Marks & Spencer is targeting weight-loss jab users with a new range of “nutrient dense” food that it claims will satisfy customers who are eating less.
The retailer said the range, which launches on 5 January and includes salads, breads, yoghurt bowls and chicken dinners, was “perfectly portioned to contain high amounts of nutrients per calorie”.
People across the UK who are trying to lose weight are increasingly turning to jabs such as Wegovy, Zepbound and Saxenda, which suppress users’ appetites.
The trend poses new challenges for food retailers such as M&S, which are trying to maintain sales as some customers eat less.
The head of food innovation at M&S, Annette Peters, said the new range was “great if customers are reducing their food intake, such as people using the GLP-1 medications. We have challenged ourselves to make products that are denser in nutrients than calories, so every single mouthful is packed full of more of the nutrients we all need.”
M&S’s effort to target the weight-loss jab market follows similar moves by Morrisons, which earlier this month announced that it was partnering with the health and wellness brand Applied Nutrition to offer a range of “GLP-1 friendly ready meals”.
From early January, 53 “high protein” products including ready meals, sandwiches, breads and cheeses will hit the shelves at about 400 Morrisons supermarkets.
The pressure to remain relevant to weight-loss jab users could ramp up if pharmaceutical companies succeed in bringing an anti-obesity pill to market.
While weight-loss jabs, which mimic the gut hormone GLP-1, have exploded in popularity in recent years, they remain expensive for most users. Pharmaceutical companies are racing to be the first provider of weight-loss pills, which would be easier to store, distribute and administer and would ultimately be cheaper than their injectable counterparts.
Questions are still being raised about the side-effects of GLP-1 medicines, which are also used to treat diabetes. These include pancreas-linked problems, which prompted health officials to launch fresh research into the drugs’ side-effects earlier this year.
There are also growing concerns that people are buying illegal weight-loss drugs peddled on social media sites. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency issued a fresh warning to people planning to use such medications, stressing the importance of buying them from registered UK pharmacies or legitimate retailers.
So far, weight-loss jabs have given a financial boost to large pharmaceutical companies such as Eli Lilly, which became the first drugmaker to reach a $1tn (£740bn) market value in the US last month. The company has developed tirzepatide, marketed as Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes and Zepbound for obesity.
It has been competing with rivals including the Danish company Novo Nordisk, which is behind the weight-loss brands Wegovy and Ozempic. The company ousted its chief executive, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, in May over concerns it was losing ground in the market. Its share price rose in September after research showed promising results from its weight-loss pill, which is still in development.
