When you take medications like Ozempic, you eat less food and digest it differently, and it's important to eat the right kinds to avoid side effects and get enough nutrients. Meaning there may be an opportunity here for the food industry.

It's pretty significant. Every time you visit a corporation or you actually talk to an executive in the food industry, they talk about two things AI and GLP one. So it's impacting the snacking industry, the alcohol industry, both service retail. It's been pretty impressive. The impact is actually quite measurable right now.

The data from a poll done by Leger Healthcare earlier this year looked at GLP one use in Canada. Approximately 3 million Canadians are taking a prescription GLP one, which equals to about 8% of the population. Weight loss is the primary reason for interest in a GLP one. Women are more likely than men to cite weight loss, while men are more likely than women to cite heart health or cardiovascular risk reduction. Now, cost is the number one factor influencing potential use of a GLP one amongst those with interest over half, say, insurance coverage or a lower cost generic version would increase their likelihood of using a GLP one.

Yeah, results are very, very similar. So the 3 million number that you presented just there is consistent with what we found out. I mean, 3 million is basically half of Toronto. That's a lot of people and it's a lot of people eating less, eating differently.

The issue, of course, is impulse. The one thing that people may not know is that the food industry really relies on impulsive behaviours. We eat on impulse, we buy on impulse. Can you imagine a rational, a very rational consumer times 3 million. And that number is likely to go up.

We have generics now that are that are available. Two of them have been approved. Several others are pending. And that is likely to make the medication much more accessible. So we are expecting that 3 million to perhaps reach 5 million within the next five years. So that change is really significant.

It's been interesting because, of course, the public discourse around GLP one has always been around how it affects you, your body. So the medical field was very interested in knowing more about the GLP one phenomena as food economists in the food sector, obviously, we were more focused on how that phenomenon is impacting our food economy.

And back in 2024, two years ago already, we were hearing rumblings and we actually had private meetings. We actually did publish our first report, and we did get phone calls from major, major companies, CPG companies that are in Canada wanting to know more about what is going on, because they're probably seeing in their own numbers, top line and bottom line. We've seen companies like Nestlé launching a GLP one friendly line of products, food products. We're seeing chains also adapting as well. Shake shack is the most recent one with a GLP one menu imagine. And so you can see that it is really profoundly changing how the food industry is designing their own R&D agenda, basically.

And Heisler Bush actually just recently mentioned that they're looking into launching a protein fortified beer. That is no coincidence. And you've been at the grocery store, even in restaurants and they offer you protein fortified. Well, anything really? Coffee coffees. Pop tarts, pop tarts are protein fortified now.

And the protein issue is yes, there is, there is a desire to eat more protein because the meat counter is extremely expensive. So people are looking for another protein fix. But also the GLP one phenomenon is incredibly important here because people, when they take a GLP one, apparently they seek more protein. And so that's why companies, manufacturers are adding more protein to make themselves immune to what's happening with the GLP one phenomena.

I actually had a chat with an executive from the pharmaceutical industry. And they're making obviously billions of dollars providing a GLP one to the marketplace. And he basically said the following statement: We are trying to fix a problem the food industry created in the first place, making people unhealthy. That was telling.

So this is not going to go away. The farmer school industry is getting addicted to the revenues generated by GLP one. And of course, on the one side, you have more money going to one industry trying to fix another problem seen as a problem created by the food industry. So the food industry I don't think was ready for this, this confrontation, this conflict, this tension between the two industries.

At the end of the day, as you mentioned, side effect of GLP one is a lower appetite. So we're seeing that shift in portion sizes and food industry a little bit. Is this the end of an era for, you know, supersizing your fries or combos? What does that look like?

Well, I think we're past that already. Not necessarily because of the GLP one drug, because I think the waste issue, like food waste is a big issue. And I think companies are more careful when they're serving their patrons. But I mean, I've been out to restaurants with friends that are taking the medication. And you can see, I mean, they're not eating a full soup, they're not eating a full sandwich. And so I suspect that there'll be more right sizing going on when it comes to serving certain meals, just to make sure that they're not wasting anything. That's one thing. But I can tell that really the restaurant industry is going to struggle with this one for sure. I mean, how can you possibly sell to someone who's going to be eating less? He's not going to drink or she's not going to drink the entrees gone, desserts gone. And those are money makers for the food service industry.

We've predicted this year that the net number of restaurants in Canada would go from 87,000 to about 83,000. So a -4000. And so we are seeing more restaurant operators struggling in serving a marketplace with a growing number of people on the GLP one drug.

It reminds me of the plant based revolution. If you remember, a few years ago, people were talking about plant based vegetable protein. And again, restaurant operators democratize their menu. They didn't want to exclude the vegans or vegetarians because they often have friends. And if you actually don't have anything to offer to that one person, they're gone. They're not going to come to your restaurant. I think it's going to be the same thing for GLP one. Not everyone will be on a GLP one, but that group of friends family will want to go to places where, well, the menu is absolutely democratized and flexible for everyone. I think that's probably what we're going to see more of instead of just providing or here you go. Here's a menu for GLP one users. I mean, not everyone is going to openly say that they're on a GLP one drug. So it's not something you'll admit openly when it comes to protein consumption, veganism, or vegetarianism. People are more comfortable declaring that they have a certain dietary lifestyle. But the GLP one situation I think, is much more sensitive.

Not yet. I would say changes are more up the food chain. But here's the other thing happening at the same time as GLP one. And both are somewhat intersecting. And those are the new Health Canada logo, the fat sodium sugar logo that everyone is seeing at the grocery store.

So what people don't see is that up the food chain, many companies are saying, okay, so we have these logos, we are not launching a new product. If we have to put a logo on there. But the other motivation that they have is that if they actually have to put a logo on, it means that that product may be less attractive for people on a GLP one drug as well. So there are two things happening at once right now in Canada, which is really interesting. And I would say it's probably going to make our grocery store healthier over time because of these two phenomena happening at once.

As you mentioned earlier, a generic version of semaglutide has now been approved by Health Canada. Will we start to see the number of prescription users increase? A GLP one is a drug that you would have to take for the rest of your life. There are some people who will go off of GLP one as well. There are some side effects that come with it. But will we see these with these generics on the table now? Will we see those numbers continue to grow?

Yeah, we are expecting that number to grow up to 5 million within the next five years as a result of generics being approved. I mean, we don't know exactly at what price these generics will be sold, but we do know that both Ozempic that was approved in 2018 and Wegovy that was approved in 2022 for weight loss specifically, is financially prohibitive. It's very expensive. And so we are expecting these generics to be more accessible financially, which is likely going to grow the market.