Fast Foods chasing the Low Carb Atkins People - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Cynthetiq · 02-03-2004, 12:25 PM

okay, this part got me...

Quote:

And in Escondido, California, John Pontrelli, owner of Pit Stop Pasta, offers what may be a traditionalist's worst nightmare: "pizza in a bucket." It has all the pizza toppings placed in a crock or, for takeout customers, a metal can.

There's lots of low carb fad stuff hitting the market now, from the $6 low carb burger to the Lawry's low carb condiments (I didn't realize that lowering from 3g to 1g made such a difference)

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link

Quote:

How far will low-carb go? Pizza may be next

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) --Pizza might be hailed as the food of the gods, one of America's best-loved meals, a hearty delectable dish that fills the stomach and seems to soothe the soul.

But to low-carb dieters, it's just a gut-busting disk of dough.

And that has caused pizza makers around the nation to wonder if the low-carb craze will force changes in one of America's best-loved foods.

They're saying, "Hey, we've got a problem here. Pizza's built on bread. It's the No. 1 enemy of the Atkinites," said Tom Boyles, senior editor of PMQ Magazine, a publication that follows the pizza industry.

Boyles has a word for those who want to avoid carbohydrates: "carbavoids."

Although industry sales haven't taken a hit yet, some pizza operators are considering offering customers low-carb pizzas.

"Pizza operators are asking themselves, 'Do I want to do this?' and they're bouncing the idea back and forth," Boyles said. "It's at that point where they're going, 'Just how far is this going to go?"'

According to the National Association of Pizzeria Operators, about 3 billion pizzas are sold each year in the United States by about 40,000 shops.

At the same time, low-carb diets like the Atkins, South Beach and Zone have gained wider popularity. A Harris Interactive poll done last summer for Novartis Consumer Health Inc. estimated that 32 million Americans were on some kind of high-protein, low-carb diet.

Doug Ferriman, owner of Crazy Dough's Pizza Co. in Cambridge's Harvard Square, said he didn't think low-carb dieters would put "too much of a dent" in the pizza business, but he had clipped a recipe for low-carb dough from an industry publication and was going to try it in the spring.

"We're going to have to fiddle around with it for a while," he said.

Dieters' demands
Some local pizza shop owners and some smaller chains have already moved to meet low-carb dieters' demands.

In Columbus, Ohio, Donatos Pizzeria has announced it will roll out a pizza with a low-carb crust in its 182 outlets. Spokesman Tom Santor said the pizza dough, made out of soy protein and other ingredients, "tastes fabulous."

In Louisville, Kentucky, Bearno's Pizza, a small chain, offers a crustless pizza on the usual circular baking pan.

And in Escondido, California, John Pontrelli, owner of Pit Stop Pasta, offers what may be a traditionalist's worst nightmare: "pizza in a bucket." It has all the pizza toppings placed in a crock or, for takeout customers, a metal can.

While it's not a big item, he said, some people have asked for it, and "Our motto here is: you want to say no to people as little as possible."

At Low-Carb Creations in Vancouver, Washington, Craig Adams, vice president and general manager, said sales of low-carb pizza dough had risen 300 percent to 400 percent in the past six months. Adams said the small company, which has 17 employees, had signed agreements to provide the skins to several smaller chains and dozens of other stores.

Tom Lehmann, of the American Institute of Baking in Manhattan, Kansas, a consultant who works with bakeries and pizza operations worldwide, said, "Low-carb is probably the biggest pebble to be dropped in this little pizza pond for a long time. There's just a huge, huge amount of interest."

Lehmann, who writes in industry publications as "The Dough Doctor," said he has received an average of five requests per day for the past three months on how to make low-carb dough.

He said his own experiments so far with making a low-carb dough had turned out a product that tasted, well, different.

"If you consider a pizza crust as being an edible breadlike product that's located beneath the toppings, the cheese and tomato sauce, OK, that's all we can say about it. ... Wipe away any memories of your old traditional pizza crust," he said.

Fad and flavor
Steve Coomes, editor of pizzamarketplace.com, wondered if the low-carb craze would last and whether it was just part of New Year's resolution dieting.

"I still think that the vast majority of American pizza consumers are going to look at pizza and those side items like wings as an indulgence and will continue to enjoy them in their intended form," he said.

"They love it to the tune of $26 billion per year."

In Boston's Italian North End, talk of a low-carb pizza was viewed as sacrilege.

