GLP-1 shoppers: overview
- GLP-1 users are still buying snacks, but they’re becoming more selective, rewarding products that combine great taste with simple, recognisable ingredients
- Protein matters, but Jackson’s success suggests flavour, quality and transparency are equally important in driving repeat purchases
- The brand’s 85% spending uplift indicates GLP-1 medicines are reshaping food innovation rather than eliminating demand
Jackson’s, the US snack start-up known for its avocado oil-cooked chips and ‘feel-good’ ingredient lists is seeing a seriously healthy bottom line thanks to weight-loss medications.
Shoppers who started using GLP-1 medications within the last year increased their spending on the brand by 85%, according to recent Numerator data.
Jackson’s was founded in 2013 by Scott and Megan Reamer, who started making sweet potato chips cooked in avocado and coconut oil in their kitchen in Crested Butte, Colorado, for their eldest son, Jackson, who has a rare autoimmune disorder – hence the brand’s name (it was originally called Jackson’s Honest).
Following a $1.25m investment from Shark Tank’s Rohan Oza, the business now manufactures out of Muskego, Wisconsin, and sells into major US retailers including Walmart, Target, Costco, Whole Foods, Kroger and CVS.
The company has also been on a remarkable growth trajectory. Earlier this year, Jackson’s was named Snack Producer of the Year by Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery after reporting revenue tripled annually between 2022 and 2024 before doubling again in 2025. Expansion has seen its Wisconsin facility grow to 12 production lines and around 250 employees.
Against that backdrop, the 85% increase in spending among GLP-1 users is particularly striking because it runs counter to what’s happening across much of the wider food industry.
Long-term GLP-1 users typically spend around four percentage points less overall than non-users, with savoury snacks among the hardest-hit categories, and other studies have put the decline in snack spend as high as 10–11%. In the US, roughly one in five households (21%) now include a current GLP-1 user, up from just 9% in January 2025, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Separate research from Cornell University, published in the Journal of Marketing Research, found GLP-1 households cut their overall grocery spending by 5.3% within six months of starting the medication, rising to 8.2% among higher-income households.
So why is Jackson’s bucking the trend, and what can other producers learn from it? We put those questions to Jackson’s CEO, James Marino, who shared five lessons he believes the industry should take from the GLP-1 shift.
1. GLP-1 users aren’t abandoning snacks – they’re becoming pickier about them
The instinct among many manufacturers has been to assume GLP-1 adoption simply means less snacking. Marino, however, argues that’s an oversimplification.
“While some consumers may be snacking less often, they’re not giving up snacks altogether,” he says. “They’re being pickier. When they do reach for a snack, they want something that tastes great and is made with ingredients they can feel good about.”
Numerator’s own analysis backs this up: early assumptions of a snacking decline have turned out to be ‘more nuanced’ than first thought, with genuine appetite still there for the right product.
Lessons for F&B:
- Stop treating GLP-1 users as a lost cause and start treating them as a more discerning audience.
- Focus on fewer, better products rather than assuming every snack needs a GLP-1-specific reformulation.
- Invest in quality cues consumers can immediately recognise, from ingredient choice to flavour and texture, because these shoppers are making every snack occasion count.
2. Taste still comes first – ingredients are what earns the repeat purchase
It would be easy to assume health credentials alone are winning over this cohort. Marino is clear that’s not the case.
“Taste still comes first, but people are paying closer attention to ingredients and overall quality,” he says. Jackson’s, he adds, was “founded on the idea that you shouldn’t have to choose between great taste and better ingredients”, and he believes that combination is resonating more strongly than ever.
It’s a useful corrective for an industry that can sometimes over-index on functional claims at the expense of flavour. A protein bar nobody enjoys eating won’t earn a second purchase, however clean the label.
Lessons for F&B:
- Don’t let nutrition claims become a substitute for great eating quality.
- Benchmark flavour and texture against mainstream snacks, not just better-for-you competitors.
- Build products consumers want to buy again because repeat purchase – not first purchase – is where long-term growth will come from.
3. Label-reading behaviour is intensifying, not disappearing
According to Marino, GLP-1 users are engaging more closely with pack information than the average shopper.
