Low-carb, high sales: Evansville-based Carbolite rides the Atkins Diet revolution. Sales of $75 million this year?

• Author: Kaelble, Steve
• Position: Opener - Low-carb, sugar-free soft-serve ice cream

Like Dr. Robert Atkins, the people at Evansville-based Carbolite Foods were probably a bit ahead of their time.

The controversial diet guru, who died earlier this year, began promoting his high-fat, low-carbohydrate plan in the early 1970s. He endured three decades of criticism before a number of studies indicated that there may, indeed, be something to his approach.

Carbolite Foods, meanwhile, was in front of the curve when it introduced low-carb soft-serve ice cream back in the 1990s. The Atkins Diet may not have been as big as it is today, but there were enough followers to gobble up what co-owner Jeff Greder says was "the only low-carb, sugar-free soft-serve ice cream on the market at that time." It wasn't long before Carbolite had 500 yogurt and ice cream shops selling its first product, targeting Atkins dieters but also finding customers among those not on the diet.

Still, says vice president of sales and marketing Roeland Polet, the Carbolite story was just in its infancy, with sales under $1 million. As Y2K approached, the ice cream shops began asking Carbolite for other low-carb products. The company, which had already branched into soy shakes and zero-carb baking mixes, set its sights on creating a low-carb chocolate bar that would actually taste good. It succeeded, and sales exploded.

The 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores began carrying Carbolite's candy bars in late 1999. "It sold as well as the Snicker's bar," Polet says. Walgreen's took note of the success and began selling Carbolite bars, then...