"In my culinary heart, I will never do low-carb," Salvo Goglio, 36, a native of Sicily and chef at Antico Forno, said while chopping zucchini in a cramped kitchen.

Brandishing a container of golden polenta, he asked, "How can you get low-carb and keep the flavor?"

Just then, an order came off the printer above the counter where Goglio was working: roast chicken on a salad, hold the bread. And it turned out that several members of the staff, including Goglio himself, had been "on the Atkins."

Still, Goglio said, "If you want to really eat good food, you can't cut down carbs."

absence_of_color · 02-03-2004, 04:44 PM

I think "fast food" and "low carb" in the same sentence is just contradicting.

Is it just me?

A burger without the bun?
A pizza without the crust?

Next, they will try to have sodas with out the carbonation?

KazronVZ · 02-03-2004, 05:30 PM

Yeah i just noticed this! Subway has a new Atkins-compatible line of sandwiches coming out.

Kaos · 02-03-2004, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by KazronVZ
Yeah i just noticed this! Subway has a new Atkins-compatible line of sandwiches coming out.

And from what I have heard, they are tiny and they suck.

teriaki · 02-03-2004, 06:07 PM

I actually ate one of the low-carb $6 burgers at Carl's Jr (or Hardee's - depending on which coast you're on), it wasn't half bad, and I didn't get the typical "holy crap, I just ate 7 meals worth of food" coma that accompanies burgers in most cases.

Make a habit of it? No. Try it? Sure, why not? It's better than Burger King's idea of putting the burger on a plate and serving it with a knife and fork......

sixate · 02-03-2004, 06:19 PM

First of all, real dieters don't eat fast food.

People who eat fast food aren't worried about their health. They may say they do, but actions speak louder than words.

Losing weight is no secret. Eat right and exercise. End of story. Burn more calories than you take in and it's absolutely impossible to gain weight. Everyone has different body types, and we all have different metabolism, but I don't care how fast your metabolism is because if you take in 10,000 calories of shit every day, as most people do, you'll gain a ton of weight.

All fad diets, atkins included, are a joke.

It takes hard work to stay in shape, not stupid fad diets.

ratbastid · 02-03-2004, 06:19 PM

I frequently eat the Hardees (around here, thanks, teriaki) low-carb burgers. And they're not $6, they're $4.50 for the 2/3 lb burger. Pretty fair price in my book.

We low-carb eaters are a force to be reckoned with and more and more companies are recognizing the growing demographic. Many "family restaurants" now have low-carb selections on their menus. Subway made an effort, half-hearted though it is. One article I read recently said that 1 in 4 American adults is "watching their carbs". That my friends is Market Power.

I'd eat Pizza-in-a-Bucket! Sounds like fun! One of my favorite snacks is Whole Milk Mozzarella and pepperoni slices. I'm only a tomato sauce away from that already!

kurty[B] · 02-04-2004, 09:26 AM

I don't particularly like the Atkins fad. I agree healthy lifestyle from eating right to exercising is the way to go. Of course if something becomes a large part of our society/culture companies are going to try and appeal to that group for monetary gain.

People should make an honest decision about whether they feel something is healthy for them. Just overhearing Atkin's diet, than hearing every other fast food place advertising "Atkin's friendly" shouldn't cause anyone to rush out and buy up friendly wraps and believe their going to just drop weight.

laconic1 · 02-04-2004, 11:39 AM

All this Atkins nonsense just blows me away. How is taking away the bun from a burger or crust from a pizza going to make it healthy when all the fat and other crap that is really bad for you is still there? Of course companies are going to try to exploit Americans willingness to try anything to lose weight without actually having to do anything, but this is absurd.

skysooner · 02-04-2004, 02:06 PM

I have seen Atkins work for some people where they were able to lose it and then shift into a more normal way of eating and still maintain the loss. It seems to have a pretty high incidence of "rebound weight gain". My wife and I are both big users of Weight Watcher's as it basically puts a framework on taking in calories and eating. We also exercise daily. She lost 20 lbs 2 years ago and has kept it off. I have lost 65 lbs with 10 lbs to go. It has been a ton of hard work.

We both noticed the pronounced Atkins shift about 3 months ago. It seems a bit ridiculous.

Mephisto2 · 02-04-2004, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sixate
First of all, real dieters don't eat fast food.
People who eat fast food aren't worried about their health. They may say they do, but actions speak louder than words.

