UNCOVER CHANGING EATING PATTERNS OF glp-1 USERS
GLP‑1 medications are reshaping how millions of consumers eat—reducing appetite, changing taste perception, and altering motivation around food. For companies supporting food and beverage innovation, this represents one of the most significant behavioral disruptions in decades.
IFF had already invested in understanding how GLP‑1 impacts sensory perception. But customers were asking a broader question: How is GLP‑1 changing when, why, and how people snack—and where do real innovation opportunities exist?
Traditional research methods focused on preferences and liking couldn’t fully answer this. IFF needed a behavioral lens to identify new eating moments, understand shifting habits, and determine where innovation could realistically change behavior.
A Behavior‑First Perspective
InsightsNow partnered with IFF to apply a behavior‑first discovery approach, grounded in how habits break and form under GLP‑1.
Central to the work was InsightsNow’s Habit Flywheel™ framework, which explains how GLP‑1 disrupts old reward loops and establishes new routines. Rather than starting with products or concepts, the focus shifted to behavior—examining the contexts, internal needs, and external motivators shaping food choices now.
This shift made it possible to distinguish between moments that simply generate interest and those where behavioral change is achievable and durable.
Building a Shared Behavioral Knowledge Base
InsightsNow created a unified behavioral workspace by integrating:
- Existing IFF research on GLP‑1 and sensory change
- Social intelligence from tens of thousands of real consumer conversations
- Category and technical expertise from the IFF team
Using Claira™, InsightsNow’s behavioral AI partner, teams explored the data conversationally—surfacing patterns, tensions, and emotional narratives while staying anchored in real consumer experiences.
This created a shared foundation for discovery and decision‑making.
Redefining the Eating Occasion
One of the most important discoveries was that GLP‑1 has created a new eating occasion that no longer fits traditional definitions of meals or snacks.
For GLP‑1 users:
- Eating becomes smaller, more structured, and more intentional
- Meals and snacks often blur together
- Motivation shifts from indulgence or dieting to health management and control
Emotionally, food becomes complex. Many users feel gratitude for progress, yet mourn foods they once loved. This tension shapes daily decisions and and shapes how new products are evaluated.
The implication was clear: Winning with GLP‑1 consumers requires designing gentle, efficient, confidence‑building experiences—not simply labeling products as “GLP‑1‑friendly.”
Identifying High‑Impact Moments
InsightsNow applied behavioral gap analysis to identify and evaluate GLP‑1 eating moments based on:
- Reach and frequency
- Habit strength (ease of disruption)
- Satisfaction gaps
- Cost per use and trend alignment
This process surfaced ten distinct snacking moments, spanning functional, emotional, and social needs. Critically, it clarified which moments were:
- Most open to change
- Best aligned with IFF’s strengths in sensory and formulation science
- More suitable for transformational versus incremental innovation
This helped IFF prioritize not just what to pursue—but what to deprioritize.
From Discovery to Action
InsightsNow translated moment‑level insights into clear strategic guidance, showing how different moments demand different design strategies:
- Ultra‑gentle, harm‑avoidance experiences
- Controlled indulgence that restores pleasure without discomfort
- Compliance‑driven moments where reassurance and predictability matter most
The resulting framework gave IFF and its customers a shared language—connecting consumer behavior directly to technical capabilities and business decisions.
The Impact
Through its partnership with InsightsNow, IFF gained:
- A behavior‑grounded understanding of how GLP‑1 reshapes eating
- Clear visibility into where innovation can truly change behavior
- A practical framework to guide customer conversations and strategy
Most importantly, the work reframed the innovation question from “What products should we create?” to “Which moments are worth winning—and why?”
