Go With the Low
Healthy Returns
Philip Goglia, Ph.D., knew about low-carb long before the recent
craze. An All-American wrestler for Duke University in Durham,
North Carolina, and former Mr. North America, Goglia points out,
"To the bodybuilding, Olympic and professional athletic
community, low-carb dieting was always a primary aspect of food
programming." His passion for fitness and health propelled him
to earn a doctorate in nutrition and start Performance Fitness
Concepts (PFC), a nutrition and wellness firm in Santa Monica,
California, in 1981. The company helps clients worldwide set up and
manage their nutrition and exercise programs, and has helped celebs
like Owen Wilson and Brendan Frasier shape up for physically
challenging roles. With low-carb attracting the mainstream, PFC estimates that
between 74 and 84 percent of its clients are now on a low-carb
diet. In fact, PFC's revenues will increase from $1.2 million
in 2003 to a projected $2.5 million in 2004, due in part to its
low-carb books, nutritional programs, support groups and other
products. PFC's corporate wellness program--which aids
companies in helping their employees reach health goals using a
nutritionist and workouts if an onsite gym is available--has signed
on its first corporation, with 7,000 employees. PFC also recently
created an entertainment division that caters to busy agents and
actors. The company's latest venture is a pharmaceutical-grade
supplement line, sold through retail stores, that enhances the
low-carb or no-carb food program. Goglia, 44, maintains that, unlike most other nutrition firms,
PFC's approach is metabolically based. The company assesses
clients' blood chemistries and uses lipid profiles, which
determine how much fat and protein an individual can manage based
on readings like HDL, LDL, triglycerides, total cholesterol and
glucose, and the ratios between them. Though multitudes start
low-carb diets on the fly, the Atkins diet recommends that dieters
obtain tests such as these; and those dieters serious about
monitoring their health do. If clients' metabolic types
don't fit with the low-carb diet, Goglia will find an
appropriate food program to help them stay fit. Content Continues Below
Valen feels that conscientious businesses like these will help
reinforce the validity of the low-carb lifestyle. "If you have
a bunch of fringe players that come in and promote the wrong
things, or if the media picks up just that side of it," he
says, "that could be detrimental to the long-term growth of
the marketplace." Validity is a major issue in the industry,
and Rotbart is spearheading a nonprofit association that will
establish and adopt scientifically based nutritional,
manufacturing, testing and marketing standards. Called the Low Carb
Consumers League, it will offer a seal of approval for products.
Efforts have been made to create other industry trade associations,
but the industry has grown so quickly that it's playing
catch-up. In fact, no resources specific to the low-carb industry
are available for startups, other than LowCarbiz, but
Rotbart is already working on an industry conference to be held May
5 and 6 in Washington, DC, and another in January 2005. (Visit
www.lowcarbiz.com for more information.) A Second Wind You don't necessarily have to create a new
product to take advantage of the low-carb craze. Sometimes you just
have to market an existing product in a new way to point out its
relevancy.
Consider Asher's Chocolates Inc. in
Philadelphia. Since Chester Asher started the company in 1892,
times have changed, including the types of chocolate we eat.
Sugar-free chocolates were introduced to Asher's Chocolates
line in the 1970s to offer diabetics a substitute for the forbidden
real thing, but a few years ago, the company had noticed the
public's interest in Atkins-style diets. Though they knew their
sugar-free chocolate had only 0.7 to 1.5 net carbs, carb-conscious
consumers didn't. After changing the packaging in late 2002 to
include bright-yellow lettering specifying its low-carb grade,
Asher's Chocolates experienced a triple-digit increase in
sales. "We may be 112 years old," quips Chester's
great-grandson Jeff Asher, 41, vice president of sales and
marketing, "but we're able to react in a timely manner. We
weren't burdened [like major companies] with the same
five-year, locked-in-stone plan." The fourth-generation,
family-owned enterprise will produce up to 3.5 million pounds of
the sugar-free, low-carb chocolate in 2004.
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