The meteoric rise of weight reduction medicine means shoppers’ dietary wants are “shifting” which supplies new alternatives for meals firms, Nestle CEO Mark Schneider advised CNBC.
Buyers had been initially involved concerning the reputation of GLP-1 medicine comparable to Wegovy and Ozempic because it was assumed that individuals on the medicine would eat much less meals, Schneider advised CNBC’s Silvia Amaro.
However that perspective has since modified, he mentioned. “I think what since has emerged is that nutritional needs don’t go away. They’re just shifting. So, you know before, during, after GLP-1 therapy — consumers still have nutritional needs, but they may be different from someone who is not on a weight loss regimen.”
Based on Schneider, shoppers who’re on weight reduction treatment merely have totally different dietary wants. Customers of the GLP-1 medicine must focus extra on protein consumption to retain muscle mass and making certain sufficient nutritional vitamins and micronutrients are consumed, he mentioned.
This serves as a possibility for Nestle to convey science to the desk after which “work on what we call companion products, products that really then address some of the specific consumer needs during that treatment,” Schneider mentioned.
‘An attention-grabbing addition’ to the meals trade
Nestle is trying to capitalize on the recognition of the GLP-1 medicine with its “ambitious goal to push the healthier products,” the CEO mentioned.
The GLP-1 medicine will “certainly be an interesting addition to all the other needs that we’re trying to meet in the food industry,” Schneider advised CNBC, including that even because the significance of the medicine grows, they won’t grow to be the only real focus for foods and drinks firms.
Whereas GLP-1 customers could look out for merchandise which are tailor-made to their weight loss program and impacts of the treatment comparable to feeling satiety ahead of earlier than, not all shoppers can have the identical targets.
“Remember, there’s going to be a lot of consumers out there that are not on an GLP-1 diet. And there is lots of situations where a snack and a chocolate product may still be of a lot of interest. So it doesn’t go away,” Schneider defined.
Customers may also all be at totally different life phases, from infancy to the aged, and subsequently have totally different dietary requirement which are met with totally different merchandise, he added.
Frozen meals vary for GLP-1 customers
Although long-term results of GLP-1 weight reduction remedies are nonetheless unsure and issues about negative effects persist, Schneider mentioned you will need to reply to them as a “major consumer trend.”
The Swiss meals and beverage big introduced earlier this month that it was launching Very important Pursuit, a frozen meals vary that targets these taking GLP-1 medicine. Twelve merchandise are set to hit supermarkets later this 12 months, together with pastas, pizzas, and sandwich melts. All meals will embrace no less than one important nutrient comparable to calcium or iron.
Meals which are historically not linked to weight reduction like Pizza will likely be included to supply shoppers with selection, Schneider advised CNBC.
“But the most important part is all of them are going to be portion controlled,” he mentioned. “Then the micronutrient status is very important. So we’re adding vitamins to be sure that all the central needs of these consumers are met.”
Nestle can also be planning different “companion offerings” for shoppers taking weight reduction medicine, each within the U.S., the place Very important Pursuit merchandise will launch, and elsewhere, Schneider mentioned.
“Some of these products will also make a lot of sense to consumers, if they’re not on a GLP-1 treatment, but another type of weight loss treatment, because the same fundamentals apply, and that is you want to be sure that you’re losing fat and not lean muscle mass and you want to be sure that you don’t develop any vitamin deficiencies,” Schneider mentioned.