Kerstin Aue is Senior Marketing Manager Nutrition at wheyco. We asked Kerstin how she experiences the market today and the ways wheyco adapts to external factors such as changes in the customers’ needs and the COVID crisis.

How do you experience the market today?

“I think the market has become more volatile over the last ten to fifteen years. Recent events like COVID and the Ukraine crisis have made the market less predictable. In our market segment of whey derivatives, we have seen an extraordinary increase in whey protein product prices within the last twelve months. This development is caused by a decrease in milk supply in major production regions like the EU, Australia/NZ and the USA and a strong demand e.g. by the sports nutrition industry. The question is how long this development is going to last.”

How does this reflect the organization?

“There are two ways in which we have adapted to the increased market volatility. First is our focus on partnerships. Building partnerships and having long-term relationships with your customers is increasingly important, especially when it comes to security of supply. This is a core part of our business approach.

Second is staying agile. As a business you always have to question whether you’re still on the right path. You always have to build on several options to mitigate risk, because of the market’s unpredictable aspect.”

What is the role of innovation?

“Innovation ensures we remain relevant to our customers and support them in their growth ambitions. Innovation can be pursued in many ways, not just product innovation.

It can be in the form of packaging changes or greater efficiency in the production process, for example. Innovation can also take place in optimizing transportation, for example by making sure we don’t waste space.

More and more people are interested in their health and search for ways to improve it. Nutrition is one way to support this, and a focus of our product innovation is to meet these needs.”

How can IFFI help you with this?

“I really appreciate the fact that IFFI doesn’t just see innovation as product innovation. What I like about IFFI’s program is that it covers many different aspects of innovation, but also of business. The program is very diverse. It covers obvious topics, but also topics that don’t automatically come to mind. You meet people from other ingredient companies that are focused on different segments of ingredients. In many cases, we have the same challenges, but our views on them may be different. I think it’s very insightful to share with the community and talk about the challenges everyone faces.”