Major direct selling company Amway Philippines, an affiliate of the Ada, Michigan,
United States-based Amway, recently said it will implement strategies to
support local Amway Business Owners (ABOs) toward their path to sustainable growth in 2019.
“What we do is to ensure that the profitability of our ABOs and the growth that they have are sustainable. So, we will look at the core fundamentals of the ABOs and distributors’ businesses. That is how we measure the growth of our company these days,” Amway Philippines Country Manager Maria Elenita “Leni” Olmedo told the BusinessMirror in a recent interview in Makati City.
Olmedo said Amway Philippines has around 70,000 to 80,000 ABOs with the bulk concentrated in Metro Manila.
An ABO is an independent business owner who can earn an income through Amway’s compensation plan. To become an ABO, an individual must acquire a business investment kit worth P1,000, which includes an Amway Passport with P1,000 voucher.
Ordering the Amway products can be done through calling the direct lines, e-mail and mobile number. Payment methods include Visa, Mastercard and cash.
On its website, Amway said more than 3 million people worldwide are running their own businesses through the ABO program. Amway Philippines offers three platforms of doing business in the Philippines through sole proprietorship, partnership (limited or general) and corporation.
Moreover, Olmedo said Amway Philippines is bullish on hitting double-digit growth rate this year. In 2018 Amway Philippines achieved an 18-percent growth rate. However, she declined to give a number for the company’s growth target in 2019.
“So far, we are on the same trend over the last two years. We just don’t look on the revenue targets. There are other growth indicators we look at because it is so easy to hit the target by just focusing on specific target markets,” Olmedo explained.
Olmedo also urged the government to pass either an anti-pyramiding law for the benefit of the consumers and the industry, as well.
“What we have right now is the consumer law of 1974. It has only two provisions where you are protected in the Consumer Act,” Olmedo said.
Olmedo, who was a former board member and director of the Direct Selling Association of the Philippines, said the business scandals that hit the multilevel marketing industry has posed a big challenge to its advocates. “For several years, we’ve been pushing for the passage of a direct selling law as simple as an anti-pyramiding law,” Olmedo pointed out.
She said the Direct Selling Association of the Philippines continues to work with the Department of Trade and Industry to develop policies and regulations to strengthen the direct selling industry.
Meanwhile, Amway Philippines also aims to push the awareness level of Filipinos about the importance of supplementation to support a healthy and active lifestyle through a balanced diet.
Financial constraints and busy lifestyles have caused nearly 54 percent of Filipino households to experience food insecurity, data from the Department of Science and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) showed.
These households experience limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, which hinders them from consuming the ideal serving of fruits and vegetables needed for a proper diet and lifestyle. These ultimately lead to poor nutrition and health problems.
“Food safety is a real concern because what we ingest is ultimately absorbed by our bodies, which is why we must take it seriously. Consumers should have the right to know the story behind their products because their health depends on the products they buy. It isn’t simply placing it on a label, it’s about letting them know for them to have peace of mind,” said Olmedo.