Hershey's CEO just blamed Ozempic for a gum sales spike

Here's a sentence nobody expected to hear in a corporate earnings call: the CEO of Hershey's is crediting weight-loss drugs for pumping up gum sales.

During a recent stockholder meeting, the company's leadership pointed to GLP-1 medications—think Ozempic, Wegovy, and similar appetite suppressants—as a driver behind stronger gum demand. The logic? People taking these drugs experience nausea and other side effects, and apparently chewing gum helps. A lot.

It's honestly kind of wild that we're at a point where pharma side effects are reshaping candy and gum markets. But here we are. Millions of Americans are on these medications now, and the ripple effects keep spreading into weird corners of consumer goods.

Hershey's isn't just sitting back and hoping, either. The company's been positioning itself to capitalize on this shift, leaning into gum and sugar-free products as weight-conscious consumers reshape their habits. It's the kind of unplanned market opportunity that probably didn't show up in any business school case study.

The broader story here is stranger than it sounds. GLP-1 drugs have exploded in popularity over the past couple years—not just for diabetes, but for weight loss. Everyone from celebrities to regular people are taking them. And with that explosion comes a cascade of side effects that companies are now trying to profit from. Gum companies, obviously. But also nausea remedies, sugar-free snacks, and probably stuff we haven't even thought of yet.

So next time you're popping a piece of gum, there's a decent chance Ozempic is indirectly involved in the transaction. Welcome to 2024.