Whey
Protein Powder Comparisons - Update (Part 1)
Whey Protein Price Changes
Our very first protein comparison guide was written many years back, which was then largely expanded to compare a total of 25 different protein products mainly based on their cost per gram of protein (CPGP). As explained before, it's difficult to compare the prices of different protein products when they all come in different container sizes, different serving sizes, different amounts of protein per serving, etc....
So what we did was compare them at the lowest common denominator, which is simply the cost per gram of protein. This is determined by dividing the cost of the protein product by the total amount of proteins it contains.
Another measure of "Cost per Serving" (CPS) is also included purely for reference. Because different protein products contain different amounts of protein per serving, this CPS measure is not used in the comparisons - it merely gives a cost measure for each serving for a protein supplement.
Quite sometime back, there has been a major price update (increase) in all protein prices. This was due to a increase in the price of the whey. Global demand largely increased for whey protein products and as with the law of supply and demand, prices go up with increased demand. Prices probably increase by anywhere from 20% to 50% or more depending on which product your looking at.
Which such a major price increase, our protein comparison guide was long over due for an update. So in our new update, the comparisons will reflect the price changes, and as well there are a few items removed from previous list, and a few new products added to the comparison mix.
Whey Protein Powder Comparison
Like our previous comparison guide, this update includes a long list of protein supplements that are compared based on cost per gram of protein, and as before, the list is broken down in to 4 main categories of protein products:
- Whey Protein Concentrates
- Whey Protein Isolates
- Protein Blends
- Other Protein Supplements
Below are 4 tables listing various protein supplements for the 4 categories listed above, starting with whey protein concentrates:
Category 2: Whey Protein
Isolate Powders (3 items)
Category 3: Protein Blends
(5 items)
Category 4: Other Protein Powders (4 items)
CPS
- cost per serving
CPGP - cost per gram of protein
If you look at the CPGP (cost per gram of protein) column in the tables above, you'll see that whey protein concentrates are the least inexpensive, the isolates are the most expensive, and the protein blends falls somewhere in between.
Whey Protein Concentrates Compared
Optimum nutrition has always been a price leader in this category of whey protein supplements - offering a high quality whey protein powder at great prices. But how do things look after the latest price increases? Looking at the first table, you'll see that EAS's 100% Whey comes in as the new leader in lowest CPGP, just beating out Sci-fit's Econo Whey protein by a hair.
Optimum nutrition's 5lb and 10lb 100% Whey now ties for 3rd and 4th with only a very slightly higher CPGP ($0.0239 compared to $0.0220 of EAS). When you compare this with their previous CPGP before the price increase ($0.0163), that's an increase of 46%! But of course, it's not the only product that increased in price. Every other protein supplement increased in price as well. For example, Sci-fit's Econo Whey CPGP price increased by about 40%.
As you work your way down the list to the much more expensive whey powders such as Nitrotech Hardcore (previously just Nitrotech), you'll see that its price increase is rather minimal. The CPGP of Nitro tech hardcore 4lb before price increase was $0.0468, after price increase was $0.0476, which is an increase of only 1.7%. I suppose it was over-priced enough that there was a big enough margin to not require much of a price increase, and still allow for a decent profit.
Regardless, after the price increases, our top 3 price contenders are now:
1) EAS 100% Whey with a CPGP of $0.0220
2) Scifit Econo Whey with a CPGP of $0.0222
3) Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey with a CPGP of $0.0239
Read next part: Other 3 Categories Compared >>
>> Click here to order Optimum 100 Whey
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>> Click here for Whey Protein supplements
