The Consumer Shift

Wellness Is More Than Health: GLP-1 Consumer Transformation

Health matters. But wellness also lives in the everyday experiences that make people feel satisfied, confident, connected and alive.

GLP-1 medications are bringing that broader view of wellness into sharper focus for millions of people. The rise of GLP-1 therapies has had a profound impact on how people experience food and beverage while bringing wellness into sharper focus for millions of people around the world.

As more consumers rethink their relationship with food, daily routines and sensory experiences, brands have an opportunity to create products that do more than support health goals. They can nourish, satisfy and delight the senses.

That means looking across nutrition, consumer insight, bioscience and the full sensory experience. It means exploring how wellness priorities, including digestive and metabolic health, the microbiome, beauty and personal care, and even the role of scent, intersect with consumer expectations for everyday wellbeing.

For manufacturers, that brings categories that once sat apart into the same conversation, united by a common question: How can products deliver meaningful value while fitting the way people want to live and feel?

  • 85%
    of surveyed U.S. GLP-1 consumers report major changes in their food and beverage preferences
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The Science Behind Wellness Innovation

GLP-1 therapies aren’t just a major change in the health and wellness industry. They’re causing a seismic shift in how millions eat and drink. It’s a fascinating challenge—and one that brings together our expertise in biosciences, nutrition and sensory experience.

J. Erik Fyrwald

Chief Executive Officer, IFF

Expert photo — J. Erik Fyrwald (layered)

GLP-1 Nutrition: More From Every Bite And Sip

New wellness expectations are creating opportunities for products to work harder across nutrition, hydration and everyday convenience while still fitting the way people live.

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Nutrient Density

When eating occasions become smaller, nutritional density matters more. Protein, fiber and micronutrients can help increase the nutritional value of familiar products designed for smaller eating occasions.

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Hydration With Purpose

Hydration is part of the broader wellness experience. Beverages can combine refreshment with nutrition and other desirable attributes in familiar, convenient formats.

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Familiar Formats, New Expectations

Innovation doesn’t always require inventing a new category. Yogurt, bars and other familiar formats can be rethought for evolving routines and expectations, giving consumers new choices with familiar products.

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GLP-1 Taste And Texture: Redefining Satisfaction

Wellness can’t be sustained through function alone. Products also have to satisfy. For GLP-1 consumers, that can mean rethinking flavor intensity, mouthfeel and the sensory balance that makes a product enjoyable enough to choose again.

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Flavor Balance

A flavor profile that once worked may now feel too sweet, too bitter or too rich. Adding protein and other nutrients can create off-notes of its own. Modulation and careful flavor design can help rebalance the experience while preserving the nutritional ambition behind the product.

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Texture And Mouthfeel

Sometimes flavor isn’t the problem. Dryness, stickiness, density or an unpleasant mouthfeel can make an otherwise promising product harder to enjoy. Texture design gives us another way to create a more satisfying experience, especially when a formulation is being asked to carry more nutrition in a smaller format.

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Worth Choosing Again

The label may convince consumers to give a product a first try. It’s the experience that leads to repeat purchases. Familiar flavors, balanced sensory profiles and satisfying textures can transform a wellness proposition into an experience people welcome into their daily lives.

GLP-1 And The Wider Sensory Experience

Now we’re asking whether the sensory story reaches further. Early expert observations have raised questions about whether changes in sensory experiences may extend into olfaction. Evidence in this area is still developing, and we are exploring what these questions could mean for the broader wellness landscape.

That opens a much bigger set of questions. Do particular odor families become more or less appealing? Do sensory experiences vary by person or over time? Does treatment format matter? And if relationships with food and pleasure change, could additional product areas take on a different role in daily rituals, confidence and self-expression?

Today’s opportunity is to understand how sensory experience is evolving and use that knowledge to help customers create products that support wellbeing, satisfy the senses and bring joy to everyday life.

The Evidence

What We Know Now: GLP-1 Trends Around The World

The questions are widening, but the evidence already tells us plenty. Our research from around the world shows a common pattern taking different forms across markets: smaller portions, shifting sensory preferences and more deliberate choices around nutrition, hydration and everyday eating.

The Science Behind Wellness Innovation

What the data seems to be telling us is that consumers are evaluating food more for function and less for enjoyment. I think it’s our job to ensure that food provides the function and also provides that enjoyment, because food is such an important part of culture

Chris Adams,
VP Food Biosciences Innovation & Applications

I don’t think there’s going to be a single GLP-1 consumer. As people progress through their journey, their relationship with food will evolve. The big opportunity for us is to understand those changes and continue to help our clients and the industry deliver food and beverages that people genuinely enjoy.

