IN THE NEWS

Steve Cherry Of Amway On How They Are Promoting Healthy Snacks and Treats

An Interview With Wanda Malhotr

Read the full story on medium.com | By Wanda Malhotr

It takes time to understand health and wellness. At Amway, all our IBOs know about a new product or program, but they didn’t start that way. Most Amway Businesses are a “side hustle” built during nights and weekends. This is important because emailing or posting something on the website will not reach everyone. We have found that multi-channel communication approaches (web, email, social, live/in-person events) are more complicated to develop but deliver the most significant reach and engagement.

In today’s fast-paced world, snacking has become an essential part of our daily routine. However, not all snacks are created equal, and many options available are unhealthy. Fortunately, there are companies dedicated to creating and promoting healthy snacks and treats that are not only delicious but also nutritious. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Steve Cherry.

Steve Cherry has been the North American XS Brand Manager for the last 10 years, leading the development and launch of every XS product in North America during that time including a wide array of supplements, energy drinks and protein products. With a Masters of Science in Food Service Management concentrating on food science, Steve is a nutrition expert whose personal athletic history provides him with a unique and valuable perspective on how to effectively deliver healthy ways for consumers to increase energy, hydration, strength and recovery. Steve also held a pivotal leadership role in the development of XSFit, a holistic fitness program available to all Amway IBOs and their registered customers.

Steve is also an accomplished athlete who played Division 1 basketball at Michigan State University. He was part of legendary head coach Tom Izzo’s second recruiting class and played on some of the greatest teams in college basketball history, winning 3 consecutive Big Ten Conference Championships, playing in back-to-back NCAA Final Fours and 2000 NCAA National Championship.

Thank you so much for joining us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?

Thank you! Health and fitness have always been significant aspects of my life. Growing up, I was constantly involved with various sports teams and activities. In college, I played Division 1 basketball at Michigan State University and was part of the legendary head coach Tom Izzo’s second recruiting class, winning three consecutive Big Ten Conference Championships, making back-to-back Final Four appearances, and clinching the 2000 NCAA National Championship.

Beyond sports, I earned both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Michigan State University, with my Masters of Science in Food Service Management concentrating on food science. The combination of my athletic experience and academic background has given me a valuable perspective on how to effectively deliver healthy solutions for consumers to increase energy, hydration, strength, and recovery.

Over the past decade, I have had the privilege of serving as the North American XS Brand Manager, spearheading the development and launch of every XS product in North America. This encompasses a diverse range of supplements, energy drinks, protein snacks and drinks, and topical CBD balms and sprays. I also played a pivotal part in the creation of XSFit, a comprehensive fitness program accessible to all Amway Independent Business Owners (IBOs) and their registered customers. This role has allowed me to cultivate expertise in various areas, particularly performance nutrition and supplementation.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that? Tough question!

While leading the development of Amway’s first CBD products the team and I had to sort through some challenges in how we were going to develop something we were not familiar with. Thankfully, we had a fantastic cross-functional team that dove in head-first and was invested in learning about the CBD/cannabis industry and the various state and federal laws and regulations. This dedication allowed us to develop a product that was both beneficial to consumers and competitive in the market.

Since the CBS industry was growing at warp speed, the stark differences in quality, safety standards, and customer service between suppliers were eye-opening. Our research not only highlighted the nature of the market but also gave us clarity when choosing the right suppliers to ensure our product would be successful. We talked to brands of all sizes, some only operating in just one state. I recall one brand had a very professional website and shipped nationally but the “store” was at the local library and only open 3 days a week.

