{"id":81471,"date":"2026-06-11T11:46:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T11:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/81471\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T11:46:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T11:46:13","slug":"dairy-majors-turn-to-meal-replacements-as-glp-1-reshapes-nutrition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/81471\/","title":{"rendered":"Dairy majors turn to meal replacements as GLP\u20111 reshapes nutrition"},"content":{"rendered":"

First, it was Danone\u2019s deal for Huel<\/a>; then, Lactalis and Nestl\u00e9 moved to acquire the UK\u2019s Protein Works<\/a> and Germany\u2019s Yfood<\/a>, respectively. <\/p>\n

Three M&As announced within four months and involving companies in closely-adjacent spaces suggests a pattern \u2013 a strategic expansion or strengthening in areas where the market demands swift adaptation.<\/p>\n

What Huel, Protein Works and Yfood have in common is a portfolio of \u2018complete nutrition\u2019 solutions \u2013 products that pack essential nutrients, such as protein, fibre, and vitamins, and the energy of an entire meal, in convenient formats.<\/p>\n

Danone\u2019s deal for Huel is hoped to \u201cunlock new opportunities\u201d; Lactalis anticipates Protein Works\u2019 know-how to enable it to \u201ccreate products that respond to changing consumer expectations\u201d, and Nestl\u00e9\u2019s Yfood move supports the Swiss major\u2019s ambition to use nutrition as long-term growth lever.<\/p>\n

But what\u2019s driving interest in \u2018complete nutrition\u2019, \u2018smart food\u2019, and related concepts?<\/p>\n

Weight management\u2019s growing influence<\/p>\n

While mainstream shoppers that favour on-the-go nutrition and health-conscious consumers have fuelled demand for meal replacement products over the years, the category is entering a new growth phase in the age of weight management.<\/p>\n

Consumers on GLP-1 medications have complex dietary needs. Food and beverage cravings are suppressed, leading to smaller portions and lower alcohol intake, while avoiding muscle loss has sent protein demand to new heights. <\/p>\n

Academic research also suggests meal replacement products are conducive to weight loss. A 90-day randomised controlled trial<\/a> found that people using such products lost body weight and fat while preserving metabolic health at the same time (though further research with more diverse cohorts and longer trial periods is encouraged to better understand these products\u2019 impact on health).<\/p>\n

Business-wise, entering this space is a smart bet. The global meal replacement market is growing at a high single-digit rate and is estimated to be valued between $9bn to $15bn over the next decade, according to market research companies. Manufacturers are responding: an Innova Market Insights trends report shows that the most new product launches happened in Europe in 2025, with North America in second place. <\/p>\n

In North America, these products \u2013 with the most common formats being powders and RTDs \u2013 are increasingly used to support weight management. <\/p>\n

But the North American market is also more mature than Europe. Product releases have been relatively stable in the past year according to Innova, and the rate of new launches had only marginally increased over the past several years. This makes Europe the more dynamic marketplace, but North America remains a leading if more crowded destination, where differentiation will matter more in the coming years.<\/p>\n

Both Europe and North America are key markets for the three majors mentioned above \u2013 but each player is facing distinct challenges that complete nutrition products could solve.<\/p>\n

How meal replacements can support Danone, Nestl\u00e9 and Lactalis\u2019 growth\"YfoodNestl\u00e9 held a minority stake in Yfood before swooping in to fully acquire the German company.<\/p>\n

Nestl\u00e9 and Danone reported softer growth in North America in recent quarters.<\/p>\n

Danone posted its weakest print in Q3 2025 since 2019 due to underperformance in plant-based alternatives, coffee creamer distribution issues, and capacity constraints in protein yogurt. Q4 2025 was also soft, and the region posted a 4% decline in reported sales for the fiscal year, although underlying growth remained positive at 2%, pointing to resilient demand but also real headwinds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning in this market means going further than protein or specialised nutrition,\u201d CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique told investors. \u201cIt means elevating the rest of our portfolio from creamers to non\u2011protein, from yogurt to plant\u2011based, and showing up there with the same strengths and relevance that we do today in high-protein or [specialised nutrition].\u201d<\/p>\n

Huel has a clear place in this strategy, offering a route into adjacent categories where Danone has a more marginal presence.<\/p>\n

For Nestl\u00e9, North America underperformed against group sales in FY2025, with leadership pointing to \u2018cautious consumer sentiment\u2019 and macro pressures rather than structural weaknesses. Still, the Swiss major\u2019s portfolio in the region heavily skews toward coffee and pet care \u2013 making its nutrition capabilities all the more important to unlocking growth in the region. <\/p>\n

Nestl\u00e9 was first to market with a range for GLP-1 consumers through Vital Pursuit, and remains well-positioned to expand in this segment. Yfood is also ripe for international expansion, offering the Swiss major a new lever to compete with across both Europe and North America.<\/p>\n

For Lactalis, the opportunity is different. The French multinational recently became the second largest North American yogurt player by acquiring General Mills\u2019 yogurt portfolio last year. In an age of growing protein consumption, that\u2019s already a major portfolio boost \u2013 but the company isn\u2019t stopping there.<\/p>\n

On the global stage, Lactalis is keen to expand into active nutrition, with Protein Works seen as a key lever to achieving growth across categories, meal occasions and geographies. <\/p>\n

The UK-based company operates across several European markets, including Germany, France, Ireland, and Italy \u2013 and now, expansion into the Middle East and Africa is on the cards. The plan is to opt for a more direct market approach by combining Lactalis\u2019 supply chain network with Protein Works D2C digital infrastructure to bypass traditional retail channels and achieve higher margins.<\/p>\n

But ultimately, all three majors are tapping into the same shift: a move towards more functional, convenient and nutritionally-complete food formats as consumers rethink not just what they eat, but how and why they eat it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"First, it was Danone\u2019s deal for Huel; then, Lactalis and Nestl\u00e9 moved to acquire the UK\u2019s Protein Works…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81472,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[126],"tags":[8516,10179,10180,5722,10181,10182,10183,10184,10185,10186,457,8526,35,10187,10188,5736,5737,10189,3824,10178,10190,10191,8535,10192,2118,199,8536,3049,10193,486,10194,8542,10195,10196,10197,10198,789,10199,10200,10201,704,10202],"class_list":["post-81471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nestle","tag-agriculture","tag-animal","tag-animals-and-pets","tag-blue","tag-blue-sky","tag-bull","tag-cattle","tag-concepts-and-ideas","tag-cow","tag-dairy-farm","tag-environment","tag-farm","tag-food","tag-grass","tag-grazing","tag-healthy-eating","tag-healthy-lifestyle","tag-holstein-cattle","tag-industry","tag-livestock","tag-mammal","tag-mammals","tag-meadow","tag-meat","tag-nature","tag-nestle","tag-non-urban-scene","tag-outdoors","tag-pasture","tag-power","tag-ranch","tag-rural-scene","tag-save-energy","tag-standing","tag-steak","tag-sustainable-resources","tag-technology","tag-tower","tag-turbine","tag-warming-up","tag-wind-power","tag-wind-turbine"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}