![\"Wegocy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/00252e27-614.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\nHeineken has urged pubs and bars to adapt to the booming use of weight-loss drugs or risk losing customers and revenue, according to a company presentation seen by Reuters, in a rare acknowledgement from a major alcohol maker that the medicines pose a threat to beer sales.<\/p>\n
The warning comes as GLP-1 use has surged, with some 10 million people taking medications like Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy in the US last year, according to JPMorgan research.<\/p>\n
Their growth is having ramifications across the consumer goods industry, hitting cravings for sweets and snacks, driving up demand for clothing alterations and prompting a scramble to sell products that counter side-effects.<\/p>\n
Heineken, the world’s second-largest brewer after AB InBev, told hospitality customers that GLP-1 drugs can reduce the desire to drink and put pressure on beer and cider sales from “fullness and fewer serves”, while warning that traditional multi-pint drinking occasions could become harder to sustain.<\/p>\n
The previously unreported presentation, sent to hospitality customers this month, advised venues to promote half-pints, low and no-alcohol drinks and pair drinks with small plates, or risk declines in customer visits and spending as use of the medicines becomes increasingly mainstream.<\/p>\n
The alcohol industry is already grappling with years of falling sales in some major markets as consumers cut back on drinking for health and economic reasons.<\/p>\n
Heineken told Reuters the presentation was shared as part of its regular engagement with UK hospitality businesses to help them understand how the market is evolving.<\/p>\n
“We see some changes in consumption behaviour among (GLP-1) users and will continue to monitor how these behaviours evolve in 2027,” Heineken said.<\/p>\n
GLP-1 users were not abandoning alcohol altogether but were increasingly opting for smaller serves, lower-alcohol drinks and more premium products, aligning with broader ongoing trends, it continued, adding its portfolio is well positioned to meet these demands.<\/p>\n
Evidence of reduced consumption grows<\/p>\n
Europe is the Dutch brewer’s largest market by revenue, but growth has been sluggish. Heineken has singled out Britain, where it owns more than 2,000 pubs, as a relative bright spot.<\/p>\n
Beer generated nearly \u00a314 billion of sales in British pubs, bars and restaurants in the year to February 2026, with less than \u00a3300m of that from no and low-alcohol beers, according to a Heineken UK report.<\/p>\n
Although drinks companies have largely played down the threat from GLP-1 medicines, emerging spending data points to an impact on purchases. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A group of US households with a GLP-1 user tracked by market research firm Circana between 2024 and 2026 reduced spending on alcohol for both at-home and out-of-home consumption compared with households without a user. After two years on the drugs, they spent about 7% less per month on alcohol versus non-using households, including around 13.5% less on beer.<\/p>\n
Top spirits maker Diageo has told investors any impact from GLP-1 drugs should be manageable even if use becomes more widespread.<\/p>\n
Carlsberg told Reuters existing data did not yet support the view that the drugs were a clear driver of beer consumption trends. Anheuser-Busch InBev declined to comment.<\/p>\n
Surveys in Europe and the UK by Circana, market researcher NIQ and specialist UK-based hospitality researcher KAM have also pointed to reduced drinking by GLP-1 users.<\/p>\n
Ten of 11 GLP-1 users Reuters interviewed said they had reduced their drinking, sometimes significantly, saying it left them feeling uncomfortable or unwell, or they simply no longer had any desire to drink.<\/p>\n
GLP-1’s effects on the brain may also affect users’ motivation to drink, said Joseph Schacht, a professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz, who led a randomised controlled trial on the impact of GLP-1s on people with alcohol use disorder.<\/p>\n
He said trials have consistently shown a reduction in cravings and consumption for people with AUD.<\/p>\n
Schacht said the medicines could create a potential “Prozac moment” for AUD treatment, while also posing a challenge for alcohol producers if broader groups of drinkers cut back too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Heineken has urged pubs and bars to adapt to the booming use of weight-loss drugs or risk losing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":664498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,61,60],"class_list":["post-664497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=664497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}