Note sure this is the right place - but here goes;
I am trying to find an economical way to buy Whey Protein Isolate.
I’ve been buying it from GNC but suspect I’m paying too much.
I know I can find other brands in-store or online that look less expensive, but when I look at the label closely I see they have the same or more cost/gram.
What I am looking for is a way to buy Whey Protein Isolate (preferably chocolate flavored) at a lower cost/gram than the vitamin-type shops.
Darigold, a large dairy cooperative, sells 50 lb. bags of it for a reasonable price. It can be harder to mix, I think the GNC stuff has some additives that make it mix easier. It’s not a problem if you make blender smoothies but can be an issue if you shake it to mix it.
Maybe try search out some of the large dairy co-ops in your area.
The OP specifically states that he is looking for whey protein isolate, which due to the additional filtering and isolating of the protein from the rest of the whey necessarily increases the price over that of whey protein concentrate. Both of the above suggestions are the cheaper whey protein concentrate, which is not what the OP is looking for.
As far as where he can get the WPI for less money, I don’t know what to say. Other than anywhere other than GNC. Buying it from there is probably the biggest rip off of them all.
Meijer’s - a chain store in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin - sells whey protein isolate. I don’t have the price at the moment, but it’s almost surely less than GNC.
As others have noted - be sure you’re getting what you want, whey protein isolate is different than whey protein concentrate.
Just out of curiosity - is there a particular reason you want isolate rather than concentrate or combination products? If on cost/gram of whey protein basis the concentrate was significantly cheaper would you still go with the isolate? (FWIW, I’ve actually heard some people ague - unconvincingly mind you - that the concentrate is superior given a same amount of protein consumed. That the other stuff removed is good stuff.) Costco sells a mixed product fairly cheaply. 12 pounds for $ 109.99 4050 grams of whey protein in two bags which comes to 2.7 cents a gram of whey protein. The isolate is less volume and weight of product per gram of actual protein but the proteins themselves are not too different.
Not challenging, just curious what your choice is based on.