Unilever to market weight-loss shots

Unilever will be expanding its weight management products by making them quicker to consume.

Peter Haring, Unilever’s global research and development director for Slimfast, had revealed that while the it is difficult to develop weight management food and beverage products, one idea Unilever was to market a “drinkable shot,” similar to the company’s weight loss product Slimfast, Food Navigation U.S.A. reports.

In 2004, Unilever relaunched Slimfast, which included an expanded line of products under the Slimfast Optima diet range. According to Haring, the active satiety ingredient of this formulation is fiber.

An example of such shots is Unilever’s present line of Vitality shots for cholesterol control. Haring suggested a weight management approach could be blended into a cholesterol line like this one.

Although Unilever plans to take make their said global marketing initiative across the world, Haring said there will be “some more attention [give] to the U.S. because of its important weight management market and developed dietary supplement market.”

Unilever has held the rights to Phytopharm’s hoodia extract, P57, for the last couple of years, and is involved in extensive research aimed at the use of this in food products.

According to Food Navigation U.S.A., the U.S. weight management market is said to be the world’s largest, since one-third of Americans are obese. Haring hinted that Unilever is developing weight management products in other formats, but had not discussed that matter further.

Other than Slimfast, Unilever also markets teas for weight management, particularly in Europe and Japan, as well as soups (mainly in Europe).