Worldwide, more than 1 billion people have obesity, including 650 million adults, 340 million adolescents, and 39 million children. (source)

In the United States, 41.9% of adults and 19.7% of children are affected by obesity. (source)

The World Obesity Federation's 2023 atlas predicts that 51% of the world's population, or more than 4 billion people, will be obese or overweight within the next 12 years. (source)

The global economic impact of overweight and obesity is predicted to reach $4.32 trillion annually by 2035 if prevention and treatment measures do not improve. (source)

This is equivalent to around 3% of global GDP, which is comparable to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. (source)

The global weight loss and weight management market size was valued at USD 224.27 billion in 2021 and is expected to surpass USD 405.4 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 6.84%. (source)

The global weight loss supplements market size was valued at USD 33.4 billion in 2020 and is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.6% from 2021 to 2028. (source)

Globally, 52% of adults are usually trying to lose weight. (source)

An estimated 45 million Americans go on a diet each year. (source)

Weight Watchers are perhaps the most famous weight loss program/service out there. They provide weight loss plans, diets and experts and have a market cap of over $800m.

Huel has grown massively since it started in 2014 and is reportedly worth over $560m from selling meal replacement drinks designed as a healthy way to lose weight. Exante is another example of this.

Ozempic is a drug used for diabetes that supposedly also contributes to weight loss. Celebrities have jumped on the hype.

Poor diet: A poor diet that is high in calories, fat, and sugar is a significant risk factor for obesity

Low levels of physical activity: A sedentary lifestyle with low levels of physical activity is another significant risk factor for obesity

Intrauterine environment: Mounting evidence suggests that the early life environment, in particular maternal diet during pregnancy, interacts with fetal genetics to influence the structure and function of organs and systems in adult offspring.

Postnatal influences: Postnatal influences such as breastfeeding, sleep patterns, and early childhood feeding practices can also contribute to the development of obesity.

Insufficient sleep: Insufficient sleep has been linked to an increased risk of obesity

Exposure to junk food advertising: Exposure to junk food advertising can contribute to childhood obesity.

Limited access to healthy food: Limited access to affordable healthy food can also cause obesity, especially for children as they are less in control of their diets.

Certain diseases and medications: In some cases, obesity can be traced to a medical cause, such as hypothyroidism, Cushing syndrome, or Prader-Willi syndrome.

Increased risk of chronic diseases: Obesity increases the risk of several chronic diseases, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and certain cancers.

Joint problems: Carrying excess weight can put pressure on the bones and joints, leading to joint pain and stiffness, and increasing the risk of osteoarthritis.

Sleep apnea and breathing problems: Obesity can cause sleep apnea and breathing problems, leading to daytime fatigue, poor attention, and problems at work.

Gallbladder disease: Obesity increases the risk of gallbladder disease.

Mental health problems: Obesity can also affect mental health, increasing the risk of developing stress, body image problems, low self-esteem, and depression

Reduced quality of life: Obesity can reduce quality of life and lead to disability, which can result in reduced economic output and increased healthcare spending

Market Research: As with any business, you need to do your research. Learn what the market is lacking, what areas you can improve, what people want, what problems need solving the most etc.

Product Research: Once you’ve done market research you need to focus on researching the product and making it as good as possible. Hire experts, talk to manufacturers, talk to consumers, and run tests.

Find Suppliers: If you’re selling meal replacement drinks I’ve included some useful links in the resources section.

Craft Your Offer: Determine what makes your brand/product unique, why consumers should buy it, how it improves their sleep and why is it better than other offerings on the market.

Build Your Store: I recommend starting with an online distribution channel first to reduce startup costs. Start a website with Shopify and sell direct-to-consumer (DTC). Once you’ve gained some traction start selling on Amazon if it suits the brand.

Wholesale: This won’t work for all the ideas but if it suits your brand look at selling wholesale to retailers once you’ve gained momentum and can handle high levels of inventory.

Develop a plan: How will you service your clients, how much will you charge etc.

Talk to potential clients: Talk to people and see what they would want and if they even want it.

Sell the outcome: This is a massive aspect when selling weight loss products/services. You have to focus on the outcome and the outcome doesn't always have to be weight loss. In fact, for some obese people, their obesity isn’t their biggest concern. Their main problems could be joint pain, sleep quality, mental health, and/or chronic diseases.

Educate: Educate your target market on not only why they should lose weight but also how they can and how your product/service helps. Do this through TikTok, Instagram and YouTube video content and blog content on your website.

SEO: There is huge search volume for this industry so make sure you rank for as many keywords as possible. Creating educational content as recommended above will help with this. Remember YouTube is the 2nd biggest search engine in the world so make sure you rank on Google and YouTube. TikTok is also trying to position itself as a search engine.

Local Marketing: If you go down the private home cooking services, local marketing will be your best avenue for growth. Door knocking, local ads, flyers in wealthy neighbourhoods, word-of-mouth, etc

Paid advertising: Meta, TikTok, Google and Pinterest ads should all be used to find new customers. Paid advertising is still one of the best and quickest ways to find new customers. Use the Meta and TikTok ad libraries to see what your competitors are doing.

Influencers: Partner with a mix of expert & non-expert influencers to promote your products. Partnering with weight loss experts will give you more authority in the market as they’ll be seen as trustworthy advocates. Look at how Athletic Greens worked with Andrew Huberman for example.

Press coverage: You can use tools like Brand Push or Qwoted. This company also helps small businesses get media coverage.

Referrals: Get customers to refer their network for a commission. A happy customer is the best marketing channel.

Look at reviews for existing products in the market and see how you can improve upon them.

The weight loss industry has a lot of competitors but it’s also a massive market. Make sure you have a strong USP and that your product effectively solves problems better than your competitors.

Oxford Contract Manufacturing

BL Bio Lab

Black Label Creations

Supplement Factory

Atlantic Essential Products

Private-label supplement suppliers

Pietra Studios

Thomasnet

Europages

Alibaba