This photograph taken on February 21, 2024 reveals the brand of Swiss meals large Nestlé at its company headquarters in Vevey, western Switzerland.
Fabrice Coferini | AFP | Getty Photographs
The sudden rise of weight-loss medication and the “change” in client dietary wants present new alternatives For meals firms, Nestle CEO Mark Schneider instructed CNBC.
Schneider instructed CNBC’s Silvia Amaro that traders have been initially involved concerning the recognition of GLP-1 medication like Wegovy and Ozempic as a result of folks taking them have been thought to devour much less meals.
However that view later modified, he mentioned. “I believe what’s occurred since then is that dietary wants will not be going away. They’re simply altering. So, earlier than, throughout and after GLP-1 remedy – customers nonetheless have dietary wants, however they might Not like different people who find themselves not on a weight reduction program.
Schneider mentioned customers taking weight-loss medication merely have totally different dietary wants. Customers of GLP-1 medication have to pay extra consideration to protein consumption to take care of muscle mass and guarantee enough vitamin and micronutrient consumption, he mentioned.
This offers a possibility for Nestlé to deliver science to the desk after which “develop what we name complementary merchandise that may actually tackle a number of the particular wants of customers throughout remedy,” Schneider mentioned.
‘Attention-grabbing addition’ to the meals trade
Nestlé hopes to capitalize on the GLP-1 drug’s recognition to attain “the bold objective of launching more healthy merchandise,” the chief government mentioned.
Schneider instructed CNBC that GLP-1 medication are “actually going to be an fascinating complement to all the opposite wants that we’re making an attempt to fulfill within the meals trade,” including that even because the medication develop in significance, they will not be a part of meals and beverage The only focus of the corporate.
Whereas GLP-1 customers could also be on the lookout for merchandise that go well with their weight loss plan and the consequences of the drug (corresponding to feeling full quicker than earlier than), not all customers could have the identical objectives.
“Remember the fact that there will probably be a number of customers who will not be on the GLP-1 weight loss plan. And in lots of instances, snacks and chocolate merchandise should still be of curiosity. So it isn’t going away,” Schneider defined.
He added that customers are additionally at totally different levels of life, from infants to the aged, and due to this fact have totally different dietary wants that require totally different merchandise to fulfill.
Frozen meals sequence appropriate for GLP-1 customers
Whereas the long-term results of GLP-1 weight reduction remedies stay unsure and considerations about uncomfortable side effects stay, Schneider mentioned it is vital to handle them as a “main client development.”
The Swiss meals and beverage large earlier this month introduced the launch of Important Pursuit, a line of frozen meals focused at folks taking GLP-1 medication. Twelve merchandise will hit supermarkets later this 12 months, together with pasta, pizza and sandwich sandwiches. All meals include at the least one important nutrient, corresponding to calcium or iron.
Schneider instructed CNBC that meals not historically related to weight reduction, corresponding to pizza, will probably be included to supply customers with numerous decisions.
“However most significantly, all of this will probably be topic to portion management,” he mentioned. “Then micronutrient standing is essential. So we add nutritional vitamins to verify all of the core wants of those customers are met.”
Schneider mentioned Nestlé additionally plans to supply different “complementary merchandise” for customers taking slimming capsules within the U.S. and elsewhere, the place the Important Pursuit product will probably be out there.
“A few of these merchandise additionally make sense to customers if they do not obtain the GLP-1 remedy however obtain one other weight reduction remedy as a result of the identical primary rules apply, which is you need to ensure that what you are dropping is fats. , relatively than lean muscle, you need to be sure you do not develop any vitamin deficiencies,” Schneider says.
