Sign up for IndyEat’s free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbooks
Receive our free newsletter about food and drinks
A line of pizza and pasta dishes specifically aimed at the use of slimming drugs such as Wegovy or Ozempic will be launched.
Nestlé will launch the new line of frozen pizzas and protein-enriched pasta first in the United States.
The world’s largest nutrition company said it has developed new products with more protein, iron and calcium for people taking the wildly popular appetite suppressant drugs called GLP-1 agonists.
Tom Moe, president of Nestle USA’s meal division, said it will present the meals under a new brand, Vital Pursuit, as “food solutions” for people who want to supplement their use of the medications with “the right nutrition – high protein, good power supply’. fiber, the right minerals,” such as potassium and vitamin C.
Nestle, whose biggest brands include KitKat chocolate bars and Nescafe coffee, began working on companion products for its GLP-1 drugs last year.
“We started working on this very quickly,” Moe said.
The products, which will hit grocery store shelves in October, will cost $4.99 or less, slightly more expensive than a DiGiorno personal pan pizza with four cheeses, which sells for $4.79 at Target.
Nestle CEO Mark Schneider said in October that the company is monitoring whether spreading use of the drugs could affect demand for its food products.
Some investors are concerned that food companies will lose sales as a result of the hunger-suppressing drugs. But executives at companies like Nestle and Conagra see the drugs as a new opportunity to pitch products like beef jerky, popcorn and frozen meals. Mondelez executives have said their snack bars fit perfectly into a GLP-1 patient’s diet.
About one in eight American adults have used the GLP-1 drugs, but Goldman Sachs estimates that 10 to 70 million American consumers could use them in the next four years.
Moe said Nestle has been talking to people about the drugs to develop the meals and will offer them samples soon. The Switzerland-based company introduced the brand first to Walmart and then to other major retailers such as Kroger and Target, he said.
People taking GLP-1 drugs are at risk of losing lean muscle mass as they shed pounds and often don’t feel like eating a lot, says Ethan Lazarus, an obesity doctor in Colorado. Some who use the drugs develop an aversion to proteins and fats, said Lazarus, who is a speaker for GLP-1 drugs Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.
Nestle already makes weight loss shakes and supplements aimed at people who take the drugs and may experience side effects such as nausea and constipation.
Nutrition company Herbalife started selling some of its most popular shake mixes and fiber supplements in bundles earlier this year, aimed at people who take the drugs.
Herbalife is considering expanding the bundles to other markets, including South America and especially Brazil, where GLP-1 drugs are becoming increasingly popular, said Luigi Gratton, chairman of the company’s nutritional advisory board.
Meal kit provider Daily Harvest also offers a GLP-1 Companion Food Collection, a meal box that includes a broccoli and white bean soup and a bean and cabbage bowl for $118.46.
Sales have been “relatively slow,” said Daily Harvest CEO Ricky Silver. The company is not aggressively marketing its kits to people who use the drugs, he said.
“We certainly see it as an opportunity (but) not as something we need to drastically change our focus on,” Silver said. “Our food is already fundamentally good for people taking these drugs.”