HOBOKEN, NJ. — As the Hain Celestial Group seeks to regain its financial footing, the company is eyeing opportunities with consumers who are taking GLP-1 medications for weight loss or diabetes. Company management sees the effort as building on Hain Celestial’s position as a better-for-you food manufacturer.
“We are currently developing our criteria to define what is GLP-1 friendly based on available science, and we have already identified a number of products in the US that are a good fit for these consumers across our beverage, soups and yogurt brands,” said Wendy Davidson, president and chief executive officer, during a Feb. 10 conference call to discuss second-quarter results. “We plan to begin marketing certain items within our portfolio to GLP-1 users in the near future. These authentic better-for-you credentials position us well to meet increasing consumer demand for better-for-you products.”
Hain Celestial is following in the footsteps of companies like Nestle SA and Conagra Brands that already have begun marketing products for the GLP-1 user.
Davidson said Hain Celestial has been doing consumer research for about a year to really understand what consumers are looking for in the better-for-you category.
“Because we continue to say that we’re a leader in better-for-you, we believe in healthier living, but we wanted to make sure that we had real science and real consumer insight to back that up,” she said. “We learned from that (about) very clear attributes the consumer was looking for.
“They don’t want to sacrifice taste. They don’t want to sacrifice convenience. They don’t want to sacrifice availability and affordability. They don’t want pure health, but they do want healthy nudges. So, it is a presence of positive and a little bit of a nudge down of the negatives.”
As the food and beverage market deals with the initial impact of GLP-1 usage, Davidson compared the emerging trend to other diets to which the industry has had to adapt.
“… It’s almost like every other diet — keto, high protein, gluten-free, dairy free, etc.,” she said. “Consumers have particular needs, and we want to make sure that it is easier to shop our portfolio to make it easier for them to eat without sacrifice for whatever diet they’re on.
“As we’ve worked with our experts to look at our portfolio through the lens of a GLP-1 diet, what products do we have that are ideal for that first three months of GLP-1, what are products we have that are really good for in the middle and then what are those products that are ideal for maintaining and we will message openly to the marketplace to make it, again, easier for consumers to be able to be on whatever diet they’re on, and Hain will be there to help support their healthier living.”