![]() | |
Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Nasdaq: NTRI | |
Founded | 1972 |
Founder | Harold Katz |
Headquarters |
Fort Washington, Pennsylvania , US |
Area served | US and Canada |
Key people | Stephen Mikulak, President |
Products | Weight loss, weight management, nutrition |
Services | Telephone, Internet and mobile counseling for weight control |
Parent | Kainos Capital |
Website |
nutrisystem |
Nutrisystem is a commercial provider of weight loss products and services headquartered in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.
Nutrisystem's initial product in 1972 was a liquid protein diet, but the company changed its offering after Slim-Fast came to prominence in that market. [1]
The company originally offered weight loss counseling and products in brick and mortar centers, but in 1999, Nutrisystem moved to a direct-to-consumer business model, selling its products and programs on the Internet and by telephone. [2]
The company launched its mobile platform in 2010. WebDiet, Inc., a Silicon Valley startup, accused Nutrisystem of stealing their technology, but the case was dismissed in May, 2014. [3] [4] [5]
In 2015, the firm acquired the South Beach Diet brand. [6]
In December 2018, Tivity Health announced that it would acquire the Nutrisystem brand. [7]
On October 19, 2020, Kainos Capital acquired the brand from Tivity Health. [8]
In 2021, Stephen Mikulak was named President of Nutrisystem. [9]
The company is known for its celebrity marketing, which has included Marie Osmond in national advertising. [10] One of its primary competitors is Weight Watchers with the rivalry deemed "diet wars" by the media. [11]
A systematic review in 2015 concluded that Nutrisystem "shows promise" because, in the short term, studies have shown that Nutrisystem was more effective at weight-loss than a control group, but found no studies of long-term efficacy. [12]
As of 2019 [update], four weeks of a basic Nutrisystem plan costs the average American customer $274.99. [13] In light of this expense, the Mayo Clinic lists one of the disadvantages of the diet to be its potentially "prohibitive" cost. [14] Obesity specialist Fatima Cody Stanford writes that a potential disadvantage of the diet is that it complicates social eating because a person following the Nutrisystem plan has to follow a distinct dietary program. [13]
Nutrisystem demonstrates better short-term weight loss than control/education and behavioral counseling; however, we identified no long-term trial results. We conclude that Nutrisystem shows promise, but the lack of long-term RCTs prohibits definitive conclusions.