http://www.new-nutrition.com/editorialcont2.asp
Here's an excerpt...

"
Reflect on this a moment. A deceased seventy-one year old doctor with maverick ideas about nutrition and health has helped wipe almost €2.4 billion ($2.7 billion) off the value of the stock of the world’s third-biggest food company.

It may seem hardly credible to many in the food and beverage industries, but Unilever has attributed the woes of its Slim-Fast meal replacement brand – whose sales fell 13% in the 52 weeks to May this year – to the increasing impact of the high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets popularised by diet guru the late Dr. Atkins. Unilever further revealed that lower expectations for the Slim-Fast line were largely responsible for the decision to slash the 2003 sales forecast for its 400 top brands.

And as if to drive the point home, the biggest percentage gainer of sales among the top 10 meal-replacement-beverage brands in the U.S. in the same period was the Atkins Diet brand itself, which saw sales grow by more than 95% in the year to May.

The warning, issued by a U.S.-based group called the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, came in response to the diet’s spiralling popularity with Americans - an estimated 35 million Americans are trying to reduce carb intake. And it’s not just Americans who are turning to the low-carb plan. Such is its popularity among Brits that UK wheat industry interests have joined the anti-Atkins chorus, issuing a survey of dietitians that condemned the Atkins Diet as "bad dietary advice". In Norway, too, the popularity of a low-carb regime advocated by Dr. Fedon Lindberg, Norway’s very own answer to Atkins, has reportedly swept potatoes, pasta and white breads off Norwegian plates and sent sales of dairy products, pulses, whole grains, and nuts soaring.
From these (for Unilever) painful facts marketers everywhere can take some comfort, for it shows that even the mighty Unilever, with its unquestioned prowess in market research and brand management, can sometimes misread a market.

*** Three key factors have driven – and will continue to drive - the popularity of the low-carb approach to weight management. These are: effectiveness, the power of word-of-mouth communications and emerging science.***

{snip}

*** No doubt we will see Unilever take aggressive steps to re-build Slim-Fast and set it back on the path to growth, but 2003 will go down in the annals as the year we all learnt to take low-carb seriously. ***

"

Heeeee Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Unilever's sugary SlimFast line can crash and burn for all I care. Years ago, before discovering low carbing, I took their products and wondered why they didn't help. Now I know, no thanks to them. Their asleep-at-the-wheel (or is it just stubbornness?) marketing heads can wake up and retool their product line, or continue to lose market share - the choice is theirs.

Unilever will be coming out with their own line of low-carb products. As a corporation, I am sure that they don't care what's in the product, just that people buy them. SlimFast still sells a lot, they will just add a different product that is low-carb and call it something else.

I've heard rumors that Unilever is indeed working on a lower carb version of their Slim-Fast line and if they aren't it would be financially wise for them to start doing so.
OTOH, they could be hedging their bets that this is nothing more than a passing fad and will blow over in a year or two leaving them the king of the proverbial diet products mountain once again when former low carbers quit low carbing, regain the weight and are once again looking for a product to help them lose weight.
Being wholly realistic, to a lot of people low carb is nothing more than a way to shed a few quick pounds and they never intend to make it a way of life when they begin such a program (their mistake). We all know what is likely to happen when they reach their weight loss goals and return to the way of eating that got them in need of losing a few quick pounds in the first place and Unilever, I'm sure, will be right there to say, "We told you so...here, have a Slim Fast".

Cruise down the vast majority of grocery store aisles and you will see that most-if not all-food manufacturers have a huge financial interest in the status quo. It is amazing to look at the shelves and see all that pure, unadulterated junk in boxes and cans. It is pretty hard to find anything to use for a LC meal unless you hit the fresh meat, fresh produce and fresh dairy areas. Imagine the impact on grocery chains where the square footage is primarily junk...what would they put in place of all of it? Imagine the lost revenue!! It is probably going to be a looong time before these special interest folks get on the bandwagon regarding the LC WOE. After all, they retooled to meet demand based on the advice give to us by the AHA and AMA. How could these esteemed folks be SO wrong??!! Having gained weight and starved to death 24/7 on LF/HC diets, I am sticking with this "unheathy" WOE. And, OBTW, my blood pressure is down, and I exercise 45 mins a day, 5 days a week. Something I never had the energy to do on my "healthy" diet.

Sure enough! I was at the pharmacy today to get a new bottle of glucose test strips and what did I happen to notice right next to the cash register? A new low carb bar from Slim-Fast. It's called "Succeed" and says "for those who count carbs" on the label.
I flipped it over and scanned the label...first ingredient...Maltitol Syrup, but otherwise it didn't appear to have any hydrogenated fats or other unhealthy stuff in it.
Just goes to show you...if demand is big enough, even the "big guys" will start trying to capitalize on it.
My prediction is that it won't be long before their low carb line is beating out their regular line in sales.

FRom the Slim fast Web site:

Slim·Fast Succeed Snack Bars

A new Snack Option from Slim·Fast. Three new snack bars specially designed for people who are watching their carbs.

Banana Nut
Chocolate Peanut
Cookies n' Cream

Hehehe!!!