| Food & Ingredients | | | Educ. Serv. | | | Tech Serv. | | | Market Serv. | | | E-Commerce Serv. |
|---|
| Anonymous. 2000June. Big gains in weight loss. Prepared Foods 169:104. | to Top |
- Modified Article: Recently Unilever plunked down $2.3 billion for Slim-Fast-maker of weight management and nutritional products- to compete in the burgeoning market for weight loss products.
According to a recent study (RGA-111 Weight Loss Products: Supplements, Foods and Beverages) from Business Communications Co., Norwalk, Conn., an estimated 40 million Americans are classified as obese. About $240 billionper year is spent for the treatment of obesity-related conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke and high blood pressure.
In 1999, the total sales for weight loss supplememnts, foods and beverages in the U.S. was estimated at $19.2 billion. Food and beverages represented more than 3/4ths of the total.
The weight loss market for food and beverage is expected to increase at an annual compounded growth rate of 3.7% for the next four years, reaching $17.5 billion by 2004.
Although a smaller market ($4.6 billion in 1999), weight loss supplements are expected to grow faster than foods & beverages, hitting ^6.4 billion in sales by 2004.
Updated: Thursday, September 6, 2007.
OSU Disclaimer.