{"id":13204,"date":"2026-01-17T12:49:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T12:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=13204"},"modified":"2026-01-17T12:49:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T12:49:00","slug":"uk-supermarkets-go-all-out-for-jab-uary-with-food-for-those-on-weight-loss-drugs-food-drink-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=13204","title":{"rendered":"UK supermarkets go all out for \u2018Jab-uary\u2019 with food for those on weight-loss drugs | Food & drink industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Veganuary<\/a> and dry January<\/a> are among the new year health kicks enthusiastically endorsed by supermarkets, but this year the buzz is around \u201cJab-uary\u201d as pricey diet foods aimed at people on weight-loss drugs hit the shelves.<\/p>\n

Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Asda, Ocado and the Co-op are among the big names targeting shoppers who use weight-loss injections<\/a>, known as GLP-1 agonists, but better known by brand names such as Wegovy and Mounjaro.<\/p>\n

Ocado\u2019s new virtual \u201cweight management\u201d aisle includes a \u201ccurated range of GLP-1-friendly products\u201d that runs the gamut from tiny (100g) portions of steak costing \u00a33.50 to a trendy \u201cpowdered greens\u201d supplement, AG1, at \u00a3107 a pack.<\/p>\n

The online supermarket said it was seeing strong demand for protein-rich staples such as steak, chicken, cottage cheese, health drinks and vitamins and supplements.<\/p>\n

Ocado also sells M&S\u2019s new \u201cNutrient Dense\u201d range of meals<\/a>, snacks and drinks that it says contain \u201chigh amounts of nutrients per calorie\u201d. The \u00a37 chicken satay ready meal and \u00a32 coconut water shot \u201cH?O\u201d, it says, are ideal for people \u201creducing their food intake\u201d. Meanwhile, the Co-op is plugging \u201cmini meals\u201d \u2013 250g-280g pots \u201cinspired by global cuisines\u201d costing \u00a33.50 a go.<\/p>\n

About 6% of UK adults are thought to be taking GLP-1 drugs, said Jonny Forsyth, a senior analyst at the market research company Mintel. However, he argues the hype around them is having an \u201coutsize influence\u201d on consumer behaviour and amplifying other diet trends, such as eating high protein foods.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Ocado\u2019s Turf & Clover small extra lean steak.<\/span> Photograph: Ocado\/PA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the recent flurry of Christmas trading updates, some big high street names said the drugs were starting to change how people shopped. This included eating fewer sausage rolls, and Roisin Currie, the Greggs chief executive, commented that people were looking for \u201csmaller portions\u201d and healthier options.<\/p>\n

Sainsbury\u2019s has also spotted new behaviour. \u201cFor customers using these products, we\u2019re seeing more of that switch into healthier choices, into fresh food, into fibre,\u201d said its chief executive, Simon Roberts. This month the grocer introduced more low-calorie and high-protein ready meals. The 300g \u201cSmall but Mighty\u201d range includes dishes such as teriyaki chicken and costs \u00a33.<\/p>\n

Ken Murphy, the Tesco<\/a> chief executive, said the supermarket was watching \u201cvery closely\u201d how the GLP-1 trend was developing.<\/p>\n

Indeed, while total UK grocery sales rose 2.5% in value terms over the four weeks to 27 December, the amount of food and drink sold declined 0.2% on a volume basis, according to the market researcher NielsenIQ.<\/p>\n

For food and hospitality businesses the fear is that the widespread uptake of these drugs could put a dent in profits. A 2024 Cornell University<\/a> study found households with at least one GLP-1 user cut their grocery spend by 5.3% within six months, while for higher-income households it was 8.2%.<\/p>\n

Although there were declines in most food categories over the period studied, in some areas they were marked, with savoury snacks such as crisps down 10.1% and an 8% drop in spending at fast-food chains and coffee shops. In the US almost 20% of adults are taking weight-loss drugs.<\/p>\n

However, can supermarkets turn small portions into a virtue, given consumers are fed up with shrinkflation<\/a> (where shoppers get less product for the same or higher price)? There is also a question mark over whether people want ranges with \u201cGLP-1\u201d stamped on the front as they may not be open about the fact they are using medication.<\/p>\n

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The Morrisons \u201cGLP-1 friendly\u201d own-label ready meals, which include a chicken casserole, weigh just 280g but cost the same as dishes in its other diet ranges. The \u00a33.75 price is fairly typical in ready meals, but if one compares the price per kilo it is a different story, said Charlotte Derra<\/a>, fast-moving consumer goods category consultant.<\/p>\n

\u201cMorrisons Counted and Protein ranges are the same price for typically 380g v the 280g GLP-1 friendly range,\u201d she said. \u201cAt \u00a30.99 v \u00a31.34 per 100g for the GLP-1 friendly ranges this is at a 35% price premium.\u201d The M&S Nutrient Dense ready meals come in 400g packs and cost \u00a37 (\u00a31.75\/100g), which she said was within typical ready meal pack sizes.<\/p>\n

M&S, Co-op and Iceland have \u201crightly\u201d avoided explicitly mentioning GLP-1 drugs on the front of packs, Forsyth said. \u201cThis is smart marketing because we know from our data that if you group people into a club, such as Weight Watchers, where people feel there is a stigma attached to belonging, you restrict your potential audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

The M&S range is the \u201cmost likely to do well because its user base are among the minority of Brits who can afford to pay for these drugs privately\u201d added Forsyth, who found it \u201cbizarre\u201d that Greggs had said the drugs were hitting sales. \u201cI suspect it has more to do with people cutting back on discretionary food spend in response to much higher food prices since 2022. Even Greggs\u2019 iconic sausage roll has soared in price<\/a> by 30%,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The GLP-1 ready meals in Morrisons mean it is now sells four healthy chicken tikka masala dishes. However, in a cutthroat UK grocery market worth \u00a3250bn a year, food market product developers are under pressure to react, given the outlook for some food categories is \u201cpretty bleak\u201d, said Mark Whalley, a co-founder of the video insights company Explners.<\/p>\n

\u201cUK supermarket retail is dominated by everybody worrying that the other guys are on to something,\u201d he said. The hard part will be convincing shoppers: \u201cBeing small is in itself a benefit. That\u2019s what they\u2019re effectively saying when the price doesn\u2019t go down with the portion size.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just whether there\u2019s an actual need for these products, or whether people could just eat a little bit less of the products that they already buy. Does it specifically need a new product, an extra thing on shelf that\u2019s just 100g smaller?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#supermarkets #Jabuary #food #weightloss #drugs #Food #drink #industry<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Veganuary and dry January are … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13204"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}