GLP-1 users outside the home: overview
- GLP-1 users now account for 6.1% of the UK population, outnumbering vegans and vegetarians combined
- All of their needs are not being met when they eat and drink outside the home
- Snacking, beer consumption and food-plus-drink occasions are declining among GLP-1 users
- Wine, cocktails and drinks-only occasions are gaining traction, creating new routes to value
- Brands that adapt products, formats and messaging early stand to capture a fast-growing consumer group
There are now more GLP-1 users (6.1%) in the UK than vegans and vegetarians combined (5.7%).
To cater for them when they’re out and about, they should be treated like those who don’t eat meat, according to the Out of Home GLP-1 Navigator from Lumina Intelligence. That means no need to rewrite menus but making accessible choices available.
And if a customer base is affluent women aged 25 to 45, operators must act immediately, says the report. This is the largest demographic among GLP-1 users, and users in general are going to accelerate from 2031 when patents start to expire.
Communication should speak to needs
While GLP-1s began life as a diabetes treatment, and moved into treating obesity, an extraordinarily low number are now taking them on medical advice – just 29% globally and falling to 21% in the US.
This suggests a lifestyle motive over a clinical one, says the report. Therefore, the out-of-home industry “must innovate with this in mind, leading with benefits, quality and holistic, aspirational language”. Focus on what is being added, rather than what is being taken away.
They have fewer dinner occasions
This isn’t good news for F&B as it’s the highest-spend and highest-calories occasion in the day. If users do eat out, “health drives outlet choice”.
And when they’re choosing food, calorie count is a minor player. Even in non-GLP-1 weight management, messaging has moved away from calories and more towards satiety, but for GLP-1 users, it is low on the list of priorities when it comes to choosing food.
Outlets should therefore “lead with high protein, freshly prepared dishes in smaller formats and sell the benefit, not the restriction”.
Snacks need a rethink
Snacks manufacturers also need to pay attention as this is the other category at highest risk. GLP-1 users snacking when they’re out sits at 8.8% of occasions compared with 11% for total consumers.
The snack industry has long relied on impulse treat snacking and travel sustenance snacking, but it’s these two categories that go first for GLP-1 users. New opportunities to win them back should be built around “hydration and functional formats”.
Drinks are being dropped but can also stand alone
A notable trend is that users are dropping drinks when they eat out, and so the industry should consider how to adapt to this. “Light, refreshing, low-calorie drinks that complement the food without filling people up (whether through volume of liquid or heavy carbonation),” is the suggestion. Drinks are seen as unnecessary additions and a way to limit consumption, a space where calories do come into play. Importantly, this carries on after treatment is stopped.
However, while food plus drinks is waning, drinks-only occasions are rising, especially in restaurants. “Operators can respond in two ways,” says the report. “A higher-value, tailored drinks menu to recoup some spend, or more appealing food options (smaller volume, lighter, functional, higher quality) for this group to prevent this switch.”
Alcohol habits are transforming
Within the alcoholic drinks category, beer is “the clearest casualty of calorie-conscious drinking” and this remains after stopping GLP-1s. It has fallen 10ppts to just 42% of drinking occasions. Wine and cocktails are where the growth lies, having gained share.
“Defend drinks spend with formats that suit being ‘sipped rather than gulped’ by offering smaller measures, premium pours and lower-calorie cocktails,” says the report. The mini cocktails trend is also “perfectly suited to GLP-1 consumers”.
Regulation varies but innovation can still go further
What can and can’t be communicated on GLP-1s varies by country. The US has fewer regulations and can aim messaging more explicitly at GLP-1 users. In the UK, innovation is rarely explicit due to stricter regulations.
However, says the report, “what stands out is how limited UK innovation remains in terms of GLP-1 development”. Retail and supplements are leading, but most established chains have yet to introduce clearly differentiated healthier options, unless they are already known for being health-focused.
There are some examples, though, of chains that are meeting smaller portion needs, such as Burger King and Honest Burger launching smaller slider-style formats.
The takeaways
GLP-1 users want their needs met outside the home as well as inside it, and all of these needs are not currently being met.
The industry needs to move faster, know its demographics inside out, start offering tailored choices that are smaller and more nutrient-dense, and get its messaging right. “The overarching emotion is ‘joy’ due to the effective weight loss and health benefits,” says the report, and food and beverage needs to join in.
