KANSAS CITY, MO. — Any food or beverage company that has yet to create or consider a GLP-1 strategy needs to do so, said Sally Lyons Wyatt, global executive vice president and chief adviser, consumer goods and foodservice insights for Circana, a Chicago-based market research firm.

“I see some companies doing exactly what they need to do, and I see some companies still trying to say, ‘Uh, I don’t know,’” she said in a webinar held May 7 by Food Business News, a  MEAT+POULTRY sister publication. “It’s to those companies I would say definitely make it a strategy, definitely put it front and center and figure out where you want to play and/or innovate, or merge and/or acquire.”

A 2024 survey of US consumers from Innova Market Insights, Arnhem, The Netherlands, found 10% of respondents said they were taking GLP-1 medications, 18% said they intended to, and 7% said they had used the medications in the past. Over half of current users (56%) said they took it for weight loss while 36% said they took it for type 2 diabetes. Global new product launches with a GLP-1 claim increased 149% from 2020 to 2024, according to Innova.

“We’ve seen a massive growth in the number of new product launches that have a GLP-1 claim, but that’s basically from almost nothing,” said Lu Ann Williams, global senior vice president of research and co-founder of Innova. “This is something that we expect to increase a lot.”

GLP-1 household purchases

Lyons Wyatt noted that Morgan Stanley projects the percentage of food and beverage units sourced from households with at least one GLP-1 consumer to increase to 12.8% in 2034 from the current 7.7% today.

“I think that’s low,” Lyons Wyatt said. “I think we could see up to 40% of units for both food and non food.”

She expects the price of the medications to come down and the side effects, including digestive problems, to ease.

“I think (the side effects) will lessen over the course of time because all of the drug makers are trying to find ways around that,” Lyons Wyatt said.

Circana research showed that GLP-1 users skew toward lower-income consumers who take the medications because their insurance covers it and higher-income consumers who can afford the medications even without their insurance paying for it.

A need for fresh breath

Circana tracked consumption of GLP-1 users and non-users for a year. Categories where GLP-1 users increased their consumption over the year were beverages, produce and deli items, especially those that were ready to eat or ready to heat. Gum and breath mints benefited as well.

“When you take the medication, you can get dry mouth and/or halitosis,” Lyons Wyatt said.

Before taking the medication, GLP-1 users were 10% more likely to purchase gum than non-users. After taking the medication for a year, they were 25% more likely.

GLP-1 users tend to seek tea to soothe the stomach, fiber from beans, and protein, fiber and healthy fats from nuts, Lyons Wyatt said. The Innova 2024 survey in the United States found 50% of GLP-1 users said they had increased their consumption of both vitamins/minerals and protein while 46% said they had increased consumption of fiber.

Lyons Wyatt said she encouraged food and beverage companies to keep monitoring the GLP-1 category and to consider collaborations, including for promotions and innovations. The GLP-1 category is having a ripple effect on other categories like clothing, makeup and fitness watches, she said.

“There are so many places that if you want to find a partner, you could really go outside of the norms to do that,” Lyons Wyatt said.

To view the entire webinar, click here.