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PJx
 
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Default Foodmakers Feeding Off Low-Carb Craze

This is not a fad. It will NOT die out in 2 or 3 years.

PJ




On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 14:22:56 -0500, "Peanutjake"
> wrote:

>Foodmakers Feeding Off Low-Carb Craze
>Wed Jan 21,10:03 AM ET Add U.S. National - Reuters to My Yahoo!
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>By Deborah Cohen
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>CHICAGO (Reuters) - Like prospectors chasing the California Gold Rush of 1849, companies seeking to
>mine the low-carbohydrate eating craze are expected to show up in droves at a conference in Denver
>this week.
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>The event promises to bring together the likes of well-known packaged food makers such as North
>American leader Kraft Foods Inc., confectioner Hershey Foods Corp. and meat processor Tyson Foods
>Inc.
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>There will also be a multitude of niche players specializing in products that appeal only to
>adherents of low-carb diets like Atkins and South Beach.
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>Even big retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest U.S. grocery chain, will attend the
>so-called LowCarbiz Summit, which begins on Thursday and runs for two days.
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>"This is an industry that has erupted over a period of 18 months," said Dean Rotbart, editor of
>LowCarbiz.com, the online newsletter coordinating the event, which will cost attendees up to $800
>apiece. "It went from a rocket sitting on a launch pad to a rocket zooming out of space."
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>Indeed, about 3.6 percent of the U.S. population is now following some form of a diet high in
>proteins such as meat and chicken but limited in carbohydrates like bread and pasta and sugars,
>according to NPD Group, a market research firm specializing in food trends, whose data surveyed
>people through August.
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>Some researchers and health professionals remain skeptical of low-carb diets, especially Atkins,
>which has been criticized for touting the benefits of liberal amounts of steak, eggs and fatty foods
>linked with rising cholesterol and heart disease.
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>Atkins Nutritionals, the low-carb food and product maker founded by the late low-carb guru Robert
>Atkins, has been telling health professionals in seminars to limit the amount of saturated fat that
>its followers take in to 20 percent of calories.
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>The risks appear not to deter U.S. consumers, who are struggling with rising obesity rates and
>related health problems. Low-carb versions of everything from Breyer's ice cream to Heinz tomato
>ketchup have joined their traditional counterparts on grocers' shelves in recent months.
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>Big restaurant chains like Burger King are even getting into the act, catering to fast-food
>customers with everything from bunless burgers to protein plates.
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>Still, some question how long the trend's momentum will continue.
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>"It will have a rapid rise here. It will last maybe two or three years," said NPD Vice President
>Harry Balzer. "When it's all over, there will still be a low-carb contingent, but it will never be
>the interest levels we're seeing right now."
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>On the agenda at the Colorado meeting are panel discussions on opportunities and risks, federal
>regulation, the future of low-carb retailing and how to respond to diet naysayers, according to
>materials provided by Rotbart.
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>Meals too, will stay on theme, featuring low-carb products sponsored by the likes of sandwich maker
>Blimpie International, Rudi's Organic Bakery, and the Tortilla Factory, to name a few.
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>Rotbart said he expects some 400 attendees, including brand managers and marketing types from the
>manufacturing and retailing communities. A second event is planned in Washington, D.C., in May.
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>"We believe companies have no choice but to respond to the low-carb movement with new products,"
>wrote Morgan Stanley analyst William Pecoriello in a research report.
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