#FINANCIAL_LITERACY

Ozempic face-off… As more people take appetite-suppressing drugs like Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro, analysts have said the meds’ effects could eat into food sales. Walmart called out the drugs for a slight pullback in cart sizes. But food giants have a plan: create companion products that complement low-cal diets.

• Protein power: Nestlé and General Mills are creating protein-packed products to offset the muscle mass that Ozempic-takers typically lose on their LB-shedding journey.

• Smaller portions: Oreo maker Mondelez is expanding its line of individually wrapped snacks that have under 200 calories per pack.

Makin’ every calorie count… As many as 24M people — or nearly 7% of Americans — could be taking weight-loss meds in 2035, potentially slashing their calories by 30%, Morgan Stanley estimates. But while shrinking waistlines could hurt some grub sales (think: fast food, sugary snacks, anything resembling KFC’s Double Down sando), other foods could see a surge. BellRing Brands (PowerBar, Premier Protein) expect sales of its products to jump. BellRing and Ensure maker Abbott Labs are also making some options with extra nutrients tailored to folks taking Ozempic.

• Twinning: Others, like startup Supergut, are looking to replace expensive weight-loss drugs. Supergut markets its prebiotic fiber-filled shakes and bars as “nature’s Ozempic.” Sales are up 50% and the brand’s headed to grocery-store shelves.

Weight loss can be a gain… It’s not the # of calories that matter; it’s how you market them. Food brands have adapted to diet changes before, making gluten-free products when GF made its way onto menus, limiting carbs for Atkins and keto followers, and slapping “Zero” on products that cut out added sugars. Ozempic diets are food brands’ latest opp to market new products.

The Yacht Club’s feelin’ packed… As bitcoin boomed last week to a 20-month high, non-fungible tokens showed signs of waking from crypto winter’s hibernation. On the ethereum blockchain — which is home to marquee NFT collections including Bored Apes, CryptoPunks, and Pudgy Penguins — weekly trading volumes jumped 250% over two months (as of Monday). In the past month, prices of the cheapest CryptoPunks (aka: floor price) are up nearly 45%.

• Success breeds… success? Industry analysts point to the price of ether — which climbed nearly 40% over the past two months to $2.3K — as likely contributing to the trading surge.

An OpenSea change… While the rising NFTide may spur déjà vu, anyone just now returning to the non-fungible scene will find a market vastly changed from the hype-filled days of late 2021. For starters, OpenSea is no longer the dominant NFT marketplace. In its spot on the podium: Blur. Launched in 2022, Blur is now home to nearly 80% of ethereum NFT transaction volume, with OpenSea clocking a mere 17% (ouch). Aiding its coup: Blur’s token airdrops helped it pull traders from OpenSea, and its low creator royalty fee — which OpenSea begrudgingly copied — means sellers can keep more of their profits (bad for artists, but good for traders).

Growth can go sideways as well as up… While overall transactions #s are still way down from their peak, ethereum-based NFTs are having a moment. But rival blockchains are also seeing growth. Ordinals (essentially bitcoin-based NFTs) are once again so popular that they’re driving up transaction fees on the OG blockchain. And over on the Solana blockchain, NFT sales volume was up nearly 30% over the past week.