As diabetes and weight loss medications like Ozempic and Wegovy have taken off in recent years, many people have turned away from established diet and nutrition products.
Now, two retailers specializing in nutritional supplements – GNC and Vitamin Shoppe – are trying new approaches to convince people who are taking or interested in these medications.
GNC is dedicating a wall of supplements in its more than 2,300 stores to products it says will appeal to users of Ozempic, which contains the compound semaglutide and other drugs known as GLP-1 drugs. The chain also trains workers to help customers evaluate which substances might help them manage common side effects of these prescription drugs.
Michael Costello, chief executive of GNC, said his company saw a “big opening” in helping people taking such drugs to lose weight.
“As we were looking at trends with people, where people are going, Ozempic and obviously Wegovy and other GLP-1s started to blow up,” Mr. Costello said in an interview. “We have seen significant side effects for many of these drugs. »
It is not clear how many Americans take Ozempic and similar drugs for weight loss, but Mr. Costello referred to a Goldman Sachs study which estimates that up to 70 million Americans will have tried these drugs by 2028.
GNC believes it can expand its weight management category with this push. Currently, less than 10 percent of GNC’s business comes from its weight management products, but recently, she says, sales in that category have increased by more than 20 percent.
Retailers, food companies and other businesses are all trying to understand how Ozempic and similar drugs could harm or help their businesses and, if so, what actions they should take in response.
In October, Walmart, which has a large pharmaceutical business, said it found that people taking GLP-1 drugs bought slightly less food than other customers. The previous month, an executive at Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, expressed optimism that consumers would turn to its Lean Cuisine meals, which are “exactly what you would end up eating with this kind of drugs “. And fitness club chains Life Time Fitness and Equinox offer training programs tailored to people taking medications.
GNC executives said they have assembled more than 20 products that can be used to treat common side effects such as occasional fatigue, nutritional deficiencies, reduced bone density and loss of muscle mass. Some of these products were already sold, but others are new to the retailer. Supplements include once-daily women’s multivitamins, ginger root capsules, and a skinny chocolate shake. On the wall, signs list side effects alongside shelves of supplements that can alleviate them.
None of the supplements that GNC has in its reconfigured store have been specifically designed for or clinically tested on users of the new weight loss drugs. Medical experts say most people can get all the nutrients they need…