When Weight Loss Drugs Meet All-You-Can-Eat, Some Chains Get Left Behind

As needles replace napkins, the era of endless shrimp has never looked so… finite. GLP-1 drugs, now a blockbuster weight-loss fix, are set to erase $30B to $55B in annual food and beverage sales by 2030. With sales already lagging their pre-pandemic peak, some sit-down chains look dangerously close to life support.
What’s cooking: As less becomes more, the gap between losers and winners is widening fast. With ~100 unprofitable locations, the all-you-can-eat sensation Red Lobster has been in the red in four of its past five quarters and still sits roughly 20% below its pre-bankruptcy sales. On the flip side, Celsius pulled in $2.5B in revenue last year, up 86%, while pitching its cans as protein-boosting “multivitamins.” In a world of smaller portions and maximizing protein per calorie, not every food stock is still on the menu.