As diabetes and weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have taken off in recent years, many people have turned away from established diet and nutrition products.
Now, two retailers that specialize in nutritional supplements — GNC and Vitamin Shoppe — are trying new approaches to win over people who take or are interested in the drugs.
GNC is devoting a supplement wall in its more than 2,300 stores to products it believes will attract people to Ozempic, which contains the compound semaglutide, and other drugs known as GLP-1 drugs. The chain also trains employees to help customers assess which substances might help them manage the common side effects of these prescription drugs.
Michael Costello, chief executive of GNC, said his company saw a “big opening” in helping people taking such weight-loss drugs.
“As we looked at the trends with people, where people are going, Ozempic and obviously Wegovy and other GLP-1s started to explode,” Mr. Costello said in an interview. “We saw that there were significant side effects for many of these drugs.”
It’s not clear exactly how many Americans are taking Ozempic and similar weight-loss drugs, but Mr. Costello referred to study by Goldman Sachs that it is estimated that by 2028 as many as 70 million Americans will have tried the drugs.
GNC believes it can expand the weight management category through this push. Currently, less than 10 percent of GNC’s business comes from its weight management products, but recently, it said, sales in the category have grown more than 20 percent.
Retailers, food and other companies are trying to figure out how Ozempic and similar drugs will hurt or help their businesses and what, if anything, they should do in response.
In October, Walmart, which has a large pharmacy business, said it had seen that people taking GLP-1 drugs bought slightly less food than other customers. Last month, an executive at Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, expressed optimism that consumers are turning to Lean Cuisine meals, which are “exactly what you end up eating with these kinds of drugs.” And the Life Time Fitness and Equinox gym chains offer training programs tailored to people taking medication.
GNC executives said they had assembled more than 20 products that could be used to treat common side effects such as occasional fatigue, nutrient deficiencies, decreased bone density and muscle loss. It already sold some of these products, but others are new to the retailer. Supplements include once-a-day women’s multivitamins, ginger root capsules, and a low-fat chocolate shake. On the wall, signs list the side effects along with shelves of supplements that can relieve them.
None of the supplements that GNC carries in its remodeled store were made specifically for or clinically tested on users of the new weight loss drugs. Medical experts say that most people can get all the nutrients they need from a well-balanced diet. In addition, experts say that some supplements may not be effective and could cause their own side effects.
“Most patients will not need supplements,” said Dr. Maria Daniela Hurtado Andrade, an assistant professor at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, whose research focuses on reducing obesity. It also treats patients taking GLP-1 drugs.
Retail chain executives said they had curated the collection in their stores after consulting outside doctors, toxicologists, nutritionists and other professionals.
“All of the recommendations that GNC is making in support of GLP-1 are aligned with the scientific evidence, the outcome of our consultations with physicians, and our review of the positions of certified professionals on this issue,” Rachel Jones, chief innovation officer, said in a statement. of GNC products and science.
Some retailers have gone a step further. The Vitamin Shoppe partnered with WellSync, a telehealth company that fills GLP-1 drug prescriptions. It’s the first time Vitamin Shoppe, which started in 1977, has partnered with another business to offer customers a pharmaceutical option — a sign of how seriously retail executives are taking Ozempic and its relatives.
“I think there’s no question that we’ve seen people who have said, “Hey, if that’s not something you’re offering, I’m going to look elsewhere,” Lee Wright, CEO of the Vitamin Shoppe, said in an interview. .
In a Vitamin Shoppe survey of more than 1,500 customers, 40 percent of respondents said they would be “extremely” or “very likely” to use a telehealth service offered by the retail chain. Mr. Wright said that information that some employees in his stores were already taking GLP-1 drugs helped convince him to work with WellSync.
The Vitamin Shoppe keeps a distance from the evaluation and prescription process, which includes an online questionnaire about medical history and goals and in some cases a live video interview with a licensed medical provider. (One of the questions is about body mass index.) WellSync manages this process, including working with clinicians. The companies have created a subscription service called Whole Health Rx, which starts at $219.
To bring people back to the chain, Vitamin Shoppe offers people who sign up a $25 voucher to use in its stores or on its website.
Similar to GNC, Vitamin Shoppe highlights products like protein powders in its locations to attract people who take Ozempic or similar drugs. By early May, Vitamin Shoppe and its sister brand, Super Supplements, will have displays in all 700 stores advertising its telehealth partnership and providing a QR code that directs consumers to the telehealth portal.
The market for GLP-1 related supplements is fairly new. No significant trials have been conducted to test the effectiveness of such products in alleviating the discomforts arising from the use of the drugs. And some doctors say that many of the common side effects from weight loss drugs can be easily managed or lessened over time, reducing the need for long-term supplement use.
For example, Dr. Hurtado Andrade said, instead of recommending probiotic supplements, which have live microorganisms like bacteria, she encourages her patients to eat food that contains those microorganisms, such as yogurt or kefir. After a thorough evaluation, in some cases, he has recommended protein shakes, powders and supplements for patients who don’t consume enough protein, he said.
“I think medical supervision is extremely important because we can really mitigate or reduce the incidence of serious side effects that I think could happen if patients weren’t closely monitored,” said Dr. Hurtado Andrade.
Executives at GNC and the Vitamin Shoppe said their employees — whom they refer to as health enthusiasts or coaches — were not supportive of health professionals. Executives also said the companies’ approaches and strategies were devised in consultation with staff nutritionists.
“We don’t want our health buffs trying to act,” Mr. Wright told the Vitamin Shoppe. “They are not doctors. They are not trying to give any medical advice.”
GNC’s Mr. Costello said his workers were trained to empathize with the challenges. To that end, he asked retailers to watch Oprah Winfrey’s recent Ozempic special. The company has also taught them to ask “lifestyle questions” before suggesting supplements, such as “What are your goals?” and “What are you currently doing to achieve your goals?”
That’s all well and good, Dr. Hurtado Andrade said, but she worries that retail workers aren’t as well-informed as medical professionals about how to interpret and treat symptoms. That requires knowing what questions to ask, which trained health professionals and providers are trained to do, he said.
“I don’t think a retailer would have the ability to think about the questions that need to be asked to narrow down that difference and understand what the diarrhea or any other side effect is related to,” he said.
Those concerns, however, are unlikely to stop retailers and supplement manufacturers from diving deeper into what many analysts believe will be a fast-growing market.
Four years ago, before Ozempic became a blockbuster drug, Supergut, a Los Angeles-based company, began selling prebiotic supplements, which feed microorganisms. It marketed these products, such as shakes and snack bars, in part as a way to help people control their blood sugar levels.
Two years ago, Supergut began touting the potential gut health benefits of its products and dedicated a section of its website to GLP-1 drugs.
“This is how we’re going to connect with the consumer consciousness,” said Marc Washington, CEO of Supergut. “We are extremely relevant for this era and for this era of the Ozbeks,” he added.
In the past six months, sales have quadrupled, he said. GNC is stocking Supergut on its shelves in the GLP-1 section of its stores, the first time the brand has been sold in a national chain. Mr. Washington said he was also talking to other national retailers.