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A Slim Fast hoodia drink may be on your local grocer’s shelf by the end of 2008. The Cambridge Network released a story last week that Phytopharm could be two years away from finally being profitable.
For a company that has been in business for almost 15 years, this is a big deal. One of the reasons for the predicted profit is due to a hoodia slimming drink that the new CEO, Dr. Daryl Rees, says will hit the US market on a small scale by the end of 2008. Phytopharm hopes to expand the hoodia slimming drink globally in 2009.
Although the Cambridge Network report doesn’t say the hoodia slimming drink will fall under the Slim Fast brand, I would be very surprised if it wasn’t. Phytopharm has been partnered with Unilever, the makers of the Slim Fast line of products, since December of 2004. Together, they have been researching the hoodia gordonii plant and have been trying to find ways to extract its active ingredient, P57, to be used in their products on a commercial basis.
When Phytopharm partnered with Unilever back in 2004, it was always expected that eventually a new hoodia slimming drink would hit the market - and it was assumed it would fall under the Slim Fast brand name. When the partnership was formed, they had hoped to have a product on the shelves by 2007. It will be interesting to see if they actually roll out a product by the end of 2008. Whenever they do, you can bet it will shake up (no pun intended) the weight loss industry!
For those of you new to hoodia gordonii, it’s a cactus-like plant that is native to the Kalahari Desert of South Africa and has been shown to be an effective appetite suppressant. It has been used for centuries by the tribesman of South Africa to stave off hunger during long hunting trips.
The hoodia gordonii plant was studied by The South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in the 1990’s. They isolated the active ingredient responsible for its appetite suppressing abilities. That ingredient has become known as P57. Phytopharm was granted an exclusive license to the molecule in 1997. Phytopharm has been researching and developing ways to extract the active ingredient to be used in weight loss products ever since.
Source: CambridgeNetwork.co.uk |
