Dive Brief:
- The Atkins brand is being repositioned as a food option for consumers who have stopped taking GLP-1 medications and are looking to maintain their weight, according to owner Simply Good Foods.
- CEO Joseph Scalzo told analysts on Tuesday that Atkins has a long history of helping consumers maintain their weight through nutrition, offering a new opportunity for the brand to serve today’s lapsed GLP-1 users.
- The shift comes as the Atkins brand struggles, with sales down 20.9% during 2026. Simply Good wrote down the value of its Atkins and Owyn brands before the fourth quarter, citing recent fiscal performance and updated revenue projections.
Dive Insight:
By 2035, as many as 55 million Americans, roughly 15% of the population, are expected to be on GLP-1 medications, according to Morgan Stanley, nearly double today’s total.
Although more consumers turn to GLP-1 drugs, most are not staying on these medications on a long-term basis, with many stopping use within a year. When GLP‐1s are discontinued, weight gain is common, with up to two‐thirds of the lost weight regained within one year, according to a 2025 study by the National Institutes of Health.
This struggle is further compounded by the fact that consumers still need proper nutrients and vitamins in order to maintain muscle mass and support their health after they stop taking GLP-1s.
Simply Good hopes that Atkins’ low-carb, high-protein shakes, confections, bars and other offerings are ideally positioned to meet this need. Scalzo told analysts that Atkins' changes a person’s metabolism by providing “consumers the right balance of carbs, protein and fiber” to burn fat.
The company recently changed how it communicates with consumers, redesigning the Atkins website to provide more science-based content and education plus expanding investment across streaming, digital, social and influencers, he said. Recent Atkins innovations, such as its whipped bars, are designed for people focused on weight management and healthy nutrition.
The healthier foods company launched a campaign in September that “promises to help lapsed GLP-1 users keep the weight off and speaks directly to the anxiety many consumers feel about maintaining weight loss success over time,” Scalzo noted.
The repositioning for Atkins comes as Simply Good has struggled following a series of missteps that hurt its business and made it harder for the company to capitalize on trends. Simply Good has taken steps to focus on specific priorities, while moving to overhaul its marketing approach and invest cost-savings back into its brands.
During Simply Good’s fourth-quarter earnings call, Scalzo, who returned to the company as CEO in January, reiterated that the company’s brands “were not performing to their potential … and our financial results were falling short of our expectations.”
Atkins was a major reason Simply Good posted net sales of $1.4 billion during its 2026 fiscal year, a drop of 6.5% from the prior period.
