Protein Is the Industry's Crossover Star: $40M for WILDE, #1 Global Trend

Protein has crossed from macronutrient to consumer movement, and the capital markets are treating it that way.

Innova Market Insights ranked protein the No. 1 global food-and-drink trend in its Top 10 Trends 2026, with 80% of consumers globally saying they pay attention to protein in their diet — driven, Innova notes, by sports performance and weight goals. Those are precisely the motivations that put people in a health club.

The money is following the demand. WILDE, the protein-snack maker, raised $40 million from S2G Investments for retail expansion. The company sells chips carrying 10 grams or more of protein per serving through more than 30,000 retailers, passed $100 million in sales last year, and is targeting a $5.5 billion meat-snack market.

For gym operators, the crossover is direct. The behaviour Innova is measuring is the behaviour walking through the front door, and nutrition retail is the margin line where clubs meet it. A category pulling nine-figure venture rounds and landing in 30,000 retail doors is building the shelf presence, price points and label claims that make club-side merchandising easier, not harder.

The strategic read: protein has become the industry’s consumer-products arm. Fitness demand signals are now visible in mainstream trend data, and nutrition brands are funding distribution to match it. Operators who treat their front desk as a retail channel are meeting a category that has already done the demand generation for them.