Heineken warns UK pubs that weight-loss jabs could hit beer and cider sales

A warning to pubs and bars

Heineken has warned British pubs and bars that the boom in weight-loss injections could cut into their takings. The Dutch brewer, the world's second-largest after AB InBev, set out the risk in a presentation sent in October to customers in the British hospitality trade, a copy of which Reuters obtained. The document says GLP-1 drugs increase the feeling of fullness and reduce the urge to drink alcohol, which could weigh on sales of beer and cider. Heineken also said the traditional habit of ordering several pints in one visit could become harder to sustain. Such a warning is unusual, since few large alcohol makers have openly acknowledged that drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy from Novo Nordisk can hurt their sales.

What Heineken advised venues to do

Heineken recommended that venues promote beer served in smaller glasses, along with alcohol-free and lower-alcohol drinks. It also suggested pairing beer with smaller dishes. Without such changes, the company warned, pubs and bars could lose customers and see lower spending as the medicines become more widespread in Britain. Heineken told Reuters that the presentation was part of its routine communication with UK hospitality operators, aimed at helping them understand how the market is changing.

We see some changes in consumption behaviour among (GLP-1) users and will continue to monitor how these behaviours evolve in 2027.

The company said GLP-1 users were not giving up alcohol entirely. Instead, it said, they were choosing smaller servings, lower-alcohol drinks and premium products, and it added that its portfolio was well placed to meet that demand.

Scale of the drug boom

JPMorgan research cited in the coverage puts the number of people in the United States who used Ozempic and Wegovy in 2025 at about 10 million. Heineken's presentation describes these medicines as becoming increasingly mainstream, which is why it sees a growing effect on hospitality businesses. The brewer's largest market by revenue is Europe, where growth has been modest. Britain is among the markets performing better, and Heineken says it owns more than 2,000 pubs there.

The British market

Within the year to February 2026, British pubs, bars and restaurants took close to £14 billion from beer, according to a Heineken UK report. Only a small share of that, under £300m, came from no and low-alcohol beers. The wider alcohol industry has already seen years of falling sales in some large markets as drinkers cut back for health and financial reasons. Heineken has said it will keep tracking how drinking habits change through 2027, so the effect of weight-loss drugs on British venues remains an open question for the coming year.