Jenny Craig is being revived for e-commerce in the approaching months by the maker of a rival weight-loss meal provider that bought the defunct company’s brand assets out of bankruptcy.
Wellful Inc., a direct-to-consumer wellness business that also owns Nutrisystem, said it had acquired rights to Jenny Craig’s mental property for an undisclosed amount. Court documents dated June 2 show the IP priced at as much as $10 million.
“Those that have known the Jenny brand — the core features around the nice food, the coaching, the general program and the success they previously had — they’ll expect again,” Wellful CEO Brandon Adcock said in an interview.
Jenny Craig’s website has teased a reboot in recent weeks, saying it “might be coming to your house this fall.” Adcock said all former Jenny Craig customers have been notified by email and within the brand’s Facebook groups concerning the relaunch.
“Our goal is just treat them as best we will to win back their business,” he said.
After 4 many years in business, Jenny Craig, based in Carlsbad, California, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Delaware on May 5, court records show. The filing got here two days after NBC News reported that the corporate had alerted employees to an imminent shutdown, which triggered a class-action lawsuit accusing management of violating 60-day-notice requirements for mass layoffs.
Jenny Craig couldn’t be reached for comment on the time. H.I.G. Capital, the $55 billion private-equity firm that acquired the brand for an undisclosed sum in 2019, didn’t reply to requests for comment concerning the case or Wellful’s acquisition.
The enduring weight-loss provider’s next act might be digital- and e-commerce driven, Adcock said. Members will still give you the option to order meals to their doorsteps and can still get access to personalized coaching, a core feature that previously took place across a whole bunch of physical locations but will now be completely virtual. Wellful’s acquisition doesn’t include any Jenny Craig real estate, he said.
Wellful is a privately held company formed by the 2021 merger of Nutrisystem and Adaptive Health, which Adcock co-founded in 2009. The corporate is majority-owned by Kainos Capital, a Dallas-based private-equity firm specializing in food and consumer products, which closed a $1 billion fundraising round in February.
Traditional diet-and-exercise brands have faced stiffer competition from a rapidly expanding array of weight-loss drugs, akin to Ozempic, which might be soaring in popularity. Adcock said he stays confident that each Nutrisystem and a revamped Jenny Craig can compete.
“The knowledge we’ve got of talking to the patron on this category through our business with Nutrisystem, we’ll definitely give you the option to try this for Jenny Craig,” he said. But he acknowledged that “it’s obviously a really changing environment” and said he’s watching the role pharmaceuticals are playing within the industry.
Adcock said Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem, which also sells weight-loss-focused prepared meals but doesn’t provide coaching, can be run individually inside Wellful. He said prices at Jenny Craig would remain just like what they were before its bankruptcy but declined to share more details.
Since Jenny Craig went belly up, customers have voiced their sadness and frustration on social media. Some said they’d rushed to brick-and-mortar stores in the times after the shutdown news to select up their final meal orders before locations closed for good in early May. Several said they’d didn’t accomplish that and were still attempting to get their a reimbursement.
In still-running private Facebook groups where members once gathered to share weight-loss suggestions and support, nostalgic customers have been swapping recipes and cooking tips that could attempt to re-create their favorite Jenny Craig meals. A couple of have posted excitedly concerning the brand’s expected revival, while others vowed to never return.
Jenny Craig had employed around 1,000 people within the U.S. when it shut down, several corporate staffers, including a human resources official, said on the time. Adcock said Wellful is looking into hiring back some former employees as needed.
“We have already talked to a variety of coaches, and we’ll proceed to consult with more about coming into work on the brand,” he said.
Jack Raisner, the lawyer representing former Jenny Craig employees within the class-action lawsuit filed in May, said the case is on hold because the bankruptcy court deals with the corporate’s remaining assets and liabilities. Wellful is not affected by the class-action suit.
Raisner’s clients are in search of payment of wages they are saying they’re owed under state and federal WARN Act rules, which generally require corporations with not less than 100 full-time employees to notify regulators and employees 60 days before mass layoffs or site closures. The criticism alleges that a whole bunch of former Jenny Craig staffers may very well be owed some restitution.
