Shares of food companies under pressure due to the popularity of slimming products

(ABM FN-Dow Jones) Walmart US CEO John Furner has warned that new weight-loss drugs are causing consumers to shop less and buy high-calorie products less often. Globally, the shares of food companies and beverage manufacturers were under pressure.

Furner said in an interview with Bloomberg news agency that Walmart can see that customers who buy these products buy fewer groceries.

This includes the drugs Wegovy and Ozempic from Novo Nordisk and Mounjaro from Eli Lilly. They have become so popular in the US that supplies sometimes run out and the US Food and Drug Administration is forced to warn patients against using counterfeit versions.

After the CEO’s comments, shares of Coca-Cola fell 4.8 percent and shares of PepsiCo fell 5.2 percent. Both were slightly higher earlier in the day.

In Europe, Unilever, Nestlé and AB Inbev lost 1.9, 3.3 and 2.7 percent on Friday.

Rabobank analysts therefore view the slimming products as a risk for the sector. Two-thirds of Americans are said to be overweight, and if they all choose one of the new weight-loss products, then according to Rabobank this is a major concern for the food sector, especially for companies that make pre-packaged food or snacks, for example.

Source: ABM Financial News

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