Coming off a global sales dip in 2022, Amway Corp. executives say the company in 2023 will focus on leveraging its successful markets in Asia while continuing progress on its sustainability targets.
The Ada-based direct-selling giant recently detailed the state of its corporate responsibility initiatives as well as its vision for the coming year in its 2022 Global Impact Report.
The company outlook comes shortly after Amway reported a decline in overall sales in 2022, going from $8.9 billion in 2021 to $8.1 billion in 2022. According to leadership, the strength of the U.S. dollar, the sale of non-direct selling entity Metagenics Inc. and the ceasing of operations in Russia last March contributed to the decline.
Despite the overall dip, sales for Amway’s direct-selling business were up 1 percent and indicated a third consecutive year of growth. Amway has cited success from strong 2022 sales specifically in Mainland China, the largest market for the company.
“Amway China has experienced a lot of success by focusing on building — and supporting — health and wellness communities,” said Cindy Droog, vice president of global reputation and integrated communications at Amway. “These communities are centered around programs like morning nutrition clubs and fitness groups.”
Looking ahead to the rest of 2023 and beyond, the company aims to keep leveraging its success in China into other markets.
“We are adopting the concept of mining, bottling and scaling — identifying what is working well (mining), understanding how and why to strengthen and refine (bottling), and sharing with other markets (scaling),” Droog told the Business Journal.
Asha Gupta, Amway’s regional president, Asia and chief strategy and corporate development officer, in the Impact Report highlighted the company’s strategic focus on translating its success in China to other markets.
“Amway will deliver consistent and reliable experiences by focusing on excellence in operations, product availability and technology enablement,” Gupta said in the report, adding that the company will seek to offer a seamless brand experience and enable thoughtful product development and productivity improvements.
The 2022 Global Impact Report also featured Amway’s progress on environmental, social and governance, or ESG, practices, particularly around environmental sustainability.
Droog said Amway took a “fresh look” at is global sustainability efforts last year, setting new targets to focus on three main areas: plants, products and operations.
“Sustainability is a journey, and we’re determined to find ways to keep deepening our impact by reducing our footprint,” Droog said.
According to the report, Amway is doubling down on its commitment to restorative farming practices on its nearly 6,000 acres of organic certified farmland. In 2022, the farms implemented weeding technology to avoid soil disturbance and activated a new compost program to help reduce waste.
To help produce more sustainable products, the report pointed to Amway’s ongoing goal of packaging waste reduction. The company’s Artistry Skin Nutrition line has eliminated 21 percent of plastic globally and reduced annual plastic use by close to 290,000 pounds without compromising on product quantities, according to the report.
Amway also reported that it’s making progress in reducing carbon emissions at its facilities across the globe. Amway’s manufacturing location in Tamil Nadu, India, remains one of the country’s most environmentally friendly and sustainable facilities, according to the report.
“When it comes to the environment, simply put, our commitment is to do more,” Droog said. “We recognize that we have a responsibility to protect the earth’s resources.”
Amway’s support for Ukraine amid the conflict with Russia also emerged in the Impact Report.
In what Droog said was “truly a global effort,” Amway offered support for Ukraine through donations and relief efforts as well as home, body and nutritional care for families. The company worked to relocate Amway Ukraine employees and boost supply chain efforts in cities like Venlo, Netherlands, and Warsaw, Poland.
The company had suspended its Russian product imports in March 2022 before announcing in June it would cease all operations in Russia, marking the first departure from a market in company history.
Though the Russia exit in 2022 negatively affected the company’s bottom line, CEO Milind Pant said Amway will move forward with continued investment in its global communities and its manufacturing operations here in West Michigan.
“Amway remains committed to using the best of our business and the passion of our people to impact communities in every market where we do business,” Pant said in a statement. (Source: grbj.com)
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