New Visions of Weight Management: A 2018 Update on Trends and Innovations

Key Findings

Weight management and wellbeing is mired in a long period of low growth

Weight management and wellbeing has seen tepid review period growth, as consumers over time have prioritised weight loss less than broader healthy living and wellness considerations. This has only been exacerbated by recent consumer demands for products to fit easily and seamlessly with their lifestyles and for products to do more for them than address narrow weight loss goals.

Changing views on weight bear responsibility for movement away from the category

Though the widespread notion that consumers are not looking to lose weight is overstated, many modern consumer groups are adopting lifestyles where weight management is de-emphasised. Instead, these new consumers focus more on purchasing products that are natural and trustworthy, have functional ingredients that help them meet health and active lifestyle goals, and are easy to understand and use.

Distinctions between adjacent products have been stripped away

As a result of these demands, weight management products are becoming much closer in feel and usage to products from sports nutrition and the larger health and wellness foods universe. The similarities among these previously distinct categories are typically driven from outside weight management, much to the detriment of category growth.

Upstart weight management brands point to a future of healthier growth

However, a generation of smaller, upstart weight management companies has emerged that bear less resemblance to legacy brands in their industry and instead draw inspiration from the broader, blended marketplace of nutritional products. In this way, these brands are carving out a space for weight management within this larger competitive arena.

Weight management is expected to undergo a transformation

The collapsing of the space between weight management and other product types and the success of upstart brands call into question what weight management really means and whether it should be considered a separate industry or as a component of a broader network of products.