The funds injected will be used to upgrade the basic infrastructure, production facilities, as well as implement modern production techniques in the firm’s Guangzhou product base.
The company conducted a contract signing ceremony attended by local Guangzhou officials on March 21.
At the ceremony, Amway China vice president Gina Chen and the secretary general of Guangzhou Hi-Tech Industry Development Zone Administration Committee Dong Yan Jun also signed a partnership agreement on Amway R&D Centre and Big Health Sharing platform partnership (安利研发中心及大健康共享平台).
The platform will strengthen Amway China’s existing R&D capabilities, promote R&D cooperation among companies in China’s health industry, as well as leverage on the advantages of Guangzhou’s biomedical industry.
Amway China president Yu Fang said that the company's US headquarters viewed the strategic opportunities that come along with China's modernisation as highly important and has been investing in China.
“The investment this time round would help to promote high quality development in Amway’s manufacturing and supply chain, promote the integration of the enterprise domestically and internationally, as well as contribute to the modernisation of China’s industry,” Amway CEO Milind Pant said at the ceremony.
In addition, the company plans to build its own organic farms, explore the use of smart organic agriculture, as well as support agricultural technique innovation and contribute to the building of the rural areas.
There are also plans to cultivate new botanical species, conduct research on botanical raw materials and strengthen the standardisation of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as part of its new product development and research process.
Amway China reported a two-digit growth in revenue last year. The firm added that China’s health supplement market size would witness CAGR of 6.3 per cent in the next five years, while the global health supplement market’s CAGR would be seven per cent between year 2021 and 2026.
In recent years, the company has invested in a botanical R&D centre, global digital innovation centre, Asia technical innovation centre, as well as a probiotics production line in China.
Personalised nutrition
Amway China is preparing the groundwork for its future personalised nutrition business, which is also seen in the firm’s business in other markets, such as South Korea.
Through molecular biology, genomics, big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and the relevant technologies, the company hopes to come up with a personalised nutrition technology roadmap that fits in with China consumers’ lifestyle habits.
The goal is to drive the health and nutrition industry towards a professional, personalised, and service-oriented direction.
In South Korea, the company is part of the personalised nutrition sandbox project introduced in year 2020. Under the project, companies are allowed to operate stores providing and selling personalised supplements.
Last year, Amway Korea also launched a precision probiotics service that comes with microbiome testing and six new probiotics formulation.
Amway is also a keynote speaker in our Growth Asia Summit 2023 held between September 26 and 28, where the firm’s vice president, innovation and science Korea and Japan, Dr Yang Hee Cho, will present insights on the company’s personalised nutrition business and the regulatory challenges in South Korea.