Rats Leaving the Ship

[kevinm]

Has anyone else noticed how suddenly Hood who makes the Carb Countdown dairy products has suddenly taken the Atkins label off their products? Looks like they don't want to be associated with the bankruptcy. Cowards!

[kattar]

I did not notice. I hope I can still get low carb wraps at subway.

[Rain1272]

It may not be so much that they have taken the Atkins label off because they don't want to be associated with Atkins (though very likely) but could be part of Atkins actually pulling financial support; not paying for the right to be able to put their logo on Hood, or other, products. Since they are in Chapter 11 (reorganization) they are required to cut "unnecessary" expenditures by the court in order to get their debts under control and prevent Chapter 13 bankruptcy (full shut down).

[taming]

I think it works the other way around. If products wanted the right to display the Atkins logo, they paid Atkins Nutritional for it. I'm guessing that these days, having the logo there is not seen by some companies as being worth paying for.

[Zuleikaa]

Actually, Hood paid Atkins for putting the logo on their milk as did others including Subway. With low carb becoming more mainstream, other low carb, low GI plans being perceived as more acceptable, and Atkins being vilified, perhaps Hood, and others, feel they can reap the benefits without paying for use of the Atkins name. Part of Atkins troubles could be due to lack of revenue from "branding".

[Rain1272]

I stand corrected then...thanks ladies!! :D

[ValerieL]

I went into a local health food store yesterday to pick up a few things and though they still had the large Atkins Controlled Carb Centre banner in the window, their low-carb section had dwindled significantly. I bet it disappears quickly.

Val

[ButterflyA]

My health food store used to have like literally HALF the store low-carb during the big “low carb” phase awhile ago, and now I swear it’s like two shelves and that’s it.

[ToastyBoy]

My local food stores stopped selling most of the Atkins brand products before this bankruptcy thing was even announced. I had a heck of a time trying to find a bottle of their teryaki sauce 2 weeks ago. I'm not sure if they knew this was coming or what, but I wish I had bought more now. (nothing better on top of a piece of baked salmon IMO) I hope they don't stop selling the Heinz one carb ketchup....that would be really screw up my menu!

[kattar]

My local food stores stopped selling most of the Atkins brand products before this bankruptcy thing was even announced. I had a heck of a time trying to find a bottle of their teryaki sauce 2 weeks ago.

I got some peanut butter cups on sale at the pharmacy. I saw lots of Atkins products on sale just before the annoucement.

[Sallee]

I just saw an ad for South Beach on the TV last night. Aren't alot of their products low carb as well?

As for the one carb ketchup....I have heard rumors too, so I went to their site and it was still listed as an available product. However......just in case...I am feeding my paranoia about it by buying three bottles every time I go shopping and putting them away. The thought of naked scrambled eggs makes me shudder!!

Sallee

[kevinm]

I know that some of our local grocery stores are selling off the rest of their Atikins products at 1/2 price to unload them. I don't think that they are going to continue the product line.

[jedswife]

i went to kroger's recently and bought all of the hood cc smoothies because they were red tagged as a discontinued item. i hope they are just re-doing their packaging to remove the atkins symbol and not really discontinuing them - i love them.

[Beeblebrox]

As long as Hood continues to make Carb Countdown "dairy beverage", I don't care what they put on the carton. I will be very disappointed if this particular product is discontinued.

[Rain1272]

Out of curiosity I wrote to Hood today in regard to the carb countdown line of products and the removal of the Atkins logo from them. This is their response. Based on the email I sent them and the on topic and specific answers this was not a mass generated email response by them.


We're pleased you have enjoyed our Carb Countdown products. These are
Hood products, so they are not affected by Atkins' recent bankruptcy
filing. However, we did recently decide to discontinue our Carb
Countdown Yogurts, Smoothies and Juice Beverages due to a decrease in
demand.

We are still offering our Carb Countdown Dairy Beverages. In fact,
we've
improved our Dairy Beverages with a richer, creamier taste while still
providing less sugar, fewer carbs and fewer calories than regular milk.
These are available at retailers nationwide in Fat Free and 2% Reduced
Fat White, and 2% Reduced Fat Chocolate varieties.

We thank you for your support and hope you will continue to enjoy Hood
Carb Countdown products.

[kevinm]

However, we did recently decide to discontinue our Carb
Countdown Yogurts, Smoothies and Juice Beverages due to a decrease in
demand.
Too bad I really wanted to get the juice for my kids who use to drink a gallon of OJ about every other day.

[RDW]

Does anyone *really* need Atkin's products to LC?

I have sampled an number of Atkin's products but most I could do without: chocolate shake left a horrible aftertaste, chips were strong but not that great, breakfast bars have an aftertaste, banana nut muffins were great but very expensive.

[kevinm]

My wife likes the pancake mix and I like the Endulge Nut chew (only one a day of course).

[SusanKH]

As someone who's spent their whole career in marketing I can't really blame anyone for abandoning the Atkins label. No one wants to be associated with a sinking ship. Especially since the Atkins brand no longer carries out the original vision of Dr. Atkins. He was a proponent of whole foods.

[geauxleaux]

Good to know they are keeping the Hood milk. I was concerned because the other day at the store they were having a huge sale on the Hood. It was such a ridiculously low price I bought several, worrying that it was going off the shelves like almost all of my other favorite LC products (can't find Dreamfield's pasta around here ANYWHERE).

Anyway, I realized yesterday that one of them is expired (probably was already expired when I bought it). The one with the September expiration date does not have the Atkins logo, but the older one does.

I was upset that they stopped selling the full-fat version Hood (used to be in the red carton) so I now buy the 2% version in the blue carton.

And RDW, I'm with you - I LOVED the Atkins banana-nut muffins. I still have two packages in my cabinet that I am saving for a special occasion.......

[kevinm]

My family also likes the chocolate version of Hood.

[RDW]

You got me on that one Kevin, the Hood milk is good and I mix it with a couple of expresso shots, protein powder (generic no flavor) and ice and make a breakfast shake once or twice a month.

Is Hook milk really Atkin's or just sporting Atkin's label?

[Frogbreath]

So far I'm not having any trouble getting the Hood low carb milk or the low carb ketchup. I haven't been able to get LC BBQ sauce or A1 sauce. I like those little flavor additions to LCing. I did manage to make my own low carb coctail sauce for shrimp using the LC ketchup as a base. I'm looking forward to doing that again soon. I think it will take the stores a while to figure out that just because the "flash in the pan" is over doesn't mean that there's no market for it. In the meantime, is there a place on line to get the more unusual items? Is Carbwell still in existence?

[ButterflyA]

I ADORE the 1 carb ketchup- I found it this past weekend in the grocery store and it is SO good! :yum:

SO GOOD! I feel like stocking up now b/c I'm panicked they'll pull the product.