You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

• A team-first, ‘we before me’ mentality is a big part of my leadership style. Having been an athlete, I learned that teamwork is essential. It taught me that a dedicated team, committed to a common goal, can accomplish more than a talented group focused on individual success. I tell people that the 2000 Michigan State Basketball team was not the most talented, but we won the National Championship by being the hardest working, toughest, and most resilient team.
• Willingness to change, test and try new things is crucial to success. Throughout my career, I have had the privilege to work on many disruptive, transformational projects, and most have been successful, even exceeding expectations. But like in sports, you can learn more from your losses or failures. I remember when we launched a Hispanic-themed XS Energy Drink flavor — Tamarindo Blast. The tamarind fruit has deep roots in Hispanic culture, and going into the project, our team knew we had to push the boundaries and try new things. We partnered with our largest Hispanic group of IBOs on everything from flavor development to go-to-market tactics. Not only was the flavor successful with our target, but it also increased flavor awareness and appeal to other demographics. This experience taught me to be open to exploring something new as it resulted in uncovering new ideas and untapped potential.
• Being open and honest is essential in all areas, especially leadership. Transparent and direct communication builds trust and ensures everyone stays on the same page. In my experience, every project encounters unexpected issues and challenges. However, by openly discussing these difficulties and outlining the following steps, everyone can quickly understand the situation, rally together and move forward.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that might help people?

We have several exciting projects in the works, including building out our Five Pillars of Sports Nutrition by offering new protein products, and naturally caffeinated and sweetened energy drinks! I’m especially excited to build out Burn, one of our five pillars, through new product launches and a fitness program coming later this year.

Our new ‘Energy+Burn’ Drinks fuel metabolism with the familiar XS Energy blend of caffeine, herbs, and a mega-dose of B-Vitamins — plus Chromium, Ginger, Vitamin C, and 50mg ECGC from 300mg of Green Tea per can. I am also looking forward to launching the ‘XS Ignite Powder,’ which contains Morosil® Moro Blood orange extract (2023 NutraIngredients Ingredient of the Year). This ingredient is clinically proven to support weight loss and improve overall body composition.

Now let’s shift to the main focus of our interview. What inspired you to focus on promoting healthy snacks and treats?

Currently, contrary to belief, bodybuilders and hard-core athletes are not driving the largest market growth. What’s driving growth are the everyday consumers and weekend warriors looking to boost performance or recover faster. I think COVID-19 moved sports nutrition into the mainstream and increased the average consumer’s knowledge and awareness of their overall health and nutritional needs. It follows that products like protein powder and creatine are growing more popular than ever.

How do you ensure that your products remain both healthy and delicious?

At the beginning of the development process we draft our product profile and establish our “must” and “nice to have” ingredients. We do not use any artificial colors or flavors in any Amway or XS products, so when it comes to taste, we regularly conduct consumer flavor research to stay on top of trends and work closely with our flavor suppliers. This helps us understand certain ingredients’ impact on flavors and which flavors pair well or complement each other. Then, to bring the product home, we conduct taste tests with our internal team, Amway employees and general consumers.

What are some things you have done to educate consumers about the nutritional benefits of your products?

We educate in various ways, including developing product education courses to arm our IBOs with crucial information to help them attract and retain customers. For our consumers, we recently developed a video series called “Science Behind” where our scientists dive deep into the ingredients, formulations, and functionality for some of our essential products. We also tap into our XSFit Ambassadors, certified personal trainers to develop content for our social media channels, and “Pro Tip” videos, where they talk about how to use our products to achieve results.

Merging our scientific background and real-world marketing techniques helps consumers understand the “why” and “how” that makes our products unique and beneficial to their fitness goals.

Have you experienced any challenges in changing consumer perceptions about healthy snacks? How did you approach that?

An example most are familiar with is protein, which is all the rage. With brands adding new formats and products seemingly every day, all these new products have made it difficult to get people to understand that simply adding more protein to an otherwise unhealthy snack delivers little value.

Consumers also need to understand that not all proteins are created equal. For example, most plant proteins are not “complete proteins,” meaning they are lacking one or more of the 9 essential amino acids (EAAs). This is important because our bodies require all nine EAAs to build and maintain lean muscle.

So, simply put, if you don’t have all nine, you can’t build muscle. Therefore, consumers should either look for complete proteins like whey milk, or plant protein blends like the ones we offer