Nestle is launching products to help disguise the effect of rapid weight loss brought by the use of drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy and Eli Lily’s Mounjaro.
The Swiss consumer products giant is bracing itself for a slump in sales of its snacking staples such as KitKat and Smarties due to the demand for weight-loss products, but is not sitting still with the new product lines to counteract the effect known as ‘Ozepmic face'.
One side-effect of taking the diabetes drug semaglutide, which is branded Ozempic by Novo for diabetes and Wegovy for weightloss, is that the face can look gaunt and skin can lose its elasticity, due to the loss of up to 15% of a person’s body weight.
Semaglutide is a type of drug scientists call a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (or GLP-1s), which act to increase the amount of insulin secreted by the pancreas, which as well as lowering blood sugar also suppresses the release of glucagon, which causes the liver to produce sugars and have been proven to reduce appetites.
Analysts and investors have predicted huge global lifestyle changes as a result of the products' growing uptake, including predictions that beauty companies could see a tailwind as more consumers look to combat facial changes, with other effects being felt by food producers and clothing companies.
Anna Mohl, Nestlé’s health science CEO, told Bloomberg today that a range of supplements would help “preserve lean muscle mass, managing digestive upset and assuring an adequate daily consumption of micronutrients”.
Last month, Mark Schneider, the Swiss group's chief executive, said the company was expecting a blow to sales from the drugs, which work by suppressing appetite.
A recent study suggested up to 30% fewer calories might be consumed by people taking the drugs with as 50,000 in the UK alone expected for an NHS prescription.
Nestlé said it would roll out products that “complement” people’s weight-loss treatments, including hair growth supplements, electrolyte tablets and collagen peptides that improve skin elasticity.