Weight Watchers International Inc plans to launch a line of snack cakes and muffins in 7-Eleven convenience stores across the United States, part of an ongoing move to increase the size of its licensed food business.
In addition, the company is rolling out portion-control lines of cheese and soft-baked cookies in grocery stores, as it increases the range of its products for weight-conscious Americans.
Weight Watchers gets more than half of its net revenues, which were $1.2 billion in fiscal 2006, from its subscription-based weight loss programs. But since the New York-based company went public in 2001, it has been stepping up the pace of introducing food items sold in major U.S. supermarket chains, said Stacy Gordon, the company’s vice president of licensing and products.
Foods with the Weight Watchers name are expected to generate $500 million in retail sales this year, up 150 percent from fiscal 2005, Gordon said. Weight Watchers takes an undisclosed license fee from manufacturers.
“It’s a big growth business for us and we expect to see that grow,” Gordon said.
The company had revenues of $87.5 million in fiscal 2006 from world-wide licensing, franchise royalties and other fees, a 17 percent increase over fiscal 2005, according to its annual report.
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