Metabolism ingredients and the demand
Rising claims and sweetening solutions.
What’s Driving the Demand for Metabolic drinks?
According to World Obesity, the majority of the global population (51%, or over 4 billion people) will be living with either overweight or obesity by 2035 if current trends prevail. The rise of GLP-1-based weight-loss drugs, combined with increasing weight-related challenges, has created a demand—a demand that brands and manufacturers are catering to.
A study by Cornell University and Numerator found that households with at least one GLP-1 user reduced their grocery spending by approximately 6% within six months of adoption. The most significant reductions were observed in ultra-processed categories like sweets and snack foods. This suggests that the appetite-suppressing effects of GLP-1 medications are leading consumers to purchase fewer high-calorie, processed foods.
Some categories are facing even tougher challenges, e.g., the snack category, where an EY report highlighted that GLP-1 drug use results in a measurable shift in consumption behavior, particularly impacting snack food categories. Survey respondents using GLP-1 drugs reported a sharp decrease in consumption of snack foods, with reductions between 40% and 60%. Conversely, there was a notable increase in the consumption of healthier options, such as proteins and fresh fruits and vegetables.
Consumers are increasingly seeking snacks that offer essential nutrition, such as protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Brands are responding by highlighting these nutrients on packaging and developing products with added health benefits, including blood sugar management and satiety, especially as weight-loss drugs like GLP-1 become more common.
Metabolism claims and the continous Zero-frenzy
In the US, Celsius Energy Drinks feature a patented metabolic ingredient called Meta Plus, promising to increase metabolism. Celsius was among the top-selling energy drink brands in the U.S. in 2024. According to the company’s financial report, Celsius achieved a full-year revenue of $1.36 billion, reflecting a 22% year-over-year increase in retail sales. Their market share grew by 160 basis points to 11.8%, making them the third-largest energy drink brand in the U.S., behind Red Bull and Monster. Although no definitive data indicate that zero-sugar beverages have surpassed regular sugar-sweetened drinks in global sales, local insight points to the direction of more zero NPDs in 2025. In Sweden, the sales of sugar-free sodas have also surpassed the sales of regular sugary sodas, and the same tendency is seen in both Denmark and Norway where the share of sugar-free sodas in 2021 marked a world record. Once defined by sugary sweetness, CSDs are now evolving to satisfy a growing demand for sugar-free options like Sucralose, Saccharin, and Acesulfame K.
%
of Chinese consumers believe weight management can prevent high blood glucose, high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure
%
of UK consumers are actively taking steps to limit or reduce the amount of sugar in their diet
%
of US consumers agree that weight management has positively affected their mental wellbeing
In North America, sugar-free claims in performance nutrition have grown to
%
of launches
The Lancet I Forecasting global obesity rates through 2050
World Obesity I Economic impact of overweight by 2035
Food Bev Media I How GLP-1 medicine influences grocery purchase
EY I Do GLP-1 mean flat growth for snacks?
Mintel I A year of innovation in salty snack and fruit mixes 2025
Mintel I Rethink nutrition for the Ozempic era
Mintel I The future of chocolate and Confectionery 2025
Mintel I A year in specialized nutrition
Beverage Daily I Celsius sales in the US
Ceclius Holdings Inc I Financial report 2024
Sverigesbryggerier I Statistik
Sukkerfri læskedrikkes andel – Bryggeriforeningen
Bryggeri – og drikkevareforeningen I Sukkerfri verdensrekord
Metabolic claims and ingredients
Between September 2019 and August 2024, 8% of global vitamin and dietary supplement launches featured a slimming claim. In the same period, nutritional drinks and other beverages had 7% of launches with a slimming claim. Across all categories, slimming claims remain an early trend, with most food and drink categories showing 1-2% of launches featuring such claims, except for the vitamin & supplement and nutritional drink categories, where the percentages are higher but still under 10%.
Slimming claims in nutritional drinks
Trending flavours in functional drinks
In the past five years, fruit flavours have become increasingly popular in sports and energy drinks in Latin America, emerging as the dominant flavour group. However, citrus fruit flavours have seen a decline during the same period. In contrast, berry fruit and seed flavours have gained more prominence in new product launches. Fruit flavours have been the main driver of flavour innovation in both sports and energy drink launches over the past year, with fruit flavours being more firmly established in the sports drink category.
Functional Drink flavours
