Rivals put the bite on Atkins diet firm

THE Atkins low-carbohydrate diet company has hired a crisis management specialist as it struggles with tough competition.

The Atkins diet craze took a heavy toll on many firms from rival diet regimens to purveyors of high-carbohyrdate foods, but now Atkins Nutritionals itself is suffering as imitators flood the market.

'There has been a huge explosion of low-carb products from manufacturers of every conceivable size,' said Atkins spokesman Richard Rothstein.

'We are dealing with a very different marketplace than existed a year ago.'

Atkins will cut jobs and take other measures to boost efficiency in response to an increase in the number of low-carbohydrate foods on supermarket shelves.

The company was founded by the diet's creator, Dr Robert Atkins, in 1989.

It had huge initial success as it spearheaded the rapid rise of low-carbohydrate diets that discourage eating starches like bread and pasta in favour of proteins.

The New York company, which is now 80% owned by Goldman Sachs Group and private equity firm Parthenon Capital, said in a statement it has hired crisis management firm AlixPartners LLC to help shore up its finances and management of its supply chain.