GNC 2009 Annual Report Download - page 12

Table of Contents
Sports Nutrition Products
Sports nutrition products are designed to be taken in conjunction with an exercise and fitness regimen. Our target consumer for sports
nutrition products is the 18-49 year old male. We typically offer a broad selection of sports nutrition products, such as protein and weight gain
powders, sports drinks, sports bars, and high potency vitamin formulations, including GNC brands such as Pro Performance and popular third-
party products.
Diet Products
Diet products consist of various formulas designed to supplement the diet and exercise plans of weight conscious consumers. Our target
consumer for diet products is the 18-49 year old female. We typically offer a variety of diet products, including pills, meal replacements, shakes,
diet bars, and teas. Our retail stores offer our proprietary and third-party products suitable for different diet and weight management
approaches, including low-carbohydrate diets, and products designed to increase thermogenesis (a change in the body's metabolic rate
measured in terms of calories) and metabolism.
Other Wellness Products
Other wellness products is a comprehensive category that consists of sales of our Gold Card preferred membership and sales of other
nonsupplement products, including cosmetics, food items, health management products, books, and video tapes.
Product Development
We strongly believe that introduction of innovative, high quality, clinically proven, superior performing products are a key driver to the
business. According to the GNC 2007 Awareness Tracking Study Final Report commissioned by GNC from Parker Marketing Research,
consumers surveyed credited us as being the "leaders in health products" and rated the availability of a "wide variety of products" as our
biggest strengths. We identify shifting consumer trends through market research and through interactions with our customers and leading
industry vendors to assist in the development, manufacturing and marketing of our new products. Our dedicated Innovation team independently
drives the development of proprietary products by collaborating with vendors to provide raw materials, clinical and product development support
for proprietary GNC branded products. We also work with our vendors to ensure a steady flow of preferred products that are made available
exclusively to our channel for a period of time. During 2008, we targeted our product development efforts on specialty vitamins, women's
nutrition, sports nutrition and condition specific products.
Research and Development
We have an internal research and development group that performs scientific research on potential new products and enhancements to
existing products, in part to assist our product development team in creating new products, and in part to support claims that may be made as
to the purpose and function of the product. See Note 2 of the consolidated financial statements for additional information.
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