Saw an ad today for a "Low Carb" Subway sandwich. What is it with the "low carb" trend? Lately it has been hard to miss the constant salvos being fired by the "low carb" militia.
Thirty years after Dr. Robert Atkins published his first diet book, low-carbohydrate dieting—or as its devotees call it, the "low-carb lifestyle"—has planted its hooks into dieters around the world and refuses to let go. It was derided for years as a pseudo-scientific fad, but in the past few years it has swept the globe, partly because some recent studies have supported its efficacy while allaying short-term health concerns, and partly because millions of low-carb dieters have quickly shed pounds after failing to do so by other means!
But it is scary when editors at the Oxford English Dictionary are considering adding an entry for "Atkins" and you even buy low-carb pet food for your fat little dog!
But the whole thing got me thinking (for a minute anyway!); with the public’s appetite for low-carbohydrate food products on the rise, what is the right strategy for a baker or spaghetti maker these days: Buck the trend or join in the feast?
Atkins and all those other low-carb diets have gotten so much attention in the last few years that consumers may think it is a simple decision for a bread or pasta company to launch a low-carb product line.
But I guess the question is to what extent is the Atkins diet and the whole low-carb thing a fad and to what extent is it a genuine shift in consumption patterns that will remain with us for a significant period of time
So do bakers invest in capital to cater to something that might be a trend or not do it and risk doing nothing? They might end up like this bakery if they do nothing.
It's a classic management problem isn't it! Is "it" here to stay, or just "cool" at the minute? And if so what do we do?
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