Our story

Image of Daniel Whitehead, founder of The Organic Protein Company

Hello, I’m Daniel, founder of The Organic Protein Company. I was raised on a small farm and studied horticulture at Merrist Wood College in Surrey, where I developed a real passion for organic farming. Over the years I’ve strived to buy and grow as much of my food from organic sources as possible, but until I launched our organic whey protein powder in 2014, there was absolutely nothing of the sort available in the UK. I was determined to do something about that!

And so I did, but it was not all been plain sailing, by any means.

Until I launched The Organic Protein Company in 2014 the only source of organic whey protein was in the USA, but unfortunately an incompatibility between EU and USA organic rules grounded the project from the start. After two years and two rejected shipments, shamefully one of which was incinerated, I finally beat the odds and successfully brought the very first batch of organic whey protein to the UK.

Not content with the worryingly large carbon footprint left as a result of shipping every batch all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, I came across an organic dairy co-operative in Germany who, to my delight, started producing their own version, using a gentler low temperature filtration process, giving us a particularly high quality whey protein with a smooth creamy taste and no off-flavours.

So we now have a source closer to home and from cows feeding on grass all year round. It doesn’t get much better than that. Making our whey protein in the UK is a long-term goal, but unfortunately due to the huge amount of whey needed to make a high quality whey protein and given the organic whey supply is so limited in the UK, this isn’t yet possible.

The main reason I wanted our whey to be organic is because the welfare standards are so much higher on organic farms, and these standards are enforceable by law. That is also why we give 25p to Compassion in World Farming for every pack – to help improve standards on farms in the UK and worldwide, with over £10,000 raised so far!

From the moment we launched in April 2014 right up to this day, the positive feedback we frequently receive from our very supportive and loyal customers more than makes up for the moments of doubt and frustration that accompanied the mistakes and delays that were (mostly) out of my control. Thank you to everybody who has supported us along the way.