GLP-1 treatments are changing the consumption habits of some consumers by reducing appetite and altering the amount, frequency, and types of food they consume. For the food and beverage industry, this shift may affect the relevance of products and categories before the impact becomes visible in sales data. Sensory Analysis and Sensory Intelligence can help identify how consumer preferences are evolving and anticipate product, innovation, and portfolio decisions.
Treatments known as GLP-1 therapies act on mechanisms involved in appetite and satiety regulation. Their use has expanded particularly in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and weight management, while medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro have helped bring this phenomenon into greater public visibility.
For the food and beverage industry, the key question is how these treatments may change the behavior of a segment of consumers. Changes in appetite and satiety may translate into changes in the amount of food consumed, consumption frequency, and the choice of certain categories.
Scientific evidence is still evolving, and the effects are not the same for everyone. Even so, available studies are already showing signals that may have implications for companies developing, marketing, or managing food products.
Note: This article explores the potential impact of GLP-1 treatments on consumer behavior and the food industry. It is not medical information and does not replace advice from a healthcare professional.
GLP-1 treatments may change the eating behavior of some consumers by reducing appetite and increasing feelings of satiety, potentially affecting the amount, frequency, and types of food they consume.
For companies, these changes introduce a new variable into market dynamics. A product may be affected by lower consumption frequency or lose relevance within certain eating habits without that shift becoming immediately visible in commercial indicators.
A study published in Food Quality and Preference examining changes in food consumption associated with GLP-1 treatments identified a reduction of between 720 and 990 calories per day in certain groups of users included in the analysis.
While these findings cannot automatically be extrapolated to the population as a whole, they provide a relevant signal for the industry: a sustained reduction in food intake may affect consumption volume, purchase frequency, and the role certain products play in consumers' everyday diets.
For companies, the risk lies in detecting this change too late. Once a decline in consumption is already reflected in sales, it becomes more difficult to determine what is driving it. The decrease may be attributed to price, competition, or economic conditions, when there may also be a deeper transformation taking place in the consumer's relationship with food.
The same study examining consumption patterns and GLP-1 treatments identified changes in reported consumption of categories such as beef, sugar-sweetened beverages, and certain processed foods.
These findings do not allow us to automatically predict the future of any individual category. However, they show that changes in eating behavior may affect products and consumer profiles in different ways.
For companies, this is particularly relevant. A product may continue to be well-liked while being consumed less frequently or becoming less relevant within new consumption occasions.
Sales data can indicate that the market is changing, but they provide limited insight into why. Understanding what is happening before the impact becomes evident requires companies to directly observe how consumer responses are evolving.
The potential transformation associated with GLP-1 goes beyond simply reducing the amount of food consumed. The consumer's relationship with a food product involves several dimensions: how they perceive it, how much they like it, how satisfying it is, and how strongly they want to consume it again.
A scientific review of the effects of GLP-1 treatments on sensory perception, liking, and wanting proposes distinguishing between these different dimensions of the food experience.
Liking relates to the enjoyment or positive evaluation a food provides, while wanting is associated with the desire or motivation to consume it. This distinction is particularly interesting for food companies because product acceptance and motivation to choose a product do not necessarily evolve in the same way.
Yes. A product can maintain a strong sensory evaluation while simultaneously losing consumption frequency, its ability to generate desire, or its relevance within new consumer habits.
This scenario highlights an important limitation of approaches focused solely on measuring liking. Understanding whether consumers like a product remains essential, but it does not always explain how that product's role in consumers' lives is evolving.
These changes may also occur differently across consumer profiles. Some consumers may change their habits and preferences sooner than others, while others may maintain similar consumption patterns. Average scores can mask these differences and make it harder to identify early signals.
The potential impact of GLP-1 is prompting food and beverage companies to reconsider how they interpret consumer information.
Many decisions related to innovation, product development, reformulation, and portfolio management rely on a particular understanding of market preferences. When that understanding becomes outdated, the risk increases of investing in products that respond to consumer expectations that are already evolving.
This is particularly relevant in established categories. A product that has historically performed well may continue to achieve strong acceptance scores in a study and yet begin to lose relevance among certain consumer segments. If a company detects this change only through commercial data, its ability to anticipate it will be limited.
| Consumer change | Business risk | What companies need to understand |
|---|---|---|
| Lower food intake | Lower consumption volume and frequency | How eating habits are evolving |
| Shifts between categories | Loss of relevance for certain products | Which categories are maintaining consumer interest |
| Lower desire to consume | Future demand reduction | What drives consumer choice |
| Differences between consumers | Decisions based on averages | How different consumer segments are evolving |
This context directly affects several areas of the business. Innovation may be developed around preferences that are already changing. A reformulation may prioritize attributes that have lost relevance. Portfolio management may continue to support products whose connection with certain consumers is weakening.
For companies, one of the main risks is continuing to make decisions based on a view of the consumer that no longer reflects how their habits and preferences are evolving.
Sensory Analysis enables companies to understand how consumers perceive and evaluate products across dimensions such as taste, texture, aroma, and overall experience.
This information becomes particularly valuable when consumer preferences are evolving. Tracking how consumer responses to products change can help identify which attributes continue to drive satisfaction, what differences emerge between segments, and which signals may indicate a shift in behavior.
Sensory Analysis enables companies to measure how consumers perceive and evaluate products and identify changes in preferences before their impact becomes evident in sales.
From a Sensory Intelligence perspective, the value lies in using this information to understand how consumers are evolving. It is not simply about knowing how a product performs at a specific point in time, but about analyzing how preferences change and what those changes may mean for business decisions.
This allows innovation and product development teams to address important questions:
From a Sensory Intelligence perspective, we need to understand how consumer preferences are evolving and anticipate those changes before the market does.
Changes in consumer behavior typically happen gradually. The ability to detect these signals and turn them into actionable insights can help reduce uncertainty when making decisions about new products, reformulations, and portfolio management.
GLP-1 is an example of how a shift in the consumer profile can create new uncertainties for food and beverage companies. For brands, the key is having the information needed to understand whether their products will remain relevant as consumer habits and preferences evolve.
Sensesbit helps companies transform data generated through Sensory Analysis into Sensory Intelligence for decision-making. This approach provides a more dynamic view of the consumer and can help companies:
Sales show when the market changes. Sensory Intelligence helps companies understand how the consumer is changing—and which signals can anticipate that transformation.
In a context where phenomena such as GLP-1 may change consumers' relationship with food, companies need tools that can track this evolution and turn data into better decisions.
At Sensesbit, we help food and beverage companies better understand their consumers, reduce uncertainty in decision-making, and anticipate changes that may affect the future of their products.
Want to learn how Sensory Intelligence can help you detect changes in your consumers' preferences?