Health Update: Legacy CPG Updates Its Wellness Strategy – What Experts Say

CPG is wellnessmaxxing.

Game plan. With 55% of consumers willing to spend more on healthy groceries and 38% worried about processed foods, legacy food and beverage giants are restructuring — selling divisions, acquiring upstarts, and rolling out better-for-you swaps.

Aisle GLP-1. Per NIQ, 42% of consumers are spending less on snacks, and GLP-1 users could cost the market $12B. Adapting, General Mills rolled out mini sizes, and Nestlé launched frozen meal line Vital Pursuit.

Acquiring new consumers, Danone and Simply Good Foods bought high-protein brands Huel and OWYN, respectively.

Redemption. Quick fixes, Kellanova, General Mills, and Hershey’s plan to remove synthetic dyes, found in 20% of packaged food and bev.

Cleaning up its unhealthy image, PepsiCo added protein-packed PopTart and Doritos while doubling down on fiber with Smartfood’s Fiber Pop, next-gen SunChips, and its $1.95B poppi acquisition.

Losing ground, Unilever merged its foods business with McCormick in a $45B deal, refocusing on the $75B longevity x beauty market with brands like Nutrafol and Olly.

Looking ahead: Late to wellness, legacy CPG wants in. Chasing trends may boost near term performance, but with stricter UPF guidelines ahead, Big Food will be forced to change.