It’s no secret that the weight loss drug boom is impacting how we all eat – whether we’re taking the medications or not.
Restaurants are increasingly shifting towards small plate-style sharing menus, and supermarkets are switching up their ready meal offerings to provide reduced portions and ‘healthier’ nutrient-dense dishes.
Ocado has even launched a tiny 100g steak, in a bid to capitalise on the Ozempic market, a move which some shoppers blasted as ‘mad’.
But if you thought that was wild, you haven’t seen anything yet, according to a food industry expert.
Fast food fans might want to brace themselves as these kind of changes could hit Maccies and Greggs one day soon.
Food futurologist, Dr Morgaine Gaye, tells Metro that smaller portions on menus are likely going to become the norm across the board.
So could we see a Mini Big Mac one day? Or perhaps an Ozempic Sausage Roll?
‘Absolutely,’ she claims. ‘It absolutely will happen in fast food, I just can’t see how it won’t.’
The expert says she’s recently been doing a job ‘connected with McDonald’s’ and this is the exact conversation it involved.
‘It would be foolish of them not to [offer smaller portions]. The increase in people using GLP-1s is insane, and it’s not a fad, it’s here to stay.’
Dr Gaye says the medications are already becoming ‘normalised’ across the UK and she believes this is only going to continue, getting to the point where weight loss drugs are something people will use as a weight management ‘tool’, rather than a way to shed a lot of weight at once.
‘It will be a bit like microwaves – people don’t really talk about them, but most people have got one.’
Introducing these products to consumers won’t be the biggest issue brands face, according to Dr Gaye – the wording around them will.
Hey, foodies! Add us as a Preferred Source
At Metro Food, we’re here to bring you all the latest foodie news, delicious recipes, restaurant reviews, and cooking tips. As a loyal reader and a part of our vibrant community, we want to make sure you never miss our articles when searching for stories
Click here and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.
The expert advises brands stay away from being too on the nose, as it might impact sales. For instance, they should avoid referencing specific drugs like Ozempic, as this may be off-putting to other brands like Wegovy, as well as the people using specific medications.
Many customers also won’t want the labelling to be quite so obvious, to keep their usage a secret.
‘One of the things I said to McDonald’s was that, I’m not sure everybody will want people to know they’re on medication, they might be embarrassed to ask for an Ozempic Mac, so it’s going to be all about the language and how we talk about it.’
Language can make or break a product, she explains, pointing out that insects – which are a delicacy in other parts of the world – have never managed to gain any traction in the West because of the way we talk about bugs.
‘It’s going to be the same for any fast food meals that come out.’
So, what might this look like?
Remember Super Size Me? Picture something along the lines of that, but in reverse… Mini Size Me, if you will.
‘It’ll be “give me the Little Mac, instead of a large,”’ Dr Gaye says.
We asked McDonald’s what plans they’ve got cooking, with rumours of smaller burgers already circulating online. But the fast food giant is staying tight lipped for now.
It’s not just McDonald’s that’s predicted to be making these changes soon though; the expert expects to see it in places like Starbucks, too.
‘I do think it’ll cut across all fast food categories, even to something like Starbucks – they have massive drinks like a caramel frappuccino latte, but people might not want such big ones anymore.
‘They’ll start coming in and asking for something tiny, like the size of a pupuccino.’
How else is food going to change in the future?
As well as reducing appetite, researchers from the Mayo Clinic in the US claim that GLP-1s can ‘modulate’ taste preference. This means they can have an impact on which foods you want to eat.
According to Dr Gaye, this is something ‘we don’t fully understand yet’, but it’s going to fundamentally change the industry.
‘I think one of the things we don’t fully understand yet is that not only do GLP-1 affect taste, but also actual preference.
‘It’s not that someone used to eat McDonald’s and now just wants half of one, it’s that they no longer want one at all, so it’s going to create an uptick in some of the food that’s not been as popular.’
As well as fast food chains, confectionery brands like Cadbury will be severely impacted by this, as chocolate and sweets are a ‘like’, not a ‘need’.
Dr Gaye explains: ‘Some of the biggest confectionery brands are scrambling because confectionery is often an impulse buy. But when you’re on a GLP-1, you no longer have that impulse, meaning, you’re less likely to pick up, say, a bar of Dairy Milk. So, who is still going to buy it?’
She continues: ‘In this instance, it won’t be about making a little Dairy Milk for reduced appetites – something else will need to be in its place that shoppers want to pick up.
‘So all the brands are looking for the thing that’s going to be the go-to.’
This could potentially be about to happen at Walkers, as we recently saw the crisp brand overhaul its iconic logo, in a move that suggests big change is coming.
The refreshed logo looks less like a crisp and is instead sun-inspired, with rays of yellow light coming out of a circle around the brand name.
Zachary Estes, a professor of marketing at Bayes Business School told Metro he thinks the new logo could signify that Walkers is about to start selling something other than just crisps, although this hasn’t been confirmed.
‘Merely adding a new flavour obviously does not merit a whole new brand logo, which makes me think Walkers may have something bigger coming soon,’ he said.
‘The iconic yellow crisp at the centre of the old logo told consumers exactly what is inside, which is important when consumers don’t know the brand. However, when they do, it can be constraining. The old logo signals that Walkers only sells crisps.’
Have you tried weight loss injections?
-
Yes
-
No
The wellness pivot
As well as coming up with new products for those taking weight loss drugs, brands are also going to be making a shift into the wellness market, the expert claims.
‘Ozempic is part of a bigger zeitgeist, which is all about wellness – having less, eating better, and making quality choices.
‘Going into the future, every single brand has to be a wellness brand, so it would not surprise me if one suddenly steps up and says they are going to pivot and also provide some kind of lifestyle wellness experience,’ Dr Gaye proclaims.
‘It could be that Walkers opens a sports academy for kids, or perhaps Starbucks opens a beauty lounge where it uses coffee grounds as a facial scrub. I’m just making these things up, but that’s the sort of thing that we’ll be looking at.’
She adds: ‘It won’t be enough to just make food. If everyone is eating less, how are brands going to make revenue? They have to be offering another service, that’s the future.’
We’re on the edge of our seats waiting to see what happens next…
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.