World recognition of the importance of phytonutrients is spreading. This week the Chinese Nutrition Society (CNS) announced that it is revising its “daily reference intakes,” or DRI, to include phytonutrients.

That means the society will now recommend people get a daily dose of phytonutrients along with their vitamins and minerals to maintain optimal health.

We are proud to say that the Nutrilite Health Institute worked closely with the CNS in gathering research and scientific data to establish the DRIs.

The announcement comes as the 11th China Nutrition Science Conference and the 2013 China & Korea Joint International Phytonutrient Symposium wrap up this week where our own Dr. Keith Randolph presented.

Dr. Randolph is the nutrition technology strategist at the NHI. He called the decision by the CNS “a significant development in the effort to improve the overall health of a large portion of the world’s population.”

Read more about the announcement at the Amway Global Newsroom and see more photos from the symposium at our Nutrilite Facebook Page.

With more than 900 research and development professionals employed by Amway, discovery is job #1.

In fact, more than 1,000 patents have been secured during the company’s history and over 800 more are pending. Many of these discoveries are driven by customer demands, feedback from distributors or advances in the market.

But some of the best discoveries happen simply by accident.

Take, for example, the company’s invention of non-chlorinated automatic dishwasher detergent. In the 1980s, there was not a non-chlorinated product on the market and Amway wasn’t trying to develop one. But, while testing a potential product for soil removal, our R&D professionals noticed that the product eliminated spots. Upon further testing, it also seemed to clean plates, plastic and other flatware better than anything else.

Quickly, a new product was born.

“It was all just serendipity,” Amway Scientist Ernie Brumbaugh said. “The result of observation and the understanding that something unique was happening in front of our eyes.”

What came to be known as Crystal Bright Automatic Dishwashing Detergent is just one of many discoveries made by Brumbaugh, who’s been with Amway for nearly 43 years.  It’s also one of the reasons the company recently honored him with induction into the Amway’s new R&D Distinguished Scientific Leadership Society – the highest honor bestowed by the R&D division.

When cofounders Jay Van Andel and Rich DeVos started Amway in 1959, they did not stop with their initial product offering or American footprint. They kept growing by asking themselves, “What if…?”

That same question is still asked each day by our Business Innovations team. Glenn Armstrong, head of the team, talks about it in this video, the first of several we will be posting.

“If you continue to ask yourself, ‘What if?’ it gets you thinking about the possibilities,” Armstrong said. ”What if we had this many distributors? What if Amway supplied these types of products?

“If you ask yourself, ‘What if?’ you find yourself getting used to being outside your comfort zone.”

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Today we spend 5 minutes with one of our “nutritional sleuths,” Samantha Izzy. Samantha is a nutrition investigator in Buena Park. She joined Nutrilite in 2008 and describes her job as a liaison between science and the rest of the world.

How did you get started in this type of work?

I started in school at Purdue University as a pharmacy student. But I realized I wanted to be involved in prevention, so I switched into the dietetics program. When I saw a job opening at Nutrilite in Southern California, I applied, got the job, and moved from Indiana to Orange County. It was a great move!

What do you work on each day?

Every day I touch a little bit of everything. In product development we do a lot of research: exploring new ingredients we can put into products, understanding the benefits of those ingredients and how they will function in the human body. We do a lot of reputational work as well, publications and presentations to different audiences, including distributors.

You just returned from a trip to India. What did you do there?

It was huge, and very exciting. They’re launching their women’s health product line, so I traveled to five different cities, five days in a row to support the launch. I gave presentations to distributors on what a woman needs to maintain good health through the different stages in life and where supplements fit in. We highlighted NUTRILITE Complex for Hair, Skin and Nails; Tri Iron Folic; Cal Mag D Plus; and Black Cohosh and Soy. The audiences were the largest I’ve ever presented to; the people were really excited.

Did you feel like a rock star?

I did, people were asking for autographs. I kept joking that I felt like Madonna when I was on stage. But it’s so cool to see people this excited about health and well-being. They’re so passionate about it. That’s what we live for working in this industry.

What does Optimal Health mean to you?

It’s the million dollar concept: Striving to live a healthy life helps enhance the quality of life. I get all the healthy food I need, and I take my basic supplements each day. I take a multivitamin and omega-3. I take Complex for Hair, Skin and Nails, and I take Cal Mag D. I notice that when I take my supplements each day and maintain an active lifestyle, something as simple as walking in the evening, I feel better and happier. And I have the faith that I’m extending my life.

The journey to blotchy, spotted skin is filled with twists and turns – and often  takes years to appear. It’s the result of over-exposure to the sun’s damaging UV rays, hormonal shifts and basic biological aging. 