Adam Jańczuk,
Senior Vice President, Research, Creation and Design, Taste

We have products across the company that can be combined. The challenge is putting it all together so that, in the end, even a small portion can deliver a high amount of protein but still be acceptable to consumers. That’s the beauty of our portfolio: it’s a big challenge, but we have all the tools to support it and give customers what they’re looking for.

Vanessa Bergamini Martins Mendes,
Global Marketing Director, IFF Food Biosciences

We believe GLP-1 is not only for food and beverage. It’s going to impact fragrance, wellness, beauty and retail. Eventually, I think there’s going to be a huge sensory shift in the world. The companies who understand that sensory shift will lead it.

Madhusudan Patel,
Director, Open Innovation
GLP1 2026 outlook

Download the GLP-1 Consumer Opportunity Outlook

Our proprietary research examines evolving eating behaviors, sensory preferences and nutritional needs among GLP-1 consumers. Explore the evidence behind many of the forces reshaping food and beverage expectations.
ACCESS THE RESEARCH

People, Not Products: GLP-1 Research & Wellness Insight

Our relationship with food is social and emotional as well as physiological. As wellness expectations evolve, the challenge is to preserve satisfaction and pleasure in everyday experiences.

GLP-1 consumers aren’t all alike. Motivations, routines and relationships with food differ. Needs can change over time.

 Our research shows why that matters. In India, for example, 64% of consumers surveyed reported discomfort around social eating at least sometimes. Food is nourishment, but it is also habit, culture, celebration and belonging. That makes empathy a design input. Products have to work within people’s lives. Understanding those differences can help us create experiences that support wellness while leaving room for pleasure and connection.

What We’re Learning About The Future Of Wellness

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Two women who are GLP-1 consumers with medically altered taste palates, sitting in a kitchen and laughing, while eating a meal

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Frequently Asked Questions About GLP-1 And The Future Of Wellness

GLP-1 is reshaping how many consumers think about food, nutrition and everyday wellness. These questions explore what that shift means for eating patterns, sensory preferences and the broader consumer experience.

GLP-1 is a hormone the body produces naturally. It plays a role in appetite, digestion and blood sugar regulation. Medications that act on the GLP-1 pathway have brought new attention to evolving eating patterns, food preferences and wellness behaviors. Those consumer shifts are where our interest begins.

GLP-1 helps regulate appetite, fullness and digestion. Medications that act on this pathway can affect how much and how often consumers eat. For brands, the relevant question is what follows: evolving portions, sensory preferences, eating occasions and expectations around nutrition and wellness.

The GLP-1 halo effect describes how expectations associated with GLP-1 consumers can spread to family, friends and the wider market. Greater attention to portions, nutrient density and satisfying experiences may matter beyond people taking the medication, influencing how consumers evaluate familiar food, beverage and wellness categories.

Many GLP-1 consumers report significant shifts in food and beverage preferences. Sweetness, richness and texture may be experienced differently, while some consumers report new aversions to foods and beverages they previously enjoyed. These shifts make sensory understanding increasingly important for brands responding to evolving eating patterns.

Smaller portions do not necessarily mean familiar categories disappear. Our research shows consumers may continue buying established foods while eating less of them. For brands, that creates an opportunity to rethink how a familiar product can deliver more nutrient-dense foods for consumers wanting less volume but needing more from the occasion. The relevant question is how protein and other nutrients can be delivered effectively in smaller, appealing formats while maintaining the taste, texture and ease of consumption consumers expect.

Digestive health, the microbiome and metabolic wellness are all part of the broader conversation about long-term wellbeing. Our expertise in probiotics, prebiotics, postbiotics, fermentation and microbiome science gives us another way to explore those priorities as wellness expectations evolve.

Eating is social as well as nutritional. Shifts in appetite and portion size can affect shared meals, celebrations and familiar routines. Our India research found that 64% of consumers surveyed experienced social eating discomfort at least sometimes, highlighting an emotional and cultural dimension to the GLP-1 consumer transformation.

Alcohol is among the beverages some GLP-1 consumers report viewing differently as their preferences evolve. Alongside smaller appetites and shifting social eating patterns, that can reshape the occasion itself. For beverage brands, the opportunity is to understand how expectations are evolving rather than assume the occasion is disappearing. For example, NOLO beers are the fastest-growing segment of the brewed beverages industry.

The future scale of GLP-1 use cannot be predicted from today’s evidence alone. But several expectations associated with the shift, including more intentional portions, nutrient density, label scrutiny and broader interest in wellness, extend beyond medication use. Understanding those behaviors can help brands prepare as the market continues to evolve.