Our distributors and employees throughout the world take great pleasure in the experience of giving, especially when it benefits children.

That’s why Amway Thailand has written a new chapter in its longstanding support of children’s literacy.

Thanks to the launch of The Flying Book, generous donors can use handheld devices to track the books they give as they ”fly” to remote destinations across Thailand – into the hands of underprivileged children.

The app for Flying Book (or Nok Nung-sue) also encourages people to vote for their favorite books. Based on these votes, the Top 100 books will be sent to libraries across the nation.

Read more about The Flying Book at Amway One by One.

Amway China has been recognized with the “most responsible enterprise” award for the fifth consecutive year.

The award recognized the company’s recently formed Amway Charity Foundation that plans to help as many as 1.5 million children during its first three years.

Frances Yu, vice president for Public Affairs, accepted the award during the 7^th Global Corporate Social Responsibility Forum and Award Ceremony organized by China News Service and China Newsweek.

For Amway, 2011 was a year for the record books.

We recorded our best month ever, with sales of USD$1 billion in June.

Our durables category achieved over USD$1 billion in sales for the first time.

And now, Alticor Inc., the parent company of Amway, has announced sales of USD$10.9 billion for 2011. 

That’s a 17 percent increase over 2010 sales of USD$9.2 billion.  And it’s the first time company sales have exceeded USD$10 billion.

There’s no doubt that we’re proud of these achievements.  But what really matters to us is that millions of people worldwide are living better lives because of our proven business model, which helps them achieve their goals.   

It was quite a year, thanks to more than 3 million Amway distributors supported by our thousands of Amway employees around the world.

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Promoting healthy eating comes naturally to Enchong Dee, our NUTRILITE brand ambassador for Amway Philippines.

Before this talented actor became a fan favorite in ABS-CBN’s popular Maria La Del Barrio and ASAP Rocks, he was a champion athlete for the Philippine national swimming team. He even had a successful swimming career at De La Salle University in Manila.

Now, Enchong makes a splash encouraging others to find the secret to Living in Full Color — by filling up on a daily diet rich in plant phytonutrients. He believes balanced eating, exercise and adequate supplementation are key for optimal health.

Learn more from Enchong at Colorurlife.com,ph, a microsite stocked with oranges, onions, grapes, broccoli and red peppers. And take a quick test to make sure you’re experiencing the health benefits of living a colorful life.

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Scientists at the Nutrilite Health Institute come to work each day focused on improving our products. They use their expertise to research ingredients, test them with bio-assays, conduct clinical trials and verify they meet stringent requirements in our Quality Assurance department.

But that’s not all they do. You’ll also find them leveraging their expertise to contribute to the larger nutrition science research community.

Marc Lemay, Ph.D., is a senior scientist with Amway and expert on vitamin D. He helped formulate our Nutrilite Vitamin D3 plus K2, and he’s weighed in on our blogs in the past about the importance of vitamin D supplementation.

Marc currently is serving as the guest editor of a special “Vitamin D” issue of Nutrients, an open access journal of food science and nutrition. Read Marc’s intro to the special issue to get his latest thoughts on this important micronutient.

Plant manager James Bowman leads reporters through the nutrition products plant

Journalists love to go behind the scenes. The “hard hat” tour is always popular because media can share news on what’s happening before buildings are completed, ribbons are cut and products are produced.  

That’s why we opened the doors today to our $24 million Nutrition Product Plant at our mile-long manufacturing complex in Ada, Michigan. Media toured the state-of-the-art production facility, interviewed our operations leaders and sampled the Nutrilite products that will be made there.  

This is the first time Amway has produced Nutrilite products in Michigan.  The plant will produce our best-selling  NUTRILITE protein powder, sold by distributors all over the world. Other products to be made at the facility  include POSITRIM meal replacement powder, ACTIVE 8 powder drink mix and INVISIFIBER fiber packs.  

Another first is an innovative work system designed by and for employees at the new plant, including a new work schedule and long-term career path.  Nutrilite employees in California worked closely with the Michigan team to transfer knowledge and processes.  

For this tour, instead of hard hats, media donned safety goggles, lab coats and hair nets to tour the three-story facility.  

We’re taking our No. 1 brand to even higher heights. Learn more on Mlive Media, WZZM and our global newsroom.

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If you read The Wall Street Journal on February 15, you’ll learn that the “future of business” is a 68-year-old grandmother and Amway distributor that the Journal calls “one of the most prolific salespeople on Earth.”

The Journal profiles Holly Chen, one of the most successful Amway distributors ever, and how she leads and inspires a global network of distributors that stretches from her home in Taiwan throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Her advice to those pursuing an Amway business?

As she is quoted in The Wall Street Journal,   

“…when you’re in the Amway business, of course you change your mindset, you change your attitude, and your outcome will definitely change with it.”

And perhaps Holly has the potential to change minds, as well as mindsets.  As the Journal reports, “Of all things, of all places, perhaps the future of business looks like an Amway convention.”

From Bangkok to Hanoi, we have several reasons to celebrate this month.

Recently, we posted about Amway Thailand’s 25^th anniversary celebration. Today, we’d like to share news about a special event that’s particularly signficant for our distributors and customers in Vietnam. 

Amway just opened a new office and training center in the Cau Giay district of Hanoi.  Distributors in northern Vietnam now have a common place to learn about our company, bring their prospective customers to the Amway shop that opened last year, and share news about our brands, products and business opportunity.

Amway President Doug DeVos proudly joined Amway Vietnam’s executives, distributors and employees in the ribbon-cutting ceremony. As the newest Amway market, Amway Vietnam has achieved great milestones in just four years. We are proud of their strong sales, growing distributor network and attractive facilities that showcase the power of our brand.

That’s indeed another reason to celebrate.

We believe it’s important for people to have a safe, clean place to live.

Since the Amway One by One Campaign for Children partnered with Habitat for Humanity last year, distributors and employees across the Americas have worked hard to make that happen.

Here are three examples where our distributors and employees are building hope for others.

In Guatemala, Amway employees and distributors from the United States, Mexico, Barbados, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Colombia and El Salvador built a dozen homes. They also raised half a million dollars, matching a $250,000 gift of Tim Foley, longtime Amway distributor and Amway Founders Council member. These  funds will finance construction of more than 40 homes throughout Latin America over the next five years.

In São Paulo, Brazil, Amway distributors and employees raised nearly $5,000, and used it to renovate two homes. Their next  project? Already they are evaluating how to apply their time and talents to help people affected by the devastating floods in Rio de Janeiro.

Finally, after raising $16,000,  more than 25 Amway Colombia distributors, employees and their families constructed two homes in only two days.

Visit our Amway One by One blog to learn how we’re making a difference in 2012. Make your own difference, too, at Habitat for Humanity.

Amway President Doug DeVos was on the road this weekend, visiting Thailand for our affiliate’s 25th anniversary celebration.

During Amway Thailand’s National Convention in Muang Thong Thani near Bangkok, more than 40,000 distributors gathered to celebrate their success in their Amway businesses as well as the affiliate’s milestone.

Doug was there to not only commemorate the achievements of the employees and distributors at Amway Thailand, but also to pay tribute to Preecha Prakobkit, who is retiring as Amway Thailand’s managing director this year. 

Preecha led Amway Thailand to become one of Amway’s top markets during his 23 years with the company. Always innovating, he explored new ways to connect with distributors and customers, in recent years using social media personally and professionally.

A major milestone, an incredible career and the success of many - definitely reasons to celebrate!