Amway Media Blog

It’s a good morning in Ada, where we’ve just announced our annual results for 2008. As we enter our 50th anniversary year, we are proud to see some early and encouraging results of our corporate transformation. In this global climate, we’re certainly excited to share an increase of more than 15 percent in sales over last year. This year, two thirds of our markets grew, and more than half of our 58 worldwide affiliates posted increases of more than 10 percent. Truly, this year’s success was a global one.

We’re also proudly unveiling a new Amway Media Blog today. Throughout this year, there will be some visible changes as we unify the global direct selling business. This is one of them. We have now archived both the “old” Amway Media Blog and the Alticor Media Blog, but of course we’ll still answer any questions on topics we previously covered.

Going forward, we will be able to relay the news that matters most at Amway through one voice, here at this site. Here’s the news of the day:

Amway parent hits 50th year running, recording 15% sales growth
Alticor reaches $8.2 billion, powered by strong China, Europe, India performances

ADA, Mich., FEBRUARY 5, 2009—Amway’s parent company, Alticor Inc., announced record sales of more than US$8.2 billion for the year ended Dec. 31, 2008, a 15 percent increase over the $7.1 billion reported in 2007.

Two-thirds of the company’s 58 affiliates recorded sales increases in 2008, including strong growth in the China, Russia and India markets.

“Amway enters its 50th anniversary year in a strong position,” said chairman Steve Van Andel. “In 2008, more consumers than ever before responded positively to the appeal of the Amway business opportunity and our outstanding product brands.”

Said president Doug DeVos: “The hard work of our talented distributors, and the committed effort of our employees, helped Amway record a terrific year in a tough global economy. We are making changes to stay in tune with the marketplace, and the results are very encouraging.”

Van Andel and DeVos acknowledged that Amway bucked downward economic trends in 2008, but cautioned that current global economic forecasts would challenge all companies in 2009. “We’re looking to grow this year,” Van Andel said, “but there is some rough weather out there for the business community around the world.”

The co-CEOs said that 2008 was marked by a renewed focus on communicating with consumers. Many top markets increased their outreach through advertising, social media and other means, while maintaining a steady pipeline of appealing products to be sold through the company’s person-to-person approach. Said DeVos, “Amway is more visible and up to date in the eyes of many around the world, and this helps our distributors persuade consumers to choose Amway.”

Amway affiliates worldwide will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the company’s 1959 founding with a wide array of local events, as well as global gatherings in Grand Rapids and Las Vegas in May 2009.

Amway Corporation continues as industry leader

Amway, a pioneer and leader of the direct-selling industry, does business through its distributor network in more than 80 countries and territories.

Amway’s flagship product brands include Nutrilite™ nutrition and wellness products, which attained a new milestone in 2008 of $3 billion in annual sales, and Artistry™ skin care and cosmetics, which also increased sales and market share.

Nutrilite is the leading global brand of nutritional supplements, and was certified this year by Euromonitor as the worldwide leader in children’s nutrition supplements. Artistry, one of the top five global prestige brands of skin care and cosmetics, increased its global market share from thirteenth to ninth in 2008.

Parent company continues its transformation

Alticor fueled its strong year of growth through the efforts of more than 13,000 employees worldwide. An infusion of executive talent from noteworthy companies, together with a steady stream of internal promotions, strengthened the company’s reputation as an employer of choice.

Noteworthy additions included new chief marketing officer Candace Matthews, who joined the company from L’Oreal, and chief financial officer Russell Evans, a veteran of Boeing and General Electric.

An adjustment was made in the way the privately held company reports its sales results, as Alticor moved to underline its emphasis on the public use of the Amway name. In addition, market-specific sales figures have been subsumed into the overall corporate sales figure to preserve competitive advantage.

Questions? You know how and where to find us. We look forward to hearing from you.