Starbucks Boards the Protein Bandwagon

America is in the midst of a need-more-protein craze, and Starbucks might have just cemented the trend: It's adding protein drinks to the menu. Starting Sept. 29, customers will be able to top their drinks with flavored cold foams infused with protein, reports CBS News. The coffee giant also will offer lattes made from milk blended with protein powder. The foams will add 15 grams of protein to a grande-sized beverage, while the lattes will come in at 27 to 36 grams of protein per cup.

It's a timely play: The number of high-protein drinks on store shelves has more than doubled since 2020, and the protein shake market now sits at $6 billion, according to industry trackers. Social media's obsession with protein-infused everything, from chips to cereal, isn't hurting the trend. Whether it's a nutritional necessity is another question. Nature notes that studies supporting the notion that the standard daily recommendation—typically, 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight—is too low are, in a word, "mixed." Starbucks, meanwhile, just had its best sales week ever.