What I learned developing products at Woolworths
And how it changed how I shop
I have spent years on the inside of Australia's biggest supermarket, helping bring own brand products to life. Here's what that experience taught me about the health aisle- and what I'd tell every woman on a GLP-1 before her next shop
Before I started The Vitality Protocol, I spent over a decade at Woolworths- first in product development, and then as a Senior Manager of Health. My job was to innovate and develop new products, improve existing products and build long term category plans for the products that ended up on the shelves for you to buy every week.
I sat in supplier presentations where companies pitched their products. I reviewed nutrition panels, ingredients lists, health claims, and market research. I understood the commercial pressures that shape how a product is positioned and marketed.
And that experience- more than anything I learned in my nutrition degree- shaped how I think about supermarket food today.
The health aisle is a marketing environment
I want to be fair here: the Woolworths team genuinely cares about stocking good products, and many of the items in the health aisle are excellent. But the health aisle (like the whole store) is a commercial space, and the products that get into this aisle are not always the ones with the best nutrition profiles. They’re often the ones with the best commercial case- margin, supplier support, consumer demand driven by marketing.
This isn’t sinister. It’s just how retail works. But it means that as a shopper- especially a woman on a GLP-1 who needs every bite to count- navigating a supermarket health aisle requires more critical thinking than most people apply.
The products with the most elaborate packaging, the longest health claims list, and the highest price per gram are not automatically the most nutritious. In many cases, the opposite is true.
Three things I watch for- that most shoppers miss
The protein source matters as much as the protein number
With protein trending today, there aren’t many products that don’t make a claim about protein of some sort. The key difference is the quality of the protein source. Many protein bars and snacks achieve their headline protein number using collagen protein or plant proteins with poor amino acid profiles. Collagen is not a complete protein- it is missing tryptophan, and has a low leucine content, meaning it is poorly suited for muscle protein synthesis (building new muscle). A bar claiming 13g of protein from collagen is nutritionally very different from a bar delivering 13g from whey or soy. Look for the protein source on the ingredients list, not just the number on the front of the pack.
The Health Star Rating is a starting point, not the whole verdict
The Health Star Rating system was designed to help customers make faster comparisons within a category- comparing two breakfast cereals, for instance. It was not designed to be used across categories, and it has well-documented limitations. A product can receive a high star rating while still being highly processed. high in sodium, or low in the specific nutrients you need on a GLP-1. Use it as a rough guide within a category, then flip the pack and read the actual panel.
Sugar can have many names
Manufacturers often use multiple sources of sweetness in their products that don’t need to be called out as sugar. If you have seen words like- barley malt, agave nectar, rice syrup, dextrose, molasses and sucrose (to name just a few)- these are all processed by the body in the same way as sugar. Ultimately, whether it’s labelled as sugar or one of the 60 other aliases the impact on our body is the same.
What I actually buy
When I shop for myself, my family and when I guide my clients, I get most of my food from around the edges of the supermarket. Usually the most nutritionally dense, protein-rich, whole foods in a supermarket aren’t found in the health aisle. They’re in the dairy aisle, the meat and fish section, the eggs, the freezer, the produce section, and in the pantry aisles.
Greek yoghurt, eggs, tinned salmon and tuna, frozen edamame, cottage cheese, chicken thighs, canned beans, frozen vegetables- these are the foundations of a GLP-1 nutrition strategy. Most of them are affordable basics and deliver superior nutrition compared to more highly processed alternatives.
Every week in this newsletter I’ll highlight one specific product that I think earns its place in a GLP-1 pantry- and why. The aim is to build a practical, affordable shopping approach that works for real women with real budgets and real lives.
*Full disclosure: I still contract for Woolworths. The opinions and recommendations I share are my own and don’t represent Woolworths.
🛒 THIS WEEK’S SUPERMARKET FIND 🛒
Woolworths Yellowfin Tuna in Springwater 95g ($1.40)
Tinned tuna in springwater is one of the most underutilised protein sources for women on GLP-1s. One 95g tin delivers 17.4g of complete protein, virtually zero carbohydrates, minimal fat, and a meaningful dose of omega-3s and selenium. It doesn’t need any preparation, no refrigeration until opened, and costs less than $2 per serve.
On days when appetite is very low and cooking feels impossible, a tin of tuna on a small amount of crackers with some cottage cheese is a genuinely adequate, nutritionally solid mini meal. Avoid tuna in oil if your appetite is suppressed- the additional fat content can trigger nausea in some women on GLP-1s. Springwater versions are generally better tolerated and nutritionally comparable.
This brand also contains 74% tuna, which is one of the better ones on the market, and remains really affordable.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
🌱 THIS WEEK’S VITALITY STEP 🌱
ONE SMALL THING | DO THIS THIS WEEK
Challenge yourself to shop around the outside perimeter of the supermarket.
Build a basket with dairy, meat, fish, eggs, produce- and the pantry items like tinned fish, canned beans and pulses, and oats. Notice how much your spend changes. Notice also how your protein-per-dollar ratio shifts. Whole, minimally processed foods from the basic aisles will almost always out perform the processed, convenient foods on both nutrition and cost.
👇Ready to go deeper?
The Vitality Protocol is my online program for women on GLP-1 medications- covering muscle-first nutrition, practical strategies to make the most of the quiet, and rebuilding joy beyond food. Join the waitlist
Something new I learned about collagen thank you!