At a glance - WPC 80 Instant
- €30.14/kg net · 20 kg multi-layer kraft bag · MOQ one bag · Ref. #114438
- Protein min. 80% d.b. · instantised with soy lecithin at ~0.3-0.5%
- Wets and disperses in cold water in under 30 seconds with hand agitation
- Contains soy lecithin - allergens are milk and soy
- In stock, EU dispatch, batch CoA with every consignment
What instantisation actually does
WPC 80 Instant is the same 80% whey protein concentrate as Regular, put through one extra manufacturing step. The powder is rewetted in a fluid bed so that particles collide and stick into porous agglomerates, sprayed with soy lecithin at roughly 0.3-0.5%, and re-dried.
Two mechanisms result. The agglomerates are larger and porous, so water wicks into them by capillary action instead of sitting on the surface. And the lecithin, a surfactant, drops the surface tension at the powder-water interface so the particle wets instead of floating. Together they eliminate the failure mode every consumer knows: a raft of dry powder on top of the water with a clumped core underneath that no amount of shaking will break up.
Measured against IDF 87, Instant typically wets in under 30 seconds in cold water with light agitation. Regular can take minutes and generally needs mechanical shear to finish the job.
Specification
| Parameter | WPC 80 Instant | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Protein (dry basis) | min. 80% | Kjeldahl, N × 6.38 |
| Fat | max. 7% | Röse-Gottlieb |
| Moisture | max. 5% | Oven, 102°C |
| Lactose | typical 3-5% | HPLC / enzymatic |
| Ash | max. 4.5% | Incineration, 550°C |
| Lecithin | ~0.3-0.5% (soy) | Declared |
| Wettability | < 30 s, cold water | IDF 87 |
| Particle size | Agglomerated - coarser than Regular | Sieve analysis |
| Bulk density (loose) | Lower than Regular - porous agglomerates | In-house |
| Salmonella | Not detected / 25 g | ISO 6579 |
| PDCAAS | 1.0 | FAO/WHO 1991 |
| Allergens | Milk, soy | - |
| Shelf life | 18-24 months from production, sealed | - |
Nutritionally identical to Regular. The difference is physical format and the lecithin. Full parameter set on the specification page.
Order WPC 80 Instant from one 20 kg bag
€30.14/kg net, in stock, dispatched in 1-2 business days across the EU. Batch CoA included. If you are not sure Instant is what you need, ask us first - we will tell you if Regular does the job cheaper.
When Instant is worth €4.56/kg - and when it is not
The premium buys exactly one property: dispersion in cold water without equipment. Ask one question about your process and the answer falls out.
Worth it
- Consumer shaker powders. The end user has a bottle and 15 seconds of patience. Regular will generate complaints and returns; the premium is cheap insurance.
- Single-serve sachets and stick packs. Same logic, and the format promises convenience explicitly.
- RTD and beverage powders reconstituted cold at low shear. No mixer downstream to rescue you.
- Meal replacement and clinical nutrition reconstituted by hand, often by people who are unwell and will not fight a lumpy powder.
- Bulk dosing into cold water in a plant with limited shear - where agglomeration also cuts dusting during handling.
Not worth it
- Bars, doughs, batters. Hydration happens in a wet, sheared, mixed system. The lecithin does nothing you would notice.
- Extrusion. The extruder denatures and disperses everything. Buying Instant for an extruder is burning money.
- Industrial blending with a ribbon or paddle mixer. Mechanical shear substitutes for the lecithin entirely.
- Feed. No consumer, no shaker, and cost per kg of protein is the entire specification.
- Any soy-free product. Instant is instantised with soy lecithin, so it is disqualified by definition.
Full head-to-head on the Regular vs Instant page.
The soy lecithin question
Two things get conflated here and it is worth separating them.
Allergen labelling. Soy is a listed allergen under Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 and lecithin from soy is not exempt from declaration. If WPC 80 Instant is in your recipe, soy goes on your label. That is not negotiable and it is the single most common reason a formulator has to switch back to Regular late in development.
Sunflower lecithin as an alternative. Sunflower-lecithin-instantised whey exists and avoids the soy declaration. It is less widely produced, carries a premium and is not a stocked grade here. If soy-free is a hard requirement, tell us at enquiry stage - we also supply sunflower lecithin as a standalone raw material if you are instantising or emulsifying in-house.
Handling notes specific to Instant
- Lower bulk density. Agglomerates are porous, so 20 kg occupies more volume than 20 kg of Regular. Check your hopper and bin capacity before switching - volumetric dosing equipment will need recalibrating.
- Do not over-shear it. Aggressive mechanical handling breaks the agglomerates back down and you lose the property you paid for. Gentle conveying, minimal pneumatic transfer.
- Moisture sensitivity. The porous structure takes up water faster than Regular. Humid conditions cause caking sooner. Below 20°C, under 65% RH, and close opened bags properly.
- Less dust than Regular - a real occupational-hygiene benefit in manual dosing operations.
WPC 80 Instant - FAQ
No, apart from the ~0.3-0.5% lecithin. Same protein content, same amino acid profile, same PDCAAS of 1.0, same lactose and fat. The difference is physical format and dispersibility, not nutrition.
Yes. It is instantised with soy lecithin, so both milk and soy must be declared as allergens on your finished product under Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011. If your product must be soy-free, use WPC 80 Regular or ask about sunflower-lecithin alternatives before you formulate.
Typically under 30 seconds in cold water with light hand agitation, measured against IDF 87. Regular can take several minutes and usually needs mechanical shear.
Not because of the lecithin, which costs very little. The premium covers a second pass through processing - rewetting in a fluid bed, applying lecithin, re-drying - plus the yield loss and reduced line throughput that step involves.
You can, and it will work, but you are paying for a dispersibility property that a wet, sheared system makes irrelevant. Use Regular and put the €4.56/kg somewhere it does something.
The re-agglomeration step involves brief additional heat exposure, which is mild compared with the original spray drying. Protein content, amino acid profile and PDCAAS are unaffected. There is no practical nutritional penalty.
20 kg multi-layer kraft paper bags with a PE inner liner, minimum order one bag. Note that Instant is less dense than Regular, so a 20 kg bag takes more space than you might expect - relevant if you are planning storage or volumetric dosing.