Low-in claims of course remain important, but “dieting” and “weight loss” are becoming somewhat outmoded and marginalised, and many leading brands are being repositioned. Where the emphasis was once on dieting and weight loss, it is now more likely to be lifestyle focused and geared towards weight management.
Unilever’s Slim-Fast brand, long associated with weight loss meal replacement programmes, has recently been repositioned in the UK with the introduction of Slim-Fast Hunger Shot. This is a chilled, yogurt-based drink sold in a 100g bottle, using a combination of fibre and protein to “help you want to eat less”. Each “shot” delivers 54 calories, with just 0.2g fats and 6g fibre. Hunger management is the focus now, with brands such as these helping consumers to control their appetite and thus make a useful contribution to weight management via reduced snacking between meals. The fibre + protein formulation is not new, of course, but the very clear repositioning of a former diet brand is worthy of note.
A similar lifestyle approach has been noted recently in the USA. In 2005, on the back of the low-carb phenomenon, Kraft Foods introduced a range of products under the South Beach Diet brand. The South Beach Diet was designed around some basic dietary principles – lean protein, the “right” fats (e.g. olive oil), fibre and wholegrains, and vegetables and fruit – and the range covered a number of product categories. In the last few months, the line has been renamed and relaunched as South Beach Living, the simple change of name reflecting an important shift in nutritional behaviour. Packs now carry the tagline “Changing the way America eats”, while some items, such as Tide Me Over beverage mixes, additionally claim to be a “nutritious way to help satisfy hunger”, with 30 calories, 3g protein and 5g fibre per serving. Other products, such as oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, are packaged in the now familiar 100-calorie packs and deliver 0g transfats and 9g wholegrain per serving.
-Contributed by the Team at Mintel
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