Vanilla is the best-selling whey flavor in the world. Chocolate is second. Most brands have these two, and from there they branch out into variations: cookies & cream, double chocolate, French vanilla, crème brûlée. Globally standardized.
At Quota Vita, we sell crema catalana, horchata, and unflavored. Crema catalana is our best seller, more so than the vanilla equivalent in other markets. Did I predict this? Not entirely. Let me tell you what I've learned.
Why big brands formulate vanilla and chocolate.
It's pragmatic. Vanilla and chocolate have three advantages for an international brand:
- Universal acceptance. There is no market in the world where these two flavors don't work. Vanilla is the "common denominator" of the global palate.
- Standardized industrial flavorists. Flavor companies (like Givaudan, Symrise, Firmenich) have libraries of "soft vanilla," "intense vanilla," "French vanilla" that work equally well in Manchester, Madrid, or Mumbai. They adapt little.
- Scale production. A brand that produces 50 tons of powder a month doesn't want to complicate things with 12 different flavors. Four flavors that sell a lot are better than twelve that sell little.
It's a mass-market logic that works. But it comes at a cost: the result is correct everywhere and excellent nowhere.
Why a local flavor is different.
Crema catalana, horchata, mató, panellet, coca de pinyons. These are not "other vanillas." They have their own aromatic profiles, built on ingredients and memories specific to a territory.
Crema catalana is born from egg, cinnamon, lemon zest, and burnt sugar. Vanilla is not in it. If you put a "vanilla with cinnamon" in the jar and call it crema catalana, Catalan customers notice it on the first shake. They can't say why, but they know it's not what they remember.
Horchata is even worse. Chufa (tiger nut) has its own profile that no "creamy vanilla" replicates. An English brand that wants to make an "horchata" whey invents it, because it doesn't have flavorists with local experience. Ours was formulated with people who have known the flavor since childhood.
What you buy when you buy a local flavor.
Three things, even if it seems abstract:
A formulation made closer. The flavorists who work at our scale are in Catalonia or Valencia. They learn from what they have tasted at home, and that is impossible to imitate from a desk in Switzerland.
Sensory memory. If you grew up eating crema catalana, the smell of cinnamon with lemon zest triggers a memory. Whey that retains that memory stays in your daily habit more easily than an anonymous vanilla.
A market protected by cultural geography. We won't be selling crema catalana whey in Tokyo anytime soon. This is an economic limitation, but also a protection: no MyProtein will invest in formulating crema catalana better than us, because for them it's a small market. For us, it is the market.
When an international flavor makes sense.
Not everything has to be local. There are three cases where an international flavor might make sense in our catalog:
- If we expand to a new market. If in the future we strongly enter the German market, a "soft vanilla" version is essential.
- If we do a collaboration. A co-branded whey with a pastry shop, a chocolate shop, or a chef can make sense occasionally.
- If the international base gives us scale that allows us to lower prices and maintain local ones. Portfolio strategy. Not for now.
For now, we focus on what we do best: flavors with a territory behind them.
Why the unflavored version exists.
For customers who want unflavored protein, for cooking (pancakes, fruit smoothies, puddings) or for those who aren't fond of any particular flavor. It's the "zero point" of the catalog.
The proportion of unflavored vs. local flavored sales changes by customer profile. People who cook a lot or are sensitive to sweeteners buy unflavored. People who want a direct shake often choose crema catalana or horchata.
Conclusion.
If you've tried 10 international brand wheys and they all taste vaguely the same "background" flavor, perhaps it's because: they are formulated by flavorists working with the same libraries. If you want a flavor that reminds you of something specific, try a local flavor made by people who live here.
If you like it, you've tasted it. If you don't like it, try the unflavored.
Gerard, founder.