UK grocers Marks and Spencer and The Co-op are targeting users of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs with the launch of ready-meal ranges.
Amid rising consumer interest in the medication, food manufacturers and retailers are weighing up how to offer different types of products as users’ appetites change.
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M&S has started selling a range of salads, snacks and meals under the Nutrient Dense label.
On Wednesday (7 January), The Co-op will launch a line of four “mini meals” the retailer said are “GLP-1 friendly”.
“With the increase in popularity of weight-loss injections, a reduced appetite can mean missing out on important nutrients and that’s why nutrient density is so important,” Grace Ricotti, head of food nutrition at M&S, said. “These new meals, snacks and drinks can help everyone get more fibre, vitamins and mineral in their diet.”
The retailer said each product contains “at least one of ten micronutrients that many people are lacking in the diet”, such as vitamin D, iron, folate and vitamin B12.
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By GlobalDataThe meal line from The Co-op includes a Chicken & Sweet Potato Penang Curry and a Butternut Squash, Beans and Grains. Each meal is 250g.
“Our members and customers are changing the way they approach health, looking for healthy and tasty choices that provide a boost of health benefits like protein and fibre, with meals that count towards their five-a-day as well as delivering plenty of flavour. There is also a growing need to cater for smaller appetites with meals that provide the quality without so much of the quantity,” Nicole Tallant, retail trading director at The Co-op, said.
Before Christmas, UK grocer Morrisons announced the launch of a range of GLP-1 friendly ready meals under a licensing deal with sports nutrition group Applied Nutrition.
In the US, manufacturers have launched products they say are aimed at users of the medication. In August, Danone rolled out a drinkable yogurt product under its Oikos brand in the US that the French giant said was “specifically with GLP-1 and weight loss consumers in mind”.
Last January, research published by Cornell University and consumer-insights group Numerator said US households with at least one GLP-1 user reduce their spending by approximately 6% within six months, with higher-income households cutting their expenditure by nearly 9%.
The spending on products such as chips, baked goods, sides and cookies fell on average between 6.7% and 11.1%.
Just before Christmas, Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk announced a pill form of its Wegovy GLP-1 drugs had been approved for commercial sale by the US Food and Drug Administration and would arrive on shelves “early” this month.
