Sept. 24, 2024
Marketdata LLC, DietBusinessWatch.com’s parent), estimates that the top competitors in the U.S. weight loss market lost at least $971 million in revenues last year, due to the juggernaut of GLP-1 medications. This is a huge transfer of sales from commercial and retail weight loss programs and product segments to medical programs.
Here’s the tally, by company, comparing 2023 revenues of each company to 2022 sales…
Weight Watchers: Lost $150 million in sales (2023: $889 billion, 2022: $1.03 billion)
Medifast (Optavia brand): Lost $526 million (2023: $1.072 billion, 2022: $1.598 billion)
Herbalife (weight management sales in North America): Lost $82 million (2023: $636 million, 2022: $718 million)
Atkins Product Line (Simply Good Foods): Lost $13 million (2023: $527 million, 2022: $540 million)
Regional and small commercial weight loss chains: Lost $80 million (2023: $486 million, 2022: $566 million).
Noom (weight loss app, virtual service): Lost $26 million (2023: $308 million, 2022: $282 million).
2024 Expected Revenues Losses
The carnage is continuing into this year. Four weight loss leading competitors are expected to lose another $587 million in 2024. Following are the expected revenues, based on first half 2024 results and company guidance.
Weight Watchers ($119 less revenues, $770 mill. estimated in 2024 vs. $889 mill. in 2023)
Medifast ($386 mill. less revenues, $686 mill. in 2024 vs. $1.07 bill. in 2023)
Herbalife ($55 mill. less revenues, $581 mill. in 2024 vs. $636 mill. in 2023)
Atkins (Simply Good Foods) ($27 mill. less revenues, $500 mill. in 2024 vs. $527 mill. in 2023).
Financial information is not available for Jenny Craig or Nutri/System, since they are now part of the Wellful Company. However, it’s likely that the Jenny Craig brand also suffered falling sales in 2023, due to its bankruptcy filing and closure of its 600 retail centers. It’s also likely that the small, regional, commercial weight loss companies (some are franchises) suffered more than Marketdata estimates. Most of them did not add a medical weight loss protocol to their service, due to a lack of experience with this model.
It’s fair to say that the rush by consumers to obtain GLP-1 medications has put severe pressure on the non-medical companies to survive, either by adding a medical component (such as Medifast and Weight Watchers), cutting prices, cutting costs, cutting staff, going virtual and increasing availability, or adding complementary services.
These non-medical weight loss companies have weathered fads and market cycles in the past, but these cycles usually did not last more than nine months. This time it’s different, as more GLP-1 and other meds will be entering the market over the next 3-4 years. They will have to specialize, run leaner, offer virtual services, possibly franchise, and up their game in terms of the quality of their staff and support, and devote more to marketing, to survive and grow. There will be a certain segment of dieters that don’t want to take drugs, cannot afford them, or have side effects and drop out. Hormone replacement therapy is one such specialization.
Learn More
Find all the details and analyses in Marketdata’s March 2024 “2024 Weight Loss Market Status Report+, a 107 -page market research study. Table of Contents and purchase option available at: marketdataenterprises.com. Price: $895.
Marketdata also performs custom studies and consulting, as well as phone consults with Mr. John LaRosa, 35-year independent weight loss market analyst since 1989. BOGO Offer, limited time. Purchase a Marketdata weight loss or other industry report and get another report FREE of charge (equal or lesser value).