When people hear about MLM products, they usually think about healthy foods, skincare products, and cosmetics. To identify the most popular products in the direct selling industry, we turned to the survey results by Network Marketing Magazine that examined and analyzed fourteen international MLM companies. We found out that the top four best-selling products among these companies were:
● Health and nutrition products;
● Skincare products and cosmetics;
● Personal and household hygiene products;
● Additives for water filtration.
According to WFDSA data for 2018, among all directly sold products, personal care products hold the largest share in total sales (43.59%), health and wellness products rank second (32.4%), clothing and accessories rank third (9.08%), and household products rank fourth (8.78%). According to WFDSA data for 2019, personal care products make 44.13% of total sales, and health and wellness products 33.61%.
According to statistics, health products are becoming increasingly high-demanded every year, and it makes sense. Numerous studies reveal that a diet based on seafood, vegetables, fruits, olive oil, and red wine normalizes arterial pressure, acts as a preventive treatment against senile dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. On the other hand, minimal consumption of meat (especially the red one), refined foods, and sugar prolongs life and allows to avoid serious diseases. Experts from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School have identified forty biomarkers in the Mediterranean diet preventing various diseases. One can increase the effect of biomarkers even more by taking dietary supplements.
The invention of dietary supplements.
At the end of the XIX century, European military men and sailors at service in Southeast Asia began to suffer from beriberi disease: healthy young men had numb legs (sometimes even paralysis) and experienced problems with breathing. The condition had been known for quite a long time, but only locals suffered from it before. The Dutch government assigned a team of doctors to the Sumatra military base to investigate the disease. One of them was Christiaan Eijkman. At first, the doctors focused on finding the bacterium that might be causing the disease; they also considered the possibility of poisoning. Eijkman noticed that symptoms similar to beriberi were present in chickens bred at the military base. When chickens recovered, it was found out that a new cook had ordered not to feed the “civilian birds” with processed rice which was reserved for the military. After many years, the researchers solved the mystery: the top layer of rice contains thiamine – vitamin B1. This layer is broken during the processing of the rice. The vitamin itself was separated by Polish scientist Kazimierz Funk, who came up with the term “vital amine” – “vitamin.” However, the Nobel Prize for discovering anti-neurotic vitamins was awarded to Eijkman and his colleague Frederick Hopkins.
Although dietary supplements were already part of the overall health care system, the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the trend. When the WHO announced the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, according to Financial Times, sales of dietary supplements in the United States increased by 51.2%. Analysts state that sales were influenced by the public’s desire to do something for their health and overburdened medical systems. When doctors could not cope with the influx of patients, people began to self-medicate.
We decided to consult with Dr. Jean-Daniel Flaysakier on the usefulness of dietary supplements and the rapid growth of the MLM industry, which is stimulating the growth of consumers worldwide. Jean-Daniel Flaysakier is known for his claims that dietary supplements cannot help fight cancer and for publishing statistics about more than 20,000 people being admitted to US hospitals each year because of the poisonings associated with taking dietary supplements.
Jean-Daniel Flaysakier:
– It might seem that MLM and dietary supplements are the territories of deception and lies. Yes, I have repeatedly communicated that not all supplements are beneficial, and some are even harmful. However, we should not forget that many people benefit from taking dietary supplements. HealthIndex’s “Survey of Consumer Behavior and Attitudes” for the first half of 2020 shows that vitamin and mineral complexes, immunity supplements, and those to prevent cardiovascular disease are now leading the way in consumption among dietary supplements. According to New Hope Network NEXT Data & Insights survey dated by April 2020, 33% of consumers surveyed in the USA stated that taking supplements and vitamins has become more important to them than it was one year ago. The global leader in the request for dietary supplements is Japan, India is in second place, and MLM is the primary selling method of the products.
What have people come to understand by the term “dietary supplement”? Today, the term “vitamin and mineral complex” (VMC) or “biologically active compounds” (BAC) is probably more correct as it fully reflects their essence. As mentioned earlier, today, the world leader in the consumption of nutritional supplements is Japan. Since 1961, after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, unfortunately, there has been a significant spike in health problems: birth rates have fallen, life expectancy has declined. I can provide specific figures: in 1961 the life expectancy of Japanese people was 54 and 56 years for men and women respectively. The population diminished to 19 million people. Something had to be done about it. The Japanese government subsidized special studies, and scientists prepared a state plan titled the “Nation Saving Program.” It got to the point that when a person is being hired for a job, they fill out a questionnaire that has an obligatory question: “Which brand of supplements do you take? ” The interpretation of the question can be: “Do you take care of your health or not?”
Taking dietary supplements has become part of a healthy lifestyle: four out of five consumers of supplements today consider it crucial for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Almost half of the consumers buy vitamins to stay healthy, and 41% are willing to overpay for natural products for a healthy lifestyle. Consumer attitudes towards dietary supplements are changing; they are no longer perceived as a super-cure of all diseases. People think of them as a source of micronutrient elements, vitamins, and means for the general strengthening of the body. Millennials and Generation Z are more concerned about their health than baby boomers. It is part of “the Instagram culture that we live in,” says Warren Ackerman, an analyst at Barclays for Financial Times.
There is a fine line between discrediting certain dietary supplements produced by specific manufacturers and discriminating against people who take the supplements. If consuming supplements gives a person a boost of energy and a good mood, why should these products be banned? Suppose a person’s health is threatened by cancer, and they decide to take nutritional supplements to cure it. In that case, this approach should be prohibited because it is already an element of marketing through the Placebo effect. Under the threat of death, people are willing to take any drug to have a chance. That is why I separate dietary supplements, which help people become better, healthier, more active, and more good-looking, from those offered as a salvation from a deadly disease but factually being a placebo.
Though it is not very clear with Placebos, either. Researchers at the University of Cincinnati tested 12 patients with Parkinson’s disease. They “gave” each patient a placebo, saying it was an effective drug that would help them cope with the disease. Besides, the doctors told some patients that the medicine was 15 times more expensive than the alternative drug. Guess what the results were? Patients who were prescribed an “expensive drug” recovered faster than those who took the “cheap” analog. 67% of participants said they felt better when they began taking an expensive placebo after the budget one. Other exciting studies have also been conducted, and such results reveal the critical role of the brain in the treatment process. If medications cost more, people tend to assume that they will be more effective. The demand for dietary supplements keeps the same trend.
Despite the staggering growth of MLM and the general deterioration of the economy, consumers have begun to buy more expensive supplements. This is not due to higher prices but because of the shift in consumption towards more costly supplements. The young and financially secure audience purchase vitamin complexes; they now are the primary consumers of dietary supplements. According to various data, in the USA, Europe, and Japan, more than half of the population already takes supplements. For example, in the USA, about 53% of residents regularly take such supplements. The level of the Dietary Supplements industry already depends on the development of the economy of a particular region. In countries with increasing income per capita, consumption of nutritional supplements increases: it is dangerous, thoughtless, and unprofitable to get sick. Overall, according to a report by Grand View Research Inc., the global Nutritional Supplements market is projected to reach $278 billion by 2024 and show a compound annual growth rate of 9.6%, primarily due to the direct sales method.
Although the direct selling method is now applied to a wide range of consumer products on the market, few products have been able to build their brand in the minds of consumers successfully. One such brand, according to recent market research, is Coral Club products. Three years ago, Alan Norman Howard identified three of the most valuable products in the Coral Club range: Coral Main, PentoCan, and H-500. “The use of these products is highly recommended to anyone concerned about their health and well-being,” he said during the press conference. In Canada, Omega-3 supplements are so popular that they even have been recommended for pregnant women and prescribed for young children.
Coral Club offers dietary supplements; and has other products marketed through the MLM method for more than 20 years. For example, in 2014, the Alive line of eco-friendly washing products was introduced based exclusively on plant-based formulas. In 2015-2016, there was a boom in smart food products, which Coral Club also introduced. Since 2017, the company began to offer comprehensive solutions aimed at a specific task with dietary recommendations.
Modern medicine is also actively combating age-related manifestations and turning from treatment to active prevention. Demographic statistics are disappointing – the population is aging. Old age is fraught with health problems and deteriorating quality of life. There is a growing demand for such programs in the world. According to Global Wellness Economy Monitor, the global market volume of wellness medicine is estimated at $4.2 trillion. The central stimulators of this trend are the growing demand from the population for disease prevention programs and enthusiasm about healthy lifestyles. Supporting the global movement, in 2018, Coral Club launched anti-age care cosmetics to complement their product line, which is also distributed through MLM.
It is an all-known fact that the quality of the food is the code to well-being. But not everyone knows that temporary calorie reduction or food breaks are the solutions for longevity, beauty, and youth. This topic has been mainly actively studied after Japanese scientist Yoshinori Osumi who was awarded the Nobel Prize for discovering autophagy, a natural process of cellular regeneration that rejuvenates cells. Aging is slowed down to a minimum, and associated age-related and other diseases do not progress. Autophagy processes are especially active under periodical reduction of the caloric content of the diet. Now the largest institutes of the world are engaged in research of mechanisms of starvation. One of the newest is from Kyoto University. Scientists have identified 30 new compounds concentration of which increases in the body under starvation conditions. They boost metabolic activity, synthesize antioxidants, and reverse the signs of aging. That doesn’t mean one has to drop everything and go on a starvation diet. Today, the best anti-aging products in dietary supplement form are made in Japan. It is one of the eleven countries where Coral Club manufactures its products. Right approach with a focus on customers’ needs leads to steady growth. In 2019 the increase of new customers of Coral Club’s was up 20%.
