8th January 2024 -IAM, News
Daniel Pfund, Senior Financial Analyst
2023 will see the arrival of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs on a massive scale. This gigantic market is the stuff of dreams for all pharma companies, and even Roche made an acquisition in this field a few weeks ago. However, there won’t only be winners. Food manufacturers will all be affected to a greater or lesser extent. After all, if you want to lose weight, you must eat less. On average, obese people treated with these drugs consume 25 to 30% fewer calories. The demand for sweet and fatty foods would be reduced the most.
Food manufacturers are adapting. Nestlé’s CEO hopes that consumers will buy more vitamins and (protein-type) food supplements. Until we see if this is really the case, food manufacturer shares remain under pressure. Nestlé shares, for example, are down this year, while the Swiss market index is in positive territory.