Menus' low-fat, low-carb varieties market to 'My Own Diet' trend

Nation's Restaurant News, June 28, 2004 by Ron Ruggless

Five friends and I stopped for a late meal at the Chili's Grill & Bar in Ennis, Texas, this past weekend and proved to be a demographically on-target group in terms of our diet consciousness.

Four of the six people in my party perused the diet menu insert, and two of the six ordered low-carb meals--that's pretty much in line with the results recently reported by the NPD Group's Dieting Monitor.

Every day, it seems, new low-carb or low-calorie product announcements from a variety of restaurants cross our computer desktops. From low-carb pizza crusts to diet breads, restaurants are racing to provide options for their increasingly diet-sensitive guests.

My group of friends proves another point of NPD's research: We are making up the diets as they go, blending a little Atkins with a little Zone and a little South Beach, and then stirring heartily with their own personal tastes.

The research firm in Port Washington, N.Y., found that "My Own Diet" leads the pack of preferred diets, with 25 percent of those surveyed having tried M.O.D. and nearly 7 percent sticking to it.

NPD's Dieting Monitor also found that nearly three out of four people were aware of the Atkins diet, 17 percent of adults had tried it and about 4 percent were following it. It's not surprising that consumers are very aware of brand-name diets, given the marketing dollars behind them. The Dieting Monitor found that 73 percent of respondents were aware of Atkins, Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig.

"At any given time about a quarter of the population is on a diet," said Harry Balzer, NPD vice president. "The buzz on Atkins is not those few actually following the diet, but the people who are trying low-carb or high-protein dishes, even though they do not claim to be on the diet.

"This low-carb fad will be around for a while as more companies offer their low-carb versions," Balzer added.

My informal Saturday-night-out focus group seemed to follow that line of thinking. While two of my fellow diners munched on Buffalo chicken wings, the rest of us devoured burgers, pasta and Philadelphia cheese steak sandwiches. And, as usual, part of the dinner conversation turned to what we were eating and what we were avoiding. Diet has become a frequent dinner topic, often edging into as much controversy as politics or religion.

Restaurant chains based in this region have been keeping up with the diet trend. Carlson Restaurants Worldwide's T.G.I. Friday's concept embraced the name brand Atkins menu last year. Chili's, a division of Brinker International Inc., created a nutrition council and was an early adopter of the diet offerings.

"The low-carb phenomenon has made many industries sit up and take notice," Balzer said. "I have never seen the food industry jump on board to a fad as quickly as with this low-carb craze. Restaurant operators and food manufacturers are doing what they can to participate in this wave, but the truth of the matter is that low carb will follow all the other trends, like low fat. My advice: Offer the low-carb product but don't build the plant."

Excess personal poundage has a lot to do with the weight given to diet talk.

NPD's Dieting Monitor found that almost a quarter of dieting adults, or 24 percent, said they have lost fewer than 5 pounds; 22 percent said they have lost between 5 and 10 pounds; and almost one-fifth of consumers, or 19 percent, said they have lost between 11 and 20 pounds. When asked how much more they want to lose, 46 percent said they want to lose between 21 and 30 pounds more.

My personal survey sample, however, exceeded NPD's survey number of 23 percent saying they "monitor the nutritional value of what I eat." Fully 100 percent of our dinner party watched nutrition. And we all agreed with the 54 percent of NPD's respondents who said, "I eat whatever tastes good to me."

Most restaurants these days are doing a great job of offering options for groups like ours.

Personally, I'm also parking at the far reaches of restaurant parking lots. More calories burned and fewer car door dings--an excellent combination.