Uneven skin tone is emerging as one of the top three global skincare concerns among women, and the obsession to correct it is sweeping the world. From Asia to America, sun spots, freckles and acne scars are a major focus of scientists as part of the quest to achieve, flawless radiant skin.

Fortunately, with the help of ARTISTRY Research & Development scientists around the world, a new definition of radiance has emerged.

ARTISTRY Ideal Radiance is a breakthrough 3D Brightening Skincare System featuring a curated blend of soothing and brightening botanicals and cutting-edge technologies. It helps diminish the look of dark spots and discolorations for improved translucency, luminosity and evenness of skin tone. And that adds up to unmistakable radiance.

Ideal Radiance begins its global rollout March 2013 around the world.

While many of the ingredients for our supplements are grown on our own organic farms, some are not so easily attainable. For our new Cal Mag D Plus supplement, we traveled all the way to the glacial fjords off the coast of Iceland to harvest the naturally calcified seaweed found in our product.

The seaweed starts out as a purple plant called coralline red algae. As it grows in the Icelandic fjords, it forms reefs and naturally calcifies. The motion of the sea breaks off bits of the calcified portions. They are carried by ocean currents and deposited in Maerl beds deep under the sea where our crew harvests them. This calcified seaweed is one of nature’s most concentrated botanical sources of calcium and magnesium.

Even in the waters off Iceland we certify our supplier to meet Nutrilite’s high NutriCert standards, which ensure that sustainable environmental and agricultural practices are followed in the production of ingredients used in our supplements. The harvesting crews use advanced GPS technology to gather the seaweed while protecting other delicate sea life.

Check out the photo album at our Nutrilite Facebook page that track’s Nutrilite scientist Kevin Gellenbeck’s trip to Bildudalur, Iceland to certify the harvesting operation.

When you hold an ARTISTRY product in your hands, personalized skincare is literally at your fingertips.

Exclusive to the ARTISTRY brand, F.A.C.E.S. (Facial Analysis Computer Evaluation System) is an innovative, high-tech way to analyze your skin and select the best ARTISTRY skin care products based on that analysis.

We have more than 25 F.A.C.E.S. units placed around the world using clinical-grade image technology to analyze an individual’s skin and send that data back to our researchers. This allows our Research and Development team to see how actual customers care for their skin and understand what they’re looking for in a product.

It also serves as a tool to help lead product development to ensure we’re at the forefront of skincare innovation.

ARTISTRY Senior Research Scientist Jesse Leverett explained the technology recently at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City.

Are you putting your best face forward?

We announced record sales this week of $11.3 billion for 2012. That very big number is representative of the many wonderful people and products behind a successful year:

• 21,000 employees.
• More than 900 scientists and technicians.
• 65 research & development labs.
• More than 1,000 patents granted, 800 pending.
• 2.7 million volunteer hours.
• 10 million children helped through the Amway One by One Campaign for Children.
• $3.5 billion in bonuses and incentives.

Watch the video to learn more. We look forward to another successful year!

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Today Amway’s parent company, Alticor, announced record sales of USD$11.3 billion for 2012. 

That’s a huge accomplishment, driven by the strength of our NUTRILITE™ brand, which accounts for 46 percent of product sales. The introduction of eSpring™ in China in 2012, the company’s biggest product launch ever, and the restaging of the ARTISTRY™ beauty brand, created excitement and generated strong sales. First-year sales of eSpring in China are expected to top USD$500 million.

Those are impressive numbers.  But we calculate success another way:  The strength of  the millions of Amway distributors operating their own businesses in more than 100 countries and territories, supported by more than 21,000 employees worldwide.  They are drawn to our business to earn extra income and create more flexibility and work/life balance. When they achieve, we achieve. 

That’s why in 2013 we’ll fuel their success through USD$335 million in investments in manufacturing and research and development expansions in the U.S., China, India and Vietnam.  We’ll continue to create innovative products in nutrition and beauty.  And we’ll find new ways to support our distributors doing business wherever they are.

Congratulations to our distributors and employees on another record year.  Thanks to you, we have a “strength in numbers” that creates success.

Our wireless power research and development operation was one of the stars of the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show.

“It was a year of influencing wireless power,” said Dave Baarman, Fulton’s director of advanced technologies. “We were selected by CNET as one of the three finalists for Best of CES 2013. That was quite an honor given the competition.”

Also on center stage was Qi, the wireless power standard Fulton Innovation helped develop with the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC).

“It was an explosion of hundreds of products using Qi this year,” Baarman said. “The WPC booth was packed and loaded with all types of adapters, battery packs, hardware, devices and solutions, including the Toyota Avalon wireless charging solution in leather to launch later this year.”

Congratulations to Fulton Innovation!