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A line of pizza and pasta dishes will be launched specifically aimed at people taking weight loss drugs such as Wigobee and Ozempic.
Nestlé will launch its new line of frozen pizza and protein-enriched pasta first in the United States.
The world's largest food company has announced that it has developed a new product containing more protein, iron and calcium for people taking wildly popular appetite suppressants called GLP-1 agonists.
Tom Moe, President of Nestlé USA's Meals Division, announced that the new Vital Pursuit meal brand is a “food solution” for people who want to supplement their use of pharmaceuticals with “proper nutrition, high protein, good nutrition.” He said he plans to sell the product. Dietary fiber and adequate minerals, such as potassium and vitamin C.
Nestlé, whose biggest brands include KitKat chocolate bars and Nescafe coffee, began working on companion products for GLP-1 drugs last year.
“We moved very quickly on this,” Mo said.
The product, which is expected to hit supermarket shelves in October, will cost less than $4.99, a bit more expensive than DiGiorno's four-cheese personal pan pizza, which sells for $4.79 at Target.
Nestlé's new brand of packaged food called 'Vital Pursuit' for people using GLP-1 weight loss drugs (via Reuters)
Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider said in October that the company was monitoring whether the increased use of pharmaceuticals would reduce demand for food.
Some investors are worried that hunger-suppressing drugs could hurt food companies' sales. But executives at companies like Nestlé and Conagra see the drug as a new opportunity to market products like beef jerky, popcorn and frozen foods. Mondelez executives said the company's snack bars are perfectly compatible with the diets of GLP-1 patients.
Roughly one in eight U.S. adults take a GLP-1 drug, but Goldman Sachs estimates that between 10 million and 70 million U.S. consumers could be taking GLP-1 drugs over the next four years.
Nestlé launches new packaged food brand 'Vital Pursuit' for people taking GLP-1 weight loss drugs (via Reuters)
Mr Mo said Nestlé is talking to drug people to develop the meal and plans to provide samples soon. He said the Switzerland-based company first introduced the brand to Walmart and then other major retailers such as Kroger and Target.
Ethan Lazarus, an obesity doctor in Colorado, says people who take GLP-1 drugs often lose weight and don't want to eat as much, putting them at risk of losing lean muscle mass. Some people who take the drug develop an aversion to protein and fat, said Lazarus, a speaker for GLP-1 pharmaceutical companies Eli Lilly and Novo and Nordisk.
Nestlé already makes weight loss shakes and supplements for people taking medications that can experience side effects such as nausea and constipation.
A pharmacist showing a box of Ozempic (Reuters)
Earlier this year, nutrition company Herbalife began selling bundles of some of its most popular shake mixes and fiber supplements, targeting people on medications.
Herbalife is considering expanding the bundle to other markets, including South America and especially Brazil, where GLP-1 drugs are growing in popularity, said Luigi Gratton, chairman of the company's nutritional advisory board.
Meal kit provider Daily Harvest is also offering a GLP-1 companion food collection that includes a broccoli and white bean soup and a green bean and cabbage bowl for $118.46.
Daily Harvest CEO Ricky Silver said sales were “relatively weak.” The company is not actively marketing the kits to people taking the drug, Silver said.
“We definitely see this as an opportunity, (but) not one that requires us to significantly change our focus,” Silver said. “Our food is already fundamentally better for people taking these drugs.”