The carnivore strikes back

Can a mere bag of crisps be the sign that a tipping point has been reached in the wider food world? If so, Wilde’s Protein Chips could be just that. The yellow packet announces that these are no ordinary crisps. They aren’t made from potatoes at all, in fact, but “real ingredients, including chicken breast, egg white and bone broth”.

Chicken-flavoured crisps made from actual chicken? They’re a pivot from the health food trend we’ve come to expect. Until recently, protein-rich plant-based innovations have been in the ascendant.

Wilde’s crisps – which tick the wellness boxes of being Paleo, keto-friendly and grain- and gluten-free – are not the only new snack using animal produce in unexpected ways. There’s vanilla-flavoured protein powders made from egg whites ($26, MRM Nutrition), grass-fed beef isolate powder ($63.99, Equip), and cacao collagen drinks derived from bone broth (£25, Freja). Is this the beginning of a post-vegan wave?

Bite-size jerky sticks made from wild Hawaiian venison (£114 for 24, healf.com) have 10g of protein (similar to a Trek bar) and offer the highest protein to calorie ratio (10g per 55cal) “on the planet”, at least according to the brand. Meanwhile, sales of boiled eggs (12g protein, 121cal) have overtaken a particular brand of crisps as the most popular Tesco meal deal snack in the UK. (A vegan Trek protein flapjack, by comparison, has 10g protein per 219cal.)

As seed oils become more contested as a health food in the US, grass-fed beef tallow is making a comeback. US brand Masa Chips bakes its tortilla chips (four-pack, $41.60) in it; Ossa Organic (265g, £10) wants you to cook with it; and Fierce Nature – the beauty brand that offers a blush stick (£11.90), a contour balm (£11.10) and a face balm (£22.90) all derived from beef fat – wants you to slather it all over your face. 

In the UK, 19 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds increased their meat intake in 2024, according to a report by UK non-profit Eating Better. It could be attributed to the explosion in wellness chat and the trend for clean-eating on social platforms; younger generations are more likely found in gyms than bars these days, and meat is seen as a dietary hack to boost lean muscle. Until recently, people were “looking at the front of packaged foods marketed as plant-based or vegan and thinking, ‘This must be healthy,’” says Dr Zia Stratos, head of nutrition at The Galen Clinic in London. But that’s not necessarily the case. We’re increasingly understanding that nutrition is nuanced and we aren’t automatically gravitating to free-from foods. “We’re realising the benefits of a biodiverse, plant-rich diet.”

Plant-based companies feel inauthentic because of the insane ingredients list

Veganism is now a $27.8bn a year global business. According to a 2024 report, the global vegan protein market alone is worth $14.2bn. There’s now Veganuary, World Vegan Day (1 November), and many universities and colleges champion “meat-free Mondays”. Hollywood stars such as Natalie Portman, Brad Pitt and Ariana Grande have given the dietary preference – once-considered hemp-y and a bit hippie – an A-list gloss. But “the pendulum is swinging back”, says Andrea Hernández who, via Snaxshot, her zeitgeisty Substack newsletter, is now a leading critic within the food and beverage space. “Plant-based companies feel inauthentic because of the insane ingredient lists.” Many vegan milks or meat substitutes are packed with an array of binding agents and things our grandparents wouldn’t recognise as being food. The boom in new products – such as Wilde’s crisps – align with increased scepticism about ultra-processed foods. She’s noticed “a lot of people switching back to meat-eating for health reasons”. Gwyneth Paltrow is one example.

Stratos, of The Galen Clinic, says “many people went strictly vegan” and felt “worse” for it. She saw patients suffering from fatigue, poor focus, irritated skin, vitamin deficiencies, anaemia and hormonal imbalances. “It can manifest as low energy and noticeable weight shifts, including weight gain, as a disproportionate number of vegan products contain sugar,” she says. “Even adding back in fish and eggs [can help]. Animal protein is really helpful for satiety and to curb cravings.” Eleanor Hoath, lead nutritionist at the online wellness store Healf, says people are becoming “disillusioned with veganism due to challenges meeting nutritional needs”.

Milk is trending. It’s the subject of debate in America. Sales of raw milk increased by 20 per cent year-on-year in 2024, despite the risk of bird flu, and several states including California, Maine, Michigan, Ohio and Iowa have reversed or relaxed restrictions around its sales. Meanwhile, Oatly lost its battle with the Court of Appeal in the UK, and as of December can no longer call its products “milk”. Graham’s Family Dairy, a Scottish Jersey milk firm, has experienced a 25 per cent increase in sales of its Gold Top, driven, according to the company, predominantly by the under-45s. “In the 1980s and 1990s, there was a pivot towards skimmed milks as dietary fats fell out of favour,” says managing director Robert Graham – he also attributes TikTok as driving dairy demand.  

Meatfluencing is now trending on TikTok, too. Steak is no longer just the breakfast of a weightlifting alpha male, but of women wanting to rebalance their hormones. “People assume that our customers are all gym bros, but it’s actually 80 per cent women in their late 20s to early 40s,” says Kieran Mathew, general manager of Equip Foods. The beef protein brand has grown by 30 times in the past three years, with sales forecast to be “mid-eight figures” in revenue this year.  

For those who can’t stomach actual meat, Austin-based supplements brand Heart & Soil offers varieties in capsule form, sourced from regeneratively-raised Texan cattle. The company does not attempt to hide its contents: labels are emblazoned with product names, such as Pure American Liver (for health and vitality, $47), and Grass-Fed Colostrum (for gut-healing and immunity, $61.20). 

Swallowing a capsule filled with animal organs first thing in the morning might take some getting used to. Likewise, putting beef fat moisturiser on your face. But Hoath says, “once you get past that [you realise] it’s insanely nutrient-dense and [in non-Western diets] organ meats are considered delicacies.” If you thought Wilde’s egg-white crisps sounded weird, Hoath expects to soon see crisps derived from liver, while Hernéndez imagines “meat-based desserts”. An easier, dietary add: cocoa bovine collagen powders, drunk right before bed like hot chocolate. How to supercharge it further? With a dash of Gold Top, naturally.