Each the Sharp team saves you time by rounding up some of the latest trends and insights from the world of food and drink. It’s designed to help brand founders like you use trends, fine-tune your messaging and increase your brand awareness.
This month we spotlight the “Ozempic Effect” and what this means for the future of the food and drink industry.
Time for change
With headlines such as “Weight-loss drugs shrink supermarket sales” (The Times) and “Weight Watchers files for bankruptcy amid GLP-1 drug boom” (The Grocer) you’d be forgiven for thinking that weight loss drugs are the answer to all our prayers (except the supermarkets and WW obvs!) when it comes to keeping our waistlines in check.
After all, Government has failed to halt the obesity epidemic, and the supermarkets have largely ignored any attempts at getting the nation eating healthier, instead focusing solely on their bottom-line. (That is until Wes Streeting, the health secretary announced last week that he has plans to make the supermarkets legally responsible for encouraging shoppers to eat healthier as part of his 10-Year Health Plan to ease pressure on the NHS… but let’s see how this one pans out, we’ve been here before with previous Government proposals like HFSS!)
Enter the pharmaceutical industry stage left as the hero of the hour brandishing their weight loss jabs. According to recent studies and reports from the US, it seems that this is exactly the injection (pun intended!) we needed to kickstart behaviour change.
A paper, titled The No-Hunger Games: How GLP-1 Medication Adoption is Changing Consumer Food, by academics at Cornell University in New York has found that grocery spending in households with one GLP-1 drug user has fallen.
In the UK, Kantar has reported that supermarket sales volumes have fallen for the first time this year, which is thought, in part, to be attributable to the rise of the skinny jabs. Kantar reports that a staggering four in one-hundred households now have at least one GLP-1 user.
So, it follows that if a significant chunk of the population injecting appetite suppressing drugs are less seduced by olfactory and visual cues in store and are far less likely to see the value of 2-for-1 bulk buys or opt for calorie dense processed foods, UK supermarkets will have to start re-thinking their strategy anyway.
The timing of both the government’s proposals and the rise of weight-loss jabs could be very serendipitous for the nation’s eating habits and waistlines.
With uptake of injections increasing rapidly, it’s not just highly processed foods and snacks that will suffer from being left on shelf, alcohol consumption will also fall.
SHARP account manager Sam Beeny has been on the GLP-1 drugs for a few months and is now in the process of coming off them. She said: “You simply don’t feel like eating and the smell and sight of food has no temptation. Rather, you’re forcing yourself to eat and glugging down water throughout the day.
“And it’s not just food that is a chore to eat, alcoholic drinks have made me feel nauseous if I drink more than one at a time.
Conversely, with GLP-1 users focusing on filling up with protein-based foods – this has been Sam’s strategy to try and mitigate any muscle loss – it looks as though protein-based foods may be least affected by the downturn in sales.
Life after Mounjaro
But the question is how will this result in long-term behaviour change? What happens when you stop injecting? Presumably your appetite returns, and you start to crave the quantities of food and drink that you did before?
Sam comments: “Maintaining my weight loss is super important to me, so I’ve been making a conscious effort to choose high-protein foods that help keep me feeling fuller for longer. I’m also focusing on whole foods to give my body the best chance to process what I eat in the most natural and efficient way.
“Portion control is also a big focus for me right now. After eating less for so long, my stomach has shrunk, so I’m being mindful not to slip back into old habits with big portions. I’m sticking to three smaller meals a day to avoid undoing all the progress I’ve made.
“Using GLP-1 made me realise how important hydration is, and drinking more water has become a daily ritual for me, even after coming off the jab. If there were products that added fibre or protein to my water, I’d be interested in purchasing them.”
Natural alternatives
What about if you don’t want to take drugs, can’t afford to or just simply can’t stomach the injections? Food Navigator published an interesting article on some innovative natural alternatives that are coming to market as supplements and replacement ingredients. They range from a novel ingredient made from pulses and legumes to food-grade bioactives.
Turning change into opportunity
The smart money of course is always on the brands who see opportunity in change. Brands such as Field Doctor announced early on that they are catering for GLP-1 drug users with smaller portions.
At SHARP, we love this consumer-first thinking, turning a negative into a positive. Expect more brands to follow suit.
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