IN Brief:
- Prinova will present clear protein formulation expertise at IFT FIRST in Chicago.
- The session will focus on clear protein for RTD and RTM hydration, energy, and performance beverages.
- Clear pea protein is gaining attention as formulators seek lighter, plant-based alternatives to traditional protein shakes.
Prinova will present clear protein formulation expertise at IFT FIRST in Chicago, focusing on ready-to-drink and ready-to-mix beverages built around lighter, clearer protein systems.
The company’s R&D specialists will host a session on formulating with clear protein at the Solutions Showcase on 13 July. The presentation will cover integration into hydration, energy, and performance beverages, with attendees able to sample a clear protein beverage during the event.
Clear protein drinks are gaining ground as sports nutrition and functional beverages move beyond traditional milky shakes. The format allows brands to deliver protein in products that resemble flavoured waters, juice-style drinks, or hydration beverages, creating lighter consumption occasions while retaining functional value.
The formulation challenge is substantial. Protein beverages need to manage solubility, clarity, taste, viscosity, stability, foaming, sedimentation, heat treatment, pH, sweetness, and flavour masking. Those demands become more difficult when the finished product must remain visually clear and refreshing rather than opaque, creamy, or shake-like.
Prinova is highlighting clear pea protein for RTD and RTM applications, with emphasis on cleaner taste at lower dosages, reduced foaming, and favourable cost-in-use. The company is focusing on dosage levels of 15g or less, where clear protein can support functional claims without overwhelming drinkability.
Active nutrition has moved well beyond gym-focused products. Protein now appears in everyday wellness, weight management, healthy ageing, women’s health, and convenience-led formats. That shift has altered product expectations. Higher protein content remains important, but consumers are also looking for lighter textures, natural positioning, lower sugar, and products that fit hydration or refreshment occasions.
Clear beverages give manufacturers more room to combine protein with electrolytes, vitamins, caffeine, botanicals, fruit flavours, and low-calorie systems. They can sit closer to energy and hydration drinks than to conventional shakes, which broadens potential usage occasions before, during, and after activity.
Taste remains one of the main barriers. Plant proteins can carry bitterness, earthiness, astringency, and lingering notes that become more exposed in clear systems. Dairy, cocoa, fat, and thick textures are not available to mask defects in the same way they are in traditional shakes. Flavour systems and sweetener choices therefore need to be designed around the protein base from the earliest development stage.
Solubility and stability are equally decisive. A clear protein beverage that clouds, separates, settles, or foams excessively will struggle in commercial distribution. RTM powders must dissolve quickly without clumping, while RTD products must remain stable through processing, storage, transport, and temperature variation.
Functional beverage manufacturing is becoming more ingredient-dense. Lines are being asked to handle active ingredients, nutritional claims, lower sugar systems, and more complex stability requirements. This places greater weight on premix expertise, ingredient compatibility, and process validation before launch.
Ingredient sourcing and technical support are also becoming more closely linked, with raw material resilience and supplier capability now influencing product development decisions as much as headline nutrition claims. In functional beverages, a single ingredient change can affect taste, clarity, stability, regulatory status, and production performance.
Clear pea protein could become a useful tool where manufacturers want plant-based functionality without the heaviness of traditional shakes. The commercial test will be whether products can combine sensory quality, stable processing, credible claims, and cost control at scale.
Prinova’s IFT FIRST session reflects the next stage of protein innovation. The category is no longer defined only by grams per serving. It is being shaped by how effectively protein can be delivered in lighter, cleaner, and more convenient formats that still perform under industrial beverage conditions.
