Conversations around Amway have a way of veering towards its multi-level marketing model. And, you may ask why not?
Last January, Amway, the world’s largest direct-selling company, was sued once again by a former Amway Business Owner (the company’s term for a direct-seller) in California, for failing to pay the state’s mandated minimum wage.
In India, however, Amway is beginning to be a part of a different conversation — the one involving nutritional supplements.
Two thirds of its business in India comes from its supplements brand Nutrilite, and it has built a formidable image as an international brand in the ‘nutraceuticals’ or nutritional supplements.
Nutritional supplements business is growing rapidly in India. Though fragmented, it has got the biggest boost in growth among consumer-goods categories in this pandemic.
The pandemic has reformed the landscape of businesses in many ways, and for Amway and its competitors, there was something to notice on their turf as well.
Amway and others are experiencing a fluidity of market segments that will shape their business decisions in the future.
Before we get there, let’s first answer what exactly constitutes a nutritional supplement.
Acclaimed science journal, Nature, defines nutritional supplements as any “Dietary supplement that is intended to provide nutrients that may otherwise not be consumed in sufficient quantities; for example, vitamins, minerals, proteins, amino acids or other nutritional substances. Products are usually ingested in capsule, tablet or liquid form”.
Blurred lines
The lines between ‘western’ vitamin and mineral supplements and ‘traditional’ supplements from Ayurveda and other forms of home-grown medicine systems are blurring.
It has allowed Amway to latch on to an opportunity to expand Nutrilite, its largest-selling brand in India, to offer Ayurvedic products even in the presence of much larger competitors, with a storied history of ayurvedic medical products.
Now the question is: Will it help Amway India grow faster and more profitably than it has in the past?
Amway India has spent some time struggling with stagnation. The company last filed its financials for FY19.
Read More at https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/prime/consumer/amway-aims-to-be-more-than-just-western-can-it-get-ayurveda-loving-india-to-buy-its-supplements/primearticleshow/82314842.cms
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