IN a little more than 12 months, weight loss franchise Kate Morgan WA has taken a leadership role in Western Australia’s competitive weight loss market, signing up more than 50 pharmacy outlets.
IN a little more than 12 months, weight loss franchise Kate Morgan WA has taken a leadership role in Western Australia's competitive weight loss market, signing up more than 50 pharmacy outlets.
Statistics show that over half of Australia's adult population is either overweight or obese, with 45 per cent of women and 62 per cent of men falling into this category.
The Kate Morgan way to trim down is based on a "meal replacement" program, with breakfast and lunch replaced with formulated meals and the evening meal controlled to ensure the correct volume and mix of food is consumed.
Kate Morgan WA is jointly owned (50-50) by Kate Morgan Pty Ltd and WA pharmacist Jeff Leach.
It was launched in March 2007 to meet the strong and growing weight loss market.
Mr Leach, who had been looking for a weight loss program to bring to WA, chose Kate Morgan because meal replacement was the fastest growing of all segments of the market and was the most appropriate for pharmacies.
The Kate Morgan program works by reducing the total intake of calories (to about 1,200 a day), specifically reducing the volume of fat and carbohydrates while, at the same time, bolstering vitamins and minerals to compensate for the loss of these in the reduced volume of food.
The formulas also act to reduce hunger.
The program does not require appointments, has no contracts or sign-on fees and the cost of the meal replacements is less than the price a person would otherwise pay for a meal.
Mr Leach maintains that if the program is adhered to, people will safely and steadily lose weight.
Many of WA's large pharmacy groups were approached to participate and they showed considerable support, recommending to each of their stores that they adopt the program.
Since its start-up, the program has achieved sales running into the millions of dollars.
Each pharmacy signing up pays a franchise fee of $10,000, used predominantly for TV advertising.
This, in turn, drives up the number of new members and the volume of meal replacements, on which most of the profits are made.
Mr Leach said it was the company's goal to double store numbers and profits by December 2008, and to have a Kate Morgan Weight Loss Centre in every metropolitan suburb and regional centre in WA by 2015.
It takes between four and eight weeks to get a store ready for the program, depending on whether a refit is necessary.
