The jury is still out on whether the current Atkins low-carbohydrate diet will be just another food fad, or have the staying power to change permanently the way we eat and the kinds of foods we are offered at grocery stores and restaurants.

I have written before in this column about the business paradox whereby unpredictable events such as extreme weather (or the lack of it) can be a boon for some and a disaster for others. This Atkins thing is like a nationwide tornado impacting business right now. Companies of all kinds are scrambling to take advantage of it if they can, or do damage control if they must.

Fast food was among the first to catch on. All of a sudden Burger King began serving burgers without buns, TGI Friday’s partnered with Atkins Nutritionals to serve Atkins-approved menu items at every location, and a glance at the Hardee’s Web site reveals the words “Low Carb Choices” in type nearly twice the size of its own logo. Even QuikTrip, that bastion of balanced diets, now offers low-carb lunches. Cigarettes or coffee with that?

Food giants Kellogg and Campbell Soup quickly rolled out a dizzying array of new low-carb products, and Unilever, maker of Slim-Fast shakes and snack bars, began offering low-carb versions of its diet foods. That’s right – diet diet food.

While the low-carb craze has been a marketing dream for some, there are those that wish the whole thing would just go away. Doughnut maker Krispy Kreme recently reported its first quarterly loss since going public in 2000, after an earlier warning that low-carb diets were hurting its results. The Winston-Salem-based chain lost $24.4 million in the fiscal quarter that ended May 2 – quite a different picture from the profit of $13.1 million it reported at this time a year ago.

And Krispy Kreme is not alone. The U.S. Potato Board has allocated $4.4 million for an 18-month public relations campaign aimed at re-educating consumers about the nutritional value of nature’s “apple of the earth.” USPB research (see “USPB Long Range Plan 2004 – 2006” at www.uspotatoes.com) indicates that consumers are buying less potatoes and eating fewer fries and chips. In fact, per-capita in-home consumption of potatoes peaked in 1945, and has been sliding ever since. The slogan of the new USPB campaign, “The Healthy Potato: Naturally Nutritious, Always Delicious,” strikes a note that sounds just a bit desperate to me. Remember the incredible, edible egg? What’s next – the new, nutritious noodle?

A little closer to home, Panera Bread Co. has also struggled with the Atkins phenomenon, and as a result has reduced the size of its breakfast portions and begun work on three new low-carb bread products.Where will it end? Maybe I’ll have another Michelob Ultra and try to figure it out.

Regards,

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