Nestle to Buy Jenny Craig

As reported in this morning’s New York Times, food giant Nestle are set to buy Jenny Craig, the shamefully unhealthy (in my opinion) diet plan company for $600 million US dollars.

Why?

Because the diet industry is still booming, and Nestle obviously believe that we, the general public, cannot see through the hype and the nonsensical relationship between a firm better known for Kit-Kat’s manufacturing supposedly healthy diet food.

Regular readers will already know that I am not a great fan of Jenny Craig, the nothing fresh, everything microwaved diet plan. While I applaud it’s appreciation of the importance of structure, planning and tracking of a successful healthy eating lifestyle – I simply cannot abide it’s focus on food that has such a lack of nutritional value.

Wearing a business hat I would say this is a risk for Nestle. Growing numbers of consumers are becoming more savvy and aware of the foods they eat and the lack of ethics of the big manufacturers. In my regular reading list of magazines and blogs I am seeing more and more articles about the hidden nutritional facts of diet and ‘health’ foods from the big manufacturers. And this is good. We do need to become more aware of the smoke and mirrors tactics some of the big companies use to fool us into thinking we are buying healthy foods (at a premium).

So can Nestle maintain the growth of Jenny Craig? I guess time will tell. People are going to become pretty bored of the Kirsty Alley story soon enough, and who knows, people might also tire of spending a fortune on microwave meals and just go to the fresh food markets instead.

I mean, Nestle are not known to be one of the most ethical of companies anyway, so I cannot see anything altruistic about the deal from their part (i.e. I don’t think they are really all that interested in our health). But I’m sure it will do their bottom line some good, for now anyway.

Note: This blog is only my opinion. It is not medical advice or diagnosis. Only opinions based upon our own personal experiences or information detailed in medical/academic journals or other publications is cited. WE DO NOT OFFER MEDICAL ADVICE or prescribe any treatments. Please consult with a medical professional before making any diet or nutrition changes. Refer to our full disclaimer for more information.