The boom in appetite suppressants weighed on the shares of confectionery manufacturers. Nestlé, among others, came under pressure on Friday. The share price of the provider of KitKat chocolate bars and Häagen-Dazs ice cream has since fallen by around three percent to a two-and-a-half-year low of 100.18 francs. The papers of the chocolate producer Lindt lost just as much. The stocks of the British consumer goods group Unilever and the French yogurt supplier Danone were also in the red.
“I believe this market reaction comes after recent comments from the US discount chain Walmart,” said Jon Cox, manager at financial services provider Kepler Cheuvreux. Walmart CEO John Furner told the agency on Wednesday Bloomberg said that he has observed a slight decline in demand for food since the recent market launch of new appetite-suppressing medications such as the weight loss injection Wegovy from the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk. However, he does not see this as a significant long-term risk for the food industry.