA — Ontario dairy producers face a “metabolic change” as a surge in protein demand catches up to years of intensive breeding and bovine dietary changes to spur more butterfat. Price-conscious consumers looking to stretch their food dollar, thanks to higher inflation, and changing ethnic demographics are both contributing to the dairy protein craze, but industry leaders also point to the rapid rise of effective “GLP-1” weight-loss medications like Ozempic and Wegovy.
Originally used to treat type-2 diabetes but now commonly dispensed to slim down the obese, the drugs are creating “a huge tailwind” for protein, Mathieu Frigon, president and CEO of the Dairy Processors Association of Canada, told dairy farmers gathered last month in St. Isidore. He explained that a doctor’s prescription for a GLP-1-type drug by default comes with a recommendation to eat more protein, usually Greek yogurt or cottage cheese, to retain muscle mass as appetite drops.
“What’s the best protein to keep muscle mass? Milk protein,” Frigon said.
The weight-loss medication also causes a “fat aversion” in those being treated, and the impacts are also rippling through the grocery aisle. Patients often report that fat becomes harder to digest, leading them to prioritize protein density over traditional high-fat dairy staples like ice cream, Frigon said.
The data supports the shift. He noted that in the 12 months ending October 2025, volume for high-protein products like Greek yogurt and skyr increased by 12 %, while cottage cheese grew by roughly 8 %.
Kristin Benke, chief business officer at Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO), confirmed that demand for protein is now growing faster than that for butterfat. In her presentation to the same group, Benke highlighted that Canada currently lags behind the U.S. in GLP-1 usage, at approximately 3 % of the population versus 15 % south of the border. The phenomenon in Canada “could continue to grow” as a “potential long-term trend” rather than a temporary fad, she said.
While Frigon admitted that economists’ forecasts should be taken with a “grain of salt,” he was convinced the industry was witnessing a multi-year trend toward protein demand driven by a combination of aging demographics and the Ozempic effect.
The sudden demand for protein has created a “protein availability gap.” For the past decade, the supply-managed industry encouraged fat production to meet what was then a high-fat market. This resulted in a lower solids-non-fat (SNF) to butterfat ratio in the raw milk coming off the farm.
This caused a decrease in protein available for other uses, such as skim milk powder and certain cheeses.
To address the disconnect, the DFO will start paying more for protein. The changes come into effect in April. For producers, it’s a bit of deja vu after the pendulum swung the other way to promote butterfat production about a decade ago amid higher consumer demand for butter.
