Weight loss jabs could lead to a surge in specific food prices, an expert is warning. Nutrient-rich foods, particularly protein, could see a price hike of up to 20%, warns the expert, as demand surges due to people on weight loss medications. These injections often lead to smaller meal portions, necessitating more nutrient-packed food from less quantity, thereby driving up the demand for certain products.
Food pricing specialist Oisin Hanrahan highlighted that this shift in demand coincides with other factors such as global instability, which are already pushing up prices in consumers’ shopping baskets. This could notably impact protein-rich items like beef, lamb, chicken and pork, which are in high demand from those on weight loss medications.
Mr Hanrahan said: “It wouldn’t surprise me if there was, say, 10-20% on certain meat items over the year. The 2-5% range is the hope. All input prices for meat production have gone up.
“But increasing demand is also increasing price, and all those on GLP-1 medications know they need nutrient-dense, high-quality protein – and that is your beef, lamb, chicken and pork.”
A recent study by UCL researchers estimated that between 2024 and 2025, around 1.6 million adults in England, Wales and Scotland were likely to be on weight loss medications.
The CEO and founder of Tesco-backed supply chain platform Keychain further explained: “It’s the result of a perfect storm of factors: crop diseases, bad weather, over-reliance on individual countries, tariffs, new packaging rules and other trade complexities.”
Looking ahead, Mr Hanrahan cautioned that nothing can be guaranteed: “The longer these prices remain high, the more experts and economists are beginning to ask a concerning question – is this the new normal?”
“Will prices return to reasonable levels or have they become stuck?”
“The answer is that it needn’t be. We shouldn’t view high food prices as an inevitability, but nor should we view them coming down as one.”
He encouraged shoppers to remain adaptable whilst browsing the aisles. When searching for products potentially impacted by these increases, such as meat, he suggested opting for special offers instead of adhering to inflexible shopping lists.
He continued: “We can’t be lethargic, waiting for food prices to come down on their own. The factors causing them to remain high are here to stay.”
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
