Nestlé to introduce products complementary to increasingly popular weight-loss drugs

20 Oct 2023 --- Nestlé is developing products intended to go hand-in-hand with a novel category of weight-loss medications. While media reports have linked these new products to the company’s slowest growth period in nearly three years, Nestlé denies this is the reasoning behind the new product category.

The sales decrease Nestlé has experienced coincides with a growing popularity of weight loss drugs. 

“We have not seen any impact on sales so far. The largest parts of our portfolio are not center of the plate, and will not be affected by the weight loss drugs,” a Nestlé spokesperson tells Nutrition Insight. 

Nestlé’s CEO, Mark Schneider, expressed surprise at the market response, emphasizing that the majority of the company’s products, including bottled water, pet food and infant formula, remain unaffected despite changes in demand due to the usage of weight loss medicine, such as Wegovy usage. 

He asserts that even if there’s a decline in sales for items like chocolate, ice cream and frozen pizzas, Nestlé is developing a range of products designed to support health during weight-loss treatments.

Complementary product range
According to Bloomberg, Nestlé shares fell by 3.6% on Thursday, October 19, after revenue failed to meet expectations. Schneider revoked his previous forecast for full-year growth. Over the past month, Nestle stock has fallen more than 6%. 

The seeming recent stock slump for some food industry giants may in part be attributed to the surge in popularity of GLP-1 diabetes treatments such as Ozempic and Wegovy. These medications reduce appetite and contribute to rapid weight loss for the patient. 

“As part of our constant innovation, we are already working on a wide number of products that could serve as beneficial companions during the course of the treatment involving these drugs,” the Nestlé spokesperson tells us. 

“The aim is to have supplements that can help with the loss of lean muscle mass and rapid regain of weight during and after the treatment, respectively.”

“Nestlé is working on a wide number of products that could support people undergoing weight-loss treatments.When you eat less, you have certain needs of vitamins, minerals and supplements,” adds Schneider. “You want to be sure that the weight loss gets supported. You want to be sure that you limit the loss of lean muscle mass.”

A new direction for Nestlé
Schneider also emphasizes Nestlé’s growing focus on offering smaller portion sizes while pointing to existing products like Optifast meal replacements tailored for weight loss. 

Additionally, Nestlé has secured the distribution rights for Epitomee, a weight-loss capsule currently in development and PronoKal, a well-known Spanish weight-loss program.

At the start of this year, Nestlé introduced a wide range of new immunity-boosting and plant-based products in response to a growing consumer demand. 

Moreover, Nestlé investors were already urging the company to decrease its reliance on unhealthy products and to rebalance sales toward healthier options in April. At the time, the NGO ShareAction pointed out that, in 2022, 40% of Nestlé’s sales in the UK were high in salt, sugar or fat.

By Milana Nikolova