How Shifting Consumer Preferences Are Fueling Barilla, Ferrero, P&G Health & Wellness Deals
This last month, the consumer goods industry saw acquisition activity from major companies, including Barilla Group, Ferrero Group and Procter & Gamble. There's a clear trend anchoring these three upcoming transactions: health and wellness is going strong.
See why these companies are growing their portfolios with health-conscious brands such as Goodles, Purely Elizabeth and Thorne.
Barilla & Goodles
International food giant Barilla is set to acquire better-for-you mac and cheese maker Goodles, which will continue operating independently out of its Santa Cruz, California, headquarters under co-founder and CEO Jen Zeszut. The deal allows Goodles to maintain complete control over its products, recipes, ingredients and marketing as a standalone brand while leveraging Barilla's global reach to scale internationally.
Though the 73-person team recently added 2 million new customers in just 90 days across U.S. retailers, more than 90% of American consumers have yet to try the brand, leaving massive room for expansion.
"Our mission has been to positively impact as many lives as possible with our delicious mac and cheese, and we are so proud of the millions of lives we’ve touched," said Zeszut, noting that the partnership will allow the brand to keep doing its "weird and wonderful thing" on an even bigger scale. She added, "We chose the Barilla Group because they can help us innovate and grow internationally while letting us make gooder decisions and maintain our quality. ... We’re not changing a thing."
Ferrero & Purely Elizabeth
Ferrero has signed an agreement to acquire Purely Elizabeth, a high-growth U.S. wellness brand known for its better-for-you granolas, oatmeals, cereals and protein products.
Following the close of the deal, Purely Elizabeth will continue operating as a standalone brand from Boulder, Colorado, with founder and CEO Elizabeth Stein and her leadership team remaining in their roles. The acquisition builds on Ferrero’s recent purchase of WK Kellogg Co., bolstering the global group's breakfast presence and expansion into the modern health and wellness segment through continued innovation, operational support and scaled distribution.
"Purely Elizabeth, with its terrific portfolio of quality, tasty products, is a great addition to Ferrero," said Giovanni Ferrero, executive chairman of Ferrero Group, adding that the brand reinforces their reach in the American better-for-you market. Lapo Civiletti, CEO of Ferrero Group, echoed that sentiment, noting that Ferrero looks forward to supporting the brand’s expansion "while preserving the entrepreneurial spirit that has made it successful."
P&G & Thorne
Procter & Gamble has announced plans to acquire health and wellness company Thorne, a move aimed at expanding P&G’s personal health care segment to meet growing consumer demand for self-care, prevention and personalized wellness.
Founded in 1984, Thorne manufactures science-backed supplements guided by an in-house team of doctors and researchers, reaching over 7 million consumers, tens of thousands of healthcare professionals and more than 100 professional sports teams. The brand also features Taia, an AI-enabled wellness advisor trained on 40 years of clinical data that provides science-grounded chat guidance on products, ingredients and personalized supplement routines.
The transaction, expected to close later this year pending regulatory approval, positions Thorne to scale while strengthening P&G’s position in the premium wellness market.
"This is an important step for P&G’s personal health care business," said Paul Gama, CEO of P&G personal health care, noting that Thorne adds a trusted, science-backed brand to their existing portfolio. Thorne CEO Colin Watts added that P&G is the right partner to help expand the company's impact while staying true to its core values, emphasizing that Thorne has spent over four decades earning consumer and practitioner trust by putting science and quality at the center of every decision.
What This Means for the Industry
We're seeing a continued trend in large consumer goods and food companies responding to shifting consumer preferences toward health and wellness.
What's driving this? For one, GLP-1 usage continues to increase.
According to a 2025 study from CGT sister brand Convenience Store News, 33% of shoppers had either used or were considering weight loss medications like Ozempic or Wegovy, and interest and usage were nearly doubled among Gen Z and Millennial consumers. Additionally, 40% of GLP-1 users and considerers expected to increase their spending in health and wellness categories at that time.
Gallup has the percentage of U.S. adults who currently take GLP-1 medications for weight loss purposes at 11% in 2026, up significantly from 3% in 2024.
There's also simply an overall consumer interest in improving nutrition.
In its Consumer Expenditures Shopper Study, sister brand Progressive Grocer recently identified that 76% of grocery shoppers self-identify as health-conscious, representing a steady or growing majority. And 90 percent of Gen Z and Millennial consumers report that they prioritize spending on healthy food, even during times of economic crisis or high inflation, according to Capital One shopping research.
Learn More About GLP-1 Impact
In response to this growing trend, EnsembleIQ's portfolio of business intelligence brands — including CGT, Progressive Grocer, the Path to Purchase Institute, Drug Store News and Store Brands — announces the launch of the GLP-1 Shopper Summit, a new one-day industry event that will bring together senior leaders from retail, CPG, data and technology organizations to examine how GLP-1 adoption is changing the shopper and what those changes mean for merchandising, product innovation, shopper engagement and business growth.
