Nestle\u00a0is launching a new frozen-food brand, Vital Pursuit, aimed at the growing market of consumers who are using GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.<\/p>\n
Over the last year, the buzzy weight loss and diabetes drugs have taken off as more options hit the market and celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and\u00a0Elon Musk\u00a0endorse them. Roughly 1 in 8 adults in the U.S. has\u00a0used a GLP-1 drug\u00a0at some point, according to a recent\u00a0survey\u00a0from the health policy research organization KFF. Roughly half of those Americans, or around 6% of U.S. adults, are currently using one of the treatments. The total number of U.S. consumers taking the medication could soar to 31.5 million, or 9% of the total population, by 2035, according to\u00a0Morgan Stanley research.<\/p>\n
As the drugs\u2019 popularity has soared, investors have grown concerned about what their rise means for food and beverage companies and fast-food chains. People who take the medication typically eat less frequently because they have fewer cravings and desire more protein and less sugary and fatty foods. In October,\u00a0Walmart\u2019s\u00a0U.S. CEO\u00a0John Furner told\u00a0Bloomberg that people who pick up GLP-1 drugs from its pharmacies are buying less food, typically with fewer calories.<\/p>\n
But Nestle sees an opportunity to cater to those consumers through Vital Pursuit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is, for the last 25 years, the diet has been dying, in a sense. \u2026 For me, what we\u2019ve done is actually given consumers a new tool that actually gives them confidence and success on this journey,\u201d Nestle\u2019s North America CEO Steve Presley told CNBC.<\/p>\n
The new brand\u2019s initial lineup of 12 items will include frozen bowls with whole grains or protein-packed pasta, along with\u00a0<\/strong>sandwich melts and pizzas. The products will include one or more essential nutrients, like protein, calcium or iron. The company plans to sell Vital Pursuit items for $4.99 or under and offer gluten-free options.<\/p>\n Vital Pursuit\u2019s packaging won\u2019t include mentions of GLP-1 medications, but Nestle said the company will more directly connect the brand to the drugs on social media.<\/p>\n The new line will hit the freezer aisle by the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n In recent years, Nestle has also tried to focus more on health-conscious consumers. In 2018, it sold its U.S. candy business, which includes brands like Butterfinger, Crunch and Laffy Taffy, to Ferrero for $2.8 billion. Nestle\u2019s food business, which includes brands like Stouffer\u2019s and Toll House, only accounts for 14.5% of its U.S. sales.<\/p>\n Nestle already owns Lean Cuisine, which was founded in 1981 as a healthier alternative to other frozen meals. But the company chose to create a new brand to reach GLP-1 users because Lean\u2019s branding focuses on consumers looking to limit their calories. But people who take GLP-1 medications may want to consume more nutrients, like protein, which can help with the muscle loss associated with the drugs.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe consumer research shows that there are certain nutrients and certain macros that need to be delivered to actually help the consumers stay healthy along the journey of the GLP-1 treatment,\u201d Presley said.<\/p>\n Shares of Swiss-based Nestle have fallen 16% this year, dragging its market value down to $278 billion. The food company expects that its global growth will slow this year as inflation-weary consumers buy less of its products.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Nestle\u00a0is launching a new frozen-food brand, Vital Pursuit, aimed at the growing market of consumers…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":359,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}