Ozempic Meals

How to sell (almost) nothing.

Approximately one in eight American adults are currently taking weightloss drugs. As the popularity of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy leads diners to eat and drink less, restaurants across the U.S. are shrinking portion sizes and redesigning menus. “I was going out and seeing people eat a lot less and take one bite of their food and one sip of their drink and that was it,” said Aristotle Hatzigeorgiou, who owns Clinton Hall, which has five bar and restaurant locations across New York. Much of the dishes his kitchens prepared ended up in the trash — “a mass amount of waste,” he said. In response Hatzigeorgiou developed the “teeny-weeny mini meal”. For $8 diners get a bite-sized burger, a small portion of fries and their choice of a 100ml beer, martini or glass of wine. The mini-meal is a hit, Hatzigeorgiou said, not only for those dropping weight but for those cutting costs.

Large food companies are also paying attention. Mark Schneider, CEO of Nestlé: “The initial reaction was OK people who are on this drug will simply consume less food and hence it’s gonna be a straight negative to food companies like us. What since has emerged is that nutrional needs do not go away. They’re just shifting. Before, during or after therapy consumers still have nutrional needs… and so for us this is an opprtunity.” Business as usual. The Incredible Shrinking Man is still making up their mind on what to think about this commercialisation of less. On the one hand less is less. Yet less desire is not the same as a desire for less. Medecine like Ozempic will only remain succesfull as long as they function within a space of the desire for too much. To sell the desire for less you have to continue to sell the desire for more. Food companies like Nestlé and Unilever are perfectly situated to make money selling both.