How Ozempic is changing the food industry – 10/02/2024 – Cozinha Bruta

The mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes (PSD), declared that he had lost 30 kilos using the drug Ozempic. Paes, who is running for re-election, promised to distribute the drug free of charge when the Novo Nordisk laboratory’s patent falls – which should occur in 2026.

You can be an Ozempic enthusiast or hater, but one thing cannot be denied: the gigantic impact that it and other GLP-1 medications have had on the fight against obesity, on public health in general and on the economy.

What’s more, the “Ozempic effect” is forcing restaurants and the food industry to adapt. It is already a reality in rich nations and will soon happen here too.

Ozempic and its substitutes help us lose weight because they affect our body’s satiety mechanisms. The stomach empties more slowly, and the person is satisfied with much less food.

So it’s natural for the user of these “slimming pens” to look for smaller portions.

An article published today (2/10) on the Bloomberg website is titled “Ozempic Goes From Threat to Opportunity for Packaged Food Makers.”

According to the text, at first the sector feared losing a lot of money in a world where people eat less. But, a year after the start of the race for markers, it was realized that there was a potentially profitable niche there.

Companies like Nestlé, Danone and Campbell soups are working on specific products and marketing strategies for this audience that consumes less in volume – but not in value.

These are people with money, as the treatment is very expensive. And, in the United States alone, around 30 million people joined it.

Smaller portions are not necessarily cheaper. Furthermore, Ozempic users have specific dietary needs: as the medication also causes loss of lean mass, it is necessary to ingest a lot of protein to maintain or recover muscle.

In May, Nestlé launched the Vital Pursuit line of frozen meals in the USA, made to order for this “ozempic” audience. These are small individual portions (from 179 g to 269 g) of foods rich in protein and fiber – among the options are a “pizza” with cauliflower dough, a chicken sandwich and macaroni with cheese and broccoli.

Now we just have to wait for the trend to reach the Osasco dogão.

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