ATKINS NUTRITIONALS Diet company isn't thin on success after death of its founder

Dr. Atkins' company lives on, with an emphasis on selling food products.
NEWSDAY
When he was alive, there was no separating Dr. Robert C. Atkins from his diet.
In three decades of authoring best-selling books, gabbing on talk shows and granting countless magazine interviews, he became synonymous with the controversial low-carbohydrate regimen that tapped into America's obsession with losing weight.
So closely identified was the doctor with his high-fat, cheeseburger-loving menu that Atkins' company issued a statement denying that the approach played a role in the cardiac arrest he suffered in 2002.
Consequently, after Atkins died in April at age 72 after a fall near his midtown Manhattan medical practice, the fate of the so-called Atkins revolution was up in the air.
But now, six months later, under the guidance of two low-profile magazine industry executives tapped by Atkins to run his company three years ago, the Atkins approach lives on, with a twist envisioned by the doctor himself.
Hoping to capitalize on the country's expanding fixation with "doing Atkins" and foregoing starches and sugars, Paul Wolff and Scott Kabak are serving up a reduced-carb smorgasbord of previously verboten foods.
With an eye on satisfying a growing appetite for the diet and making it more appealing -- how many people can happily give up pasta forever? -- Atkins Nutritionals Inc. is selling its own brands of ice cream, brownies, blueberry muffins, spaghetti, pizza, bread, milk and chips.
Company's sales
Sales at Atkins Nutritionals are expected to more than double this year compared with last, Kabak, the firm's president, said in a recent interview. He wouldn't disclose the private company's revenues, but an industry source confirmed they were well above $100 million in 2002.
Revenues from the foods, supplements and informational products it peddles will likely skyrocket 100 percent again in 2004, Kabak said.
All this flourished from what was little more than a germ of an idea when Wolff and Kabak came on board in mid-2000. Their goal: nothing less than transform Atkins the man into a multibillion-dollar dietary phenomenon.
During his four decades as a physician, according to a corporate biography, Atkins treated 65,000 people with various ailments. But his hallmark was combining mainstream medicine with alternative therapies, including herbal medicine, acupuncture and low-carb eating plans.
Atkins began down the path toward becoming a household name in 1963 when he was looking for a diet for himself and learned of the controlled carbohydrate approach.
Yet despite his success, Atkins remained, at heart, a cardiologist, more interested in tending to his patients' ailments than minding the store, which is why he brought in professional managers in 2000.
Expanded business
When Wolff and Kabak arrived, the Atkins company only sold shakes and bars and had just a handful of employees. Atkins gave the pair wide latitude and told them to produce "good-tasting, low-carb products for people doing Atkins," Kabak recalls.
Taking up Atkins' mandate, Wolff and Kabak increased the company's work force to 216 people in New York and Long Island and expanded its product line, which now includes more than 100 low-carb foods and 15 nutritional supplements.
Wolff says he believes its growth in the next three years will be as dramatic as the past three.
Atkins the company is trying to make it easier for eaters who want to shed a spare tire around the tummy to stick to the plan. Plenty of competing food marketers have jumped on the trend, flaunting beer, bread, crackers and candy with lower carbohydrate levels.
Not to be upstaged, Atkins has its own expanding line of foodstuffs planned, including edibles that Atkins dieters probably figured they might never munch again.
Free-standing bakery racks are moving into supermarket aisles, filled with Atkins bagels and breads. Muffins and rolls debut in 2004. The company sells pancake mix, syrup, cereal, chips and super premium ice cream under various brands, including Quick Quisine, Morning Start, Advantage and Endulge.
Frozen pizza, spaghetti and other entrees will be introduced next year.