 Nutrisystems.ca
(Canadian Site)
NutriSystem Nourish
Diet plan is a "send you the food" diet plan. Its sales in 2006
totaled $435 million through September, so it is a major factor in the
$800 million home delivery diet food market.
It attained the No. 1 spot
on Forbes magazine's Best 200 Small Companies in America. Competitors
are Jenny Craig, who started as a NutriSystem employee, and "Seattle
Sutton's Healthy Eating". NutriSystem had approximately 800,000
customers in 2006.
The NutriSystem Diet is based on the Glycemic Index of
Carbohydrates. Foods with a low glycemic index raise your blood glucose
levels slower and over a longer period of time than foods with a high
glycemic index. Combined with a low fat diet, exercise, and frequent
smaller portioned meals, the glycemic index diet is supposed to reduce
hunger (due to a constant blood glucose).
There is some support for weight loss and
health benefits of low glycemic-index diets in controlled scientific
studies, however, some other studies have suggested there is no
long-term benefit to these diets.
Only 6 percent said they are on commercial
diets such as Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers and
NutriSystem. Nearly 70 percent said they aren't interested in the
diets of celebrities.
The company started out in 1972 selling
a liquid protein diet, which it abandoned in 1978 due to the growth of
competition. It then started selling food which was packaged and
preserved with the latest techniques in portion controlled packages, to
take the decisions out of dining.
he company went bankrupt in the early
1990's and closed down its weight-loss centers, where customers
weighed in and got their meals. It reemerged in 1999 as an internet
advertiser, and a publicly traded company, with the meals shipped to
consumers. CEO Michael Hagen shifted advertising to TV, using satisfied
customers in ads. Clients can call, email or chat online with the weight
loss counselors for advice or support. The average customer stays on the
program 10 weeks and loses 20 pounds. Many regain the weight lost, and
many come back for more delivered diet meals. |