Equip Foods has kicked off the presale of its new Prime Bar, a “first-of-its-kind” grass-fed beef protein bar, available next month. Prime Bar is the first to incorporate beef-based protein in a fudgy snack, without relying on whey, milk isolates, seed oils, fiber syrups, lecithins, or refined sugars.

Aside from its 20 g of protein, it includes collagen and colostrum — two ingredients targeting gut health, immunity, and recovery benefits — plus fats from grass-fed tallow and cocoa butter. The bar is naturally sweetened with dates and honey.

“We created Prime Bar because nothing like it existed — a superfood protein bar with 20 g of protein and great taste, made from real foods our bodies actually recognize,” says Dr. Anthony Gustin, founder of Equip Foods.

“There are clean bars with very little protein and bad taste. Other high-protein bars are full of junk that’s harsh on the gut and suboptimal for health. Prime Bar is the protein bar I wanted for my own family.”

Equip Foods addresses a growing frustration with protein bars that fall short on taste, ingredient integrity, or digestibility.

“This isn’t just another protein bar. We’re setting a new standard for the category,” says Kieran Mathew, CEO at Equip Foods. “We’re optimizing for high protein, nutrient-density, and satiation, while others optimize for macronutrients in isolation, at the expense of health. People are waking up to the truth about ultra-processed foods.”

Each bar is third-party tested for protein content, heavy metals, pesticides, glyphosate, microplastics, mycotoxins, and molds.

Protein pipeline

In other protein formulation advances, Liberation Labs recently announced plans to construct its first commercial-scale biomanufacturing facility with a capacity of 600,000 liters. The site will produce Vivitein BLG, a dairy protein (beta-lactoglobulin) produced through precision fermentation, which will be sold in the US.

In March, FrieslandCampina Ingredients introduced Nutri Whey ProHeat, a heat-stable whey protein to help performance and active nutrition brands formulating trending formats like ready-to-drink beverages. The new protein is made using microparticulation technology to overcome typical formulation challenges faced by manufacturers, such as viscosity caused by whey protein’s sensitivity to heat treatment.

Meanwhile, French biotech company Verley unveiled a portfolio of functionalized precision fermentation dairy proteins designed to address the limitations of traditional sources and plant-based alternatives. The company says traditional dairy proteins tend to break down under heat and acidic conditions, restricting their application in nutrient-rich formulations. At the same time, it says that plant-based proteins often fall short in essential amino acids.

Also this year, Israeli food-tech company Brevel raised more than US$5 million in a seed extension up-round for its microalgae proteins, bringing the total investment to US$25 million. The investment allows the company to accelerate its commercial strategy and develop ingredients for F&B applications.