Tackling Reformulation and GLP-1 Trends with Consumer-Driven Innovation

At Natural Products Expo West, Nutritional Outlook spoke with Brad Schwan, VP of global category marketing at ADM, about how the company is addressing two major forces shaping the food and beverage industry: product reformulation and the rise of GLP-1 therapies.

Schwan highlighted findings from ADM’s 2025 Outside Voice survey, which showed that more than 80% of consumers support reformulated products that better align with health and wellness expectations. In response, ADM focuses on five key reformulation priorities: reducing sugar and sodium, optimizing fat, increasing protein, and achieving clean label formulations. However, Schwan emphasized that reformulation is not as simple as adjusting a single ingredient. Instead, it requires a holistic approach that considers the entire product formulation, supported by the right ingredient portfolio and deep technical expertise.

A critical component of this process is sensory validation. Schwan noted that regardless of nutritional improvements, consumer acceptance ultimately depends on taste, texture, and overall enjoyment. ADM leverages sensory testing to ensure reformulated products meet consumer expectations and deliver a satisfying experience.

The conversation also explored the growing influence of GLP-1 medications on consumer behavior. ADM conducted proprietary research on individuals using these therapies and found strong demand for products tailored to their specific needs. Notably, 83% of respondents expressed interest in customized solutions, and 80% indicated a willingness to pay a premium for them.

Schwan identified key nutritional priorities for GLP-1 users, particularly the need for muscle mass retention, which drives demand for high-protein products. ADM is leveraging its broad protein portfolio and ongoing innovation to develop versatile, nutrient-dense formulations that cater to this emerging market.

Overall, Schwan underscored ADM’s consumer-centric approach, using data-driven insights and formulation expertise to help brands create products that meet evolving health trends without sacrificing sensory appeal.

A transcript of his conversation can be found below.

Nicholas Saraceno: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome. We're on the show floor of Expo West, the 45th annual edition. I can't believe we're saying that. It's crazy. I'm Nico Saraceno, senior editor of Nutritional Outlook, and today I'm here at the ADM booth. I'm joined by Brad Schwan, got that right. I had to slow down just in case, for the phonetics.

Brad Schwan: Well done, well done.

Saraceno: Thank you. You're the VP of global category marketing, of course, at ADM, so thank you for taking the time to meet with me today.

Schwan: Thank you, appreciate the chance, Nico.

Saraceno: Of course, obviously very chaotic here. You guys have a huge booth, a lot of activity going on here. Very comfortable padding as well. I know we want to get into a lot, so I'll dive right in here.

First of all, your 2025 Outside Voice survey, it indicated that over 80% of consumers support reformulation of products to align for better-for-you expectations. I'm curious, how are you at ADM helping manufacturers balance these types of nutritional improvements, whether that be reducing sugar, increasing protein? How are you doing that while also maintaining that taste, texture, and that sensory appeal? Because that’s the challenge.

Schwan: That’s a great question. Reformulation is a big focus area for the industry, in large part, because that's where the consumer is going. And we always try to be guided by where the consumer is going, because that then lets us figure out how to best serve our customers. And so, reformulation is a key area, and as we break it down, Nico, we see five key areas of reformulation.

Those areas are less sugar, less sodium, optimized fat, more protein, and clean label. Those are the five that we think are really the big hitters when it comes to reformulation. Those are the things that our customers want us to work on. To your question on how do we do this? How do we tackle this? Really, it's two things that we do. One is, is we take the right tools and the right portfolio that we have to bear, because you really do need the right set of tools instead of ingredients to be able to do this properly. That’s think number one.

Thing number two is, you need to have the technical expertise to do full formula product development. You really can't think of any one of these things in isolation. You can't just reduce sugar and pull that lever, and then not do any other changes to the product. You actually have to make changes and think about things in a very holistic way. That’s kind of the overall approach. And then the last thing I'd say about the overall approach is sensory validation, and you were keying in on this.

In the end, the consumer has to be delighted, and if the consumer isn't delighted, you need to try again. You've got to get that consumer delight. We have the ability to do sensory testing to make sure that the reformulations we're delivering are, in fact, right on point for the consumer.

Saraceno: At the end of the day, I think some people might lose sight of that, that it's really all about the actual consumer. You're jumping through all these challenges and things like that. Glad that you're prioritizing that. Now, I want to get into obviously, GLP-1 therapies. You know, from pharma to natural product industry, they're very present. Everyone's aware, and they're growing in popularity, a very lucrative industry.

They’re reshaping consumer habits—as everyone knows, portion control and also higher protein intake are important to help compensate that. How is ADM leveraging its consumer insights and formulation capabilities to work to develop more convenient, nutrient-dense foods, because you’ve got to really cater to the GLP-1 needs as well. So how how are you handling that?

Schwan: You're so right. The first thing we do, and we're trying to handle that, is actually to look at what the consumer tells us and go to the consumer data. We actually did a proprietary study on consumers who are taking GLP-1 drugs to really understand, what are your needs, and what are you feeling? What are you experiencing as you're doing this, and we learned some interesting things.

One of the things we learned is that when people are on GLP-1 drugs, they really want products that are tailored to their unique needs. And so 83% of consumers said, “hey, I want products that are tailored to my needs on a GLP-1 drug.” The other thing—and this is an important one—is that 80% of them said, I'm willing to pay for it. And so, so when you've got a big group of people, and they've got a distinct set of needs, which these consumers do, and you've got a willingness to pay, that starts to look like a market opportunity, if you meet it in the right way with the right types of products.

You mentioned protein. That is right on the money, because we look at the key needs, Nico, that consumers on GLP-1s have. There are really three key needs. One of them is muscle mass retention, which ties directly into proteins. For us at ADM, we've got a broad portfolio of proteins with lots of different functionalities, so that we're able to deliver great amounts of protein in lots of different formulations, and we've got more innovation coming on the protein. We're always innovating so that we can figure out new ways to deliver the protein, in this case, the GLP-1 user would like.