Behind the Big Story
Amway expands Nutrilite range with longevity, health span, gut microbiome solutions - WATCH
Celebrating its 90th year anniversary in 2024, Nutrilite is known for its expertise in phytonutrients.
In the recent two to three years, Amway has dived deeper into longevity, health span, and gut microbiome solutions that Nutrilite could offer.
Last year, the company doubled down on cellular health with the debut of Nutrilite iCell (纽崔莱基源欣活饮品) in China.
The powdered beverage is designed to rejuvenate cell vitality at three ageing layers. They include repairing / preventing DNA damage, regulating mitochondrial function, and improving chronic inflammation.
Key ingredients used include quercetin, ellagic acid, gallic acid, rutin, cyanidin 3-O-galactoside. It is also made with plant extracts such as Phyllanthus emblica, sophora japonica, aronia, pomegranate, and dendrobium officinale flower.
Amway is looking to introduce the product into the other parts of Asia in the upcoming year.
Speaking with NutraIngredients-Asia, Asha Gupta, regional president, Asia and chief strategy and corporate development officer at Amway, tells us more about how the Nutrilite brand has evolved over the years and its current focus.
A key area of focus is to tap on the benefits of phytonutrients for gut health, longevity, and health span.
“The philosophy of Nutrilite has been very constant, it is about seed-to-supplement, phytonutrients, and about giving people the ability to bridge their nutritional gaps.
"The areas where Nutrilite is right now moving towards, is more around using phytonutrients to support gut health. This is the new area of evolution and this is an important area to conquer.
"Nutrilite will also be looking at not just longevity, but health span, and the wider wellness proposition,” Gupta said.
Amway, she pointed out, was in a unique position in improving health span.
This is because aside from products, behavioural shifts are also crucial in achieving health goals – and this is more attainable by embedding oneself within a community of like-minded individuals, which Amway could offer through its network of business owners.
“We are not looking at health span purely from the standpoint of a single product. We are looking at health span as a sequence of things that a human being does, which includes behavioural shifts that will improve health span.
“This is because there is no silver bullet [to good health]. It is about the accumulation of the right behaviours that we do overtime,” she explained.
Priming the gut for nutrient absorption
Amway is introducing a “GI primer” product that could fit into the daily breakfast routine.
The rationale is to “prime” the gut first thing in the morning so as to facilitate better nutrient absorption throughout the day.
“There’s another product that we are launching very soon. It is called 'begin' and is a unique product because it’s a ‘gut primer’. You take one scoop of the powder, drink it with water, prime your gut, and your gut is now ready to receive all the good things that you’ve put in it,” she said.
The powdered drink is made with six key types of ingredients.
They are 1) fermented vegetables, 2) concentrated fruits and vegetables, 3) digestive enzymes, 4) prebiotic fibres, 5) spices to achieve a more alkaline environment to support gut function and normal levels of stomach acid, and 6) postbiotics.
New ways of engaging the consumers
Gupta believes that Nutrilite's 'begin' is set to become another key growth driver.
This is on the back of success seen across the Asia-Pacific markets such as Hong Kong and Taiwan, where morning nutrition has gained traction among Amway's consumers.
“Some of these markets are now focusing on morning nutrition.
“Most people don’t know that their bodies deplete protein and water every night as they go to sleep. As such, amongst the first thing to do in the morning is to prime your gut, replenish protein, and of course drink water.
“It’s a very simple morning routine and in many of our markets, this is now taking off. Morning nutrition is an important daily lifelong habit for a person to do. It’s a simple thing, but by using the products that we have innovated, it gives us a new way of engaging with the consumers, which I would say, has created a new growth platform,” she said.
Last year, we also reported that through its Singapore Business Innovation Hub, Amway is working with regional experts such as Singapore’s AMiLi (Asia Microbiome Library) on microbiome projects.
In South Korea, the company also works with the start-up HEM in the area of personalised probiotics.
Watch the video to find out more.
