Lates News

A presentation by Heineken shows the company has urged British pubs and hospitality venues to adapt to the boom in weight-loss drug use or risk losing customers and seeing revenue decline. This is a rare admission by a major alcohol producer that GLP-1 drugs pose a threat to beer sales. Research by JPMorgan shows that about 10mn people in the US used drugs such as Novo Nordisk's semaglutide-based Ozempic and Wegovy last year. The spread of such drugs is having a knock-on effect on the consumer goods industry, including reducing consumers' cravings for candy and snacks, driving up demand for clothing alterations, and prompting companies to race to launch products that can alleviate the drugs' side effects. Heineken is the world's second-largest brewer, after AB InBev. Heineken told its hospitality and bar industry customers that GLP-1 drugs could reduce the desire to drink alcohol and put pressure on beer and cider sales by making consumers feel full more easily and reducing how much they drink. The company also warned that the traditional consumption occasion of drinking multiple pints in one session may become increasingly difficult to sustain.