Future of Food · Issue 07 · August 2025
High satiety
Why GLP-1 diet drugs could transform the food industry
New Zealand assumes it is feeding an endlessly hungry world. What happens when the world loses its appetite?
This was our first look at GLP-1 medicines such as Ozempic and Wegovy, written as they became available here. With a single weekly shot cutting daily calorie intake by 20 to 30 percent, and use spreading well beyond people with diabetes or obesity, I wanted to ask whether this was a fad or a fundamental shift for food.
My view then, and now, is that it is a shift. As the drugs come off patent and prices fall, people will eat smaller, fewer and more nutrient-dense meals. That could favour New Zealand's 'good for you, good for the planet' story, and open new space in personalised nutrition, dairy as a source of quality protein, and novel foods. The real danger is assuming it will pass.
What the issue covers
- GLP-1 sales are forecast to grow 30 to 38 percent a year, reaching about US$100 billion by 2030.
- Shrinking 'stomach share' could cut household grocery spending by around 10 percent.
- Smaller, nutrient-dense meals reinforce New Zealand's strengths in healthy, ethically sourced whole foods.
- AI, nutrition science and food science together could power personalised nutrition for people with changing diets.
A question to take to your next board or leadership meeting
Which of your plans quietly assumes people will keep eating as much as they do today?
Work through it with me- Written by
- Vincent Heeringa and Dr Victoria Hatton
The Future of Food series was originally published by FoodHQ Innovation Limited between 2024 and 2026, while I was Chief Executive. Each issue is reproduced here in full, with thanks to my co-authors, the contributors and FoodHQ's partners.