The chief executive of snacks giant PepsiCo has insisted the company sees “more opportunities than threats” from the use of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.
Food manufacturers and retailers are weighing up how the increased popularity of the medication could affect sales and how they might offer different types of products as users’ appetites change.
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Data appears to show a reduced appetite for soft drinks and also increased interest in products containing protein and fibre.
Just before Christmas, Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk announced the US Food and Drug Administration had approved a pill form of the company’s Wegovy GLP-1 medication. The roll-out of GLP-1 pills is seen by analysts as a further boost to the use of the drugs.
Speaking to analysts yesterday after Dortios and Walkers owner PepsiCo reported its 2025 financial results, CEO Ramon Laguarta was asked to address investors’ “concern” about GLP-1 drugs “head on”.
Laguarta said PepsiCo was working on the assumption there will be “a broader adoption of GLP-1 medicines” amid different formats of the drug hitting the market and as the cost of the medication comes down.
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By GlobalDataHowever, he insisted the company had been “working on this for some time” and is “very optimistic on how PepsiCo can play in that new reality with the consumer”.
He said: “I think there are more opportunities than threats but there are both. The way we’re reacting is multiple.”
Laguarta said families with a member using GLP-1 drugs were continuing to “engage in our category but they do it in smaller portions”. PepsiCo was offering shoppers those options, he said. “If you think about our portfolio in the US, 70%-plus of our food business is already in single-serve,” Laguarta noted.
The PepsiCo chief also outlined the “big opportunities” for the company in meeting demand from GLP-1 users for products offering “hydration”, fibre and protein. He pointed to the company’s Propel water, Quaker cereals and SunChips snacks.
“Propel is growing 20%-plus, powders, tablets, more functionality along with hydration, big idea,” Laguarta said. “Fibre, we know those consumers are looking for fibre. They have some digestive problems. We are innovating around fibre, whole grains. That’s a big space. We’re relaunching Quaker. Quaker will put emphasis on that space but, not only that, SunChips and some of our food products as well. Protein, obviously, that’s an area where we’ve been innovating for some time and we’ll continue to do it.”
He added: “So, multiple vectors of transformation that we’ll be sequencing with a sense of urgency. We did last year. We continue to do this year. But I think this could turn into an opportunity for us and that’s how we’re approaching it in the US but not only the US. This is going to be an opportunity for us in multiple markets.”
