The Right To Protein movement is gaining rightful momentum. This year Protein Day witnessed a nutritional education drive on protein at different platforms in the country.
Leading brands and industry associations are joined Protein Day 2023 celebrations to help promote protein awareness and sufficiency in India. Protein is an essential macronutrient for our overall well-being, but protein deficiency continues to trigger many health concerns. Experts in the country suggested that awareness of protein foods, their benefits and long-term behaviour change among citizens is the need of the hour. To drive this mission, ‘Protein Day’ was observed on 27th February as an annual awareness day highlighting the importance of adequate protein consumption.
With the 2023 theme of ‘Easy Access to Protein for All’, the goal this year was to draw attention to the accessibility of protein foods and encourage citizens to learn more about the many protein food choices available. ‘Right To Protein’, a public-health initiative, garnered overwhelming support from organizations, industry leaders, and subject matter experts to rally the cause of Protein Day this year. Key supporters include protein food manufacturers, associations, and smart protein brands. Freshpick, GladFul, Hello Tempayy, PlantVita, Nihkan, Evolve Foods, LabelBlind, CLFMA Of India, foodio.fit, Agroshift, PCK Agriventures, and more are celebrating Protein Day with educative promotions and conversations.
Right Day 2023 Received Massive Support
“Protein plays a crucial role in India’s mission towards nutrition security. But lack of nutritional awareness and protein education remains a concern. Celebrating Protein Day is a means to play a key role in changing India’s nutritional knowledge and help citizens to bridge the awareness and accessibility gap,” said D. Varun Reddy, Director and CEO of Sneha Group, a leading Indian poultry conglomerate. “By doing the same, we are reinforcing our commitment to providing quality and affordable nutrition to consumers, which has always been at the core of our existence.”
Mr. Sanjay Sethi, Executive Director, Plant-Based Foods Industry Association, a staunch supporter of the Right To Protein initiative, said, “In India, historically our daily diets have been negligent towards protein foods, either due to lack of easy access or poor awareness of accessible protein food choices that one can make. This Protein Day, we, therefore, aim to promote plant proteins to make citizens more conscious of the importance of protein sufficiency for the country’s overall health and nutrition levels. Protein Day serves as a reminder for everyone to include sufficient protein in each meal. We encourage the industry, industry leaders, nutrition experts, and physicians to help raise awareness among all individuals.”
“With this year’s theme for Protein Day, we encourage everyone to participate in dialogues, events and activities that help spread awareness of the many protein food sources accessible in South Asian countries. We firmly believe that we all have a role in ensuring that citizens are more cognizant of their protein requirements and the many protein food sources available. We also wish to stimulate conversations around adding sustainable protein options to our diets, to work towards the goal of nutrition security for all collectively,” concluded Deeba Giannoulis, Head of Marketing U.S. Soy SAASSA, U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), a supporter of the Right To Protein initiative.
Vyal Adhye, Founder of Freshpick, Seafood and Meat Specialists said, “As producers of safe and chemical-free lean meat and seafood products, we understand the importance of educating consumers about protein. India suffers from low protein intake mainly due to the many myths and low awareness of the importance of protein in our nutritional requirements. A kilogram of fresh chicken is the most economical source of protein to meet the dietary requirements of an Indian household, specifically for 75% of the country who are non-vegetarians. But even non-vegetarians in India do not consume adequate protein. Therefore we need to observe a dedicated Protein Day to remind Indian citizens that protein needs to be included in every meal, about 1/4th of their plates!”
“The 2023 Protein Day theme is about protein accessibility. And easy-to-access protein for all starts by offering protein choices that can be incorporated into one’s daily life. As a result, the Indian food industry needs to innovate and bring forth more protein food choices for all kinds of diets. We strongly believe protein consumption in India is going to exponentially grow over the next decade, driven by favourable demographics and increased purchasing power,” added Siddharth Ramasubramanian, CEO & Founder of Hello Tempayy, stated.
The need to create awareness about protein consumption in India with the Protein Day movement is gaining momentum. Protein Day witnessed a nutritional education drive on protein at different platforms in the country, including social media-led mass awareness supported by like-minded individuals, brands, organisations, experts, associations and more.
About ‘Right To Protein’
‘Right To Protein’ is a public health awareness initiative to educate citizens about the importance of adequate protein consumption for better nutrition, health and well-being. #RightToProtein initiative aspires to build knowledge of different types of protein sources, both, animal and plant protein-based, to meet larger nutritional goals. Right To Protein aims to develop an ecosystem of institutions, organisations, experts, professionals and more to drive protein awareness, debunk myths and misconceptions about protein and protein food sources and rally for nutrition security through adequate protein consumption. The ecosystem will aim to improve plant and animal protein production, consumption quality, and consistency. Right To Protein is supported by several like-minded global individuals, academicians, professionals, and institutions. It is open for those who would like to join and/or contribute in any capacity, including providing knowledge and technical support or as promotion partners.