“People are putting more thought into their snack choices,” he says. “They’re reading labels more closely, paying attention to ingredients and looking for products that fit their lifestyle. But people aren’t looking to sacrifice enjoyment.”
This chimes with wider industry findings. FTI Consulting’s spring 2026 survey of US adults found that even as volumes of indulgent categories fall among GLP-1 users, overall spend on those same items has tended to hold up, pointing towards premiumisation rather than outright abandonment.
In other words, shoppers aren’t necessarily eating less of what they love – they’re being choosier about which version of it they buy. That puts a premium on transparent, recognisable ingredient decks that can withstand close scrutiny.
Lessons for F&B:
- Assume every ingredient declaration will be read rather than ignored.
- Remove unnecessary complexity wherever possible and explain ingredients consumers may not recognise.
- Make front-of-pack messaging support, rather than contradict, the ingredient list on the back.
4. Protein matters, but it’s not the whole story
If there’s one nutrient manufacturers have rallied around since the rise of GLP-1 drugs, it’s protein. Numerator found weight-loss-focused users increased spending on protein shakes by 38% relative to non-users. But Marino cautions against reducing the opportunity to a single macronutrient.
“Protein is getting a lot of attention, but we think consumers are looking at the bigger picture,” he says. “Great taste, recognisable ingredients, quality and how a product fits into their daily routine all matter. Consumers don’t want to choose between flavour and ingredients. They want both.”
It’s a reminder that functional formulation is only half the job – fitting into a shopper’s actual eating pattern is the other half, and one that’s easy to overlook when a business gets fixated on a single nutritional headline.
Lessons for F&B:
- Don’t chase protein at the expense of overall product quality.
- Think about satiety, convenience and everyday eating occasions as well as nutritional claims.
- Develop products that solve multiple consumer needs at once instead of relying on a single functional benefit.
5. This is a structural shift, not a passing trend
Marino expects the GLP-1 effect to keep reshaping innovation pipelines across categories for years to come.
“The biggest impact may not be that consumers eat less, but that they expect more from what they do eat. Over the next several years, we expect successful innovation to centre around simple ingredients people recognise, functionality, single-serve formats, and products that fit the way consumers want to eat today.”
Marino’s view also aligns with recent analysis from OC&C Strategy Consultants, which argues that GLP-1 medicines should now be viewed as a permanent force reshaping food demand rather than a temporary disruption.
In its June report, the consultancy says the industry is facing a “portfolio and occasion reallocation challenge”, with consumers buying fewer products overall but increasingly trading up to premium, higher-quality options instead of simply abandoning categories. In that environment, winning brands won’t necessarily be those selling the healthiest products – they’ll be those delivering the strongest combination of taste, simplicity, quality and value.
That means the pressure to simplify ingredient decks, improve product quality and justify premium positioning isn’t likely to disappear as GLP-1 adoption grows; it will probably intensify.
Lessons for F&B:
- Treat GLP-1 as a long-term innovation driver rather than a short-term marketing trend.
- Review product portfolios through the lens of quality, portion size, functionality and premium positioning.
- Prioritise innovation that fits changing eating habits instead of assuming consumers simply want to eat less.
The bottom line for snack producers
Marino sums up the opportunity and the challenge in a single observation: “GLP-1 users aren’t creating a completely new set of consumer needs. They’re accelerating existing ones.”
That should encourage manufacturers already investing in cleaner ingredient lists, better-quality formulations and more transparent labelling. Rather than forcing a complete rethink of product development, GLP-1 adoption is strengthening the commercial case for trends that were already gaining momentum.
The flip side is that the bar keeps rising. “The challenge is that consumers are becoming far more discerning, which means brands have to give consumers a better reason to choose them,” he adds.
Manufacturers worried about shrinking volumes should take heart from Jackson’s 85% spending uplift. The opportunity hasn’t disappeared; it’s just become more selective.
So, as GLP-1 adoption accelerates – and it will – the brands most likely to succeed will be those that consistently deliver exceptional taste, transparent ingredients and products consumers believe are genuinely worth eating.
Study:
Hristakeva S, Liaukonyte J and Fele L. The No-Hunger Games: How GLP-1 Medication Adoption Is Changing Consumer Food Demand. Journal of Marketing Research (2025), Volume 63, Issue 3. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222437251412834