Losing weight is no secret. Eat right and exercise. End of story. Burn more calories than you take in and it's absolutely impossible to gain weight. Everyone has different body types, and we all have different metabolism, but I don't care how fast your metabolism is because if you take in 10,000 calories of shit every day, as most people do, you'll gain a ton of weight.

All fad diets, atkins included, are a joke.

It takes hard work to stay in shape, not stupid fad diets.

This is the singular most intelligent post I have seen on TFP to date.

Sir, I salute you.

Mr Mephisto

02-03-2004, 04:44 PM	#2 (permalink)
absence_of_color Insane Location: in a golden garden of grey	I think "fast food" and "low carb" in the same sentence is just contradicting. Is it just me? A burger without the bun? A pizza without the crust? Next, they will try to have sodas with out the carbonation? __________________ ...absent of everything.

02-03-2004, 06:07 PM	#5 (permalink)
teriaki Tilted Location: San Francisco	I actually ate one of the low-carb $6 burgers at Carl's Jr (or Hardee's - depending on which coast you're on), it wasn't half bad, and I didn't get the typical "holy crap, I just ate 7 meals worth of food" coma that accompanies burgers in most cases. Make a habit of it? No. Try it? Sure, why not? It's better than Burger King's idea of putting the burger on a plate and serving it with a knife and fork...... __________________ Cute, but useless.

02-03-2004, 05:30 PM	#3 (permalink)
KazronVZ Banned	Yeah i just noticed this! Subway has a new Atkins-compatible line of sandwiches coming out.

02-03-2004, 06:19 PM	#6 (permalink)
sixate Registered User Location: Somewhere in Ohio	First of all, real dieters don't eat fast food. People who eat fast food aren't worried about their health. They may say they do, but actions speak louder than words. Losing weight is no secret. Eat right and exercise. End of story. Burn more calories than you take in and it's absolutely impossible to gain weight. Everyone has different body types, and we all have different metabolism, but I don't care how fast your metabolism is because if you take in 10,000 calories of shit every day, as most people do, you'll gain a ton of weight. All fad diets, atkins included, are a joke. It takes hard work to stay in shape, not stupid fad diets.

02-03-2004, 06:19 PM	#7 (permalink)
ratbastid Darth Papa Location: Yonder	I frequently eat the Hardees (around here, thanks, teriaki) low-carb burgers. And they're not $6, they're $4.50 for the 2/3 lb burger. Pretty fair price in my book. We low-carb eaters are a force to be reckoned with and more and more companies are recognizing the growing demographic. Many "family restaurants" now have low-carb selections on their menus. Subway made an effort, half-hearted though it is. One article I read recently said that 1 in 4 American adults is "watching their carbs". That my friends is Market Power. I'd eat Pizza-in-a-Bucket! Sounds like fun! One of my favorite snacks is Whole Milk Mozzarella and pepperoni slices. I'm only a tomato sauce away from that already!

02-04-2004, 09:26 AM	#8 (permalink)
kurty[B] Sauce Puppet	I don't particularly like the Atkins fad. I agree healthy lifestyle from eating right to exercising is the way to go. Of course if something becomes a large part of our society/culture companies are going to try and appeal to that group for monetary gain. People should make an honest decision about whether they feel something is healthy for them. Just overhearing Atkin's diet, than hearing every other fast food place advertising "Atkin's friendly" shouldn't cause anyone to rush out and buy up friendly wraps and believe their going to just drop weight.

02-04-2004, 11:39 AM	#9 (permalink)
laconic1 Junkie	All this Atkins nonsense just blows me away. How is taking away the bun from a burger or crust from a pizza going to make it healthy when all the fat and other crap that is really bad for you is still there? Of course companies are going to try to exploit Americans willingness to try anything to lose weight without actually having to do anything, but this is absurd.

02-04-2004, 02:06 PM	#10 (permalink)
skysooner Registered User Location: Oklahoma	I have seen Atkins work for some people where they were able to lose it and then shift into a more normal way of eating and still maintain the loss. It seems to have a pretty high incidence of "rebound weight gain". My wife and I are both big users of Weight Watcher's as it basically puts a framework on taking in calories and eating. We also exercise daily. She lost 20 lbs 2 years ago and has kept it off. I have lost 65 lbs with 10 lbs to go. It has been a ton of hard work. We both noticed the pronounced Atkins shift about 3 months ago. It seems a bit ridiculous.