Weight Loss and Diet Markets Not Lightening Up Anytime Soon

GLOBAL INFORMATION, INC. LOGOOf the 108 million American dieters that make an average of four to five dieting attempts per year, approximately 83 percent favor do-it-yourself weight loss programs accessed from home (online or by phone), the use of diet books, or celebrity diet plans.

A new report from research firm MarketData Enterprises, “The U.S. Weight Loss & Diet Control Market“, indicates that this is the highest historical share for those programs in over 20 years.

Herbalife, Slim-Fast, Atkins, Shaklee, and other do-it-yourself weight management programs are more dynamic as ever.

Herbalife is now the second leading weight loss company in the world with estimated sales of meal replacement weight loss products in North America at around $537 million in 2012.

18743-Weight-Watchers-Oat-aWeight Watchers continues to dominate, while Jenny Craig and NutriSystem trail behind Herbalife.

Company movements to look out for include increased foreign market entrants such as Slimming World from the U.K., ITrim from Sweden, and The Dukan Diet from France.

Having already set up brick and mortar centers or online operations, these companies are poised to take a portion of the U.S. weight loss market in 2013.

Further, more technology-based weight loss programs well-funded by venture capital firms will emerge. Retrofit is one example. These enterprises will market their products and services via direct-to-consumer, healthcare system, and corporate wellness department channels.

Demographically speaking, U.S. dieters are heavier than ever. A combination of increased stress and a shift to rising consumption of comfort food and cheaper fast food resulted in significant weight gains.

Research shows that 72 percent of Hispanics and 84 percent of African Americans are overweight or obese versus 68 percent of non-Hispanic Caucasians.

Herbalife_Nutrition.107131841_stdThe new report predicts that we will see more weight loss programs catering to the Hispanic and African-American dieter segments through bilingual websites, online and coaching services.

In China, demand for weight loss diet products has also grown rapidly in the past decade. “Chinese Markets for Weight Loss Diet Products“, a report by Asia Market Information & Development, expects both production and demand will continue to grow in the next five years.

Highlights from the report include Chinese traditional weight loss diet products production and demand, pricing trends, export marketing strategies to China, weight loss diet product producers profiles and directory, and more.

From functional health products to better ingredients and nutrition labeling, more innovative products will emerge to help consumers on their quest to monitor weight-related issues.

To what extend are global consumers seeking weight management products and ingredients? How are brands capitalizing on the weight management sub-trend to entice consumers into paying a premium for products and ingredients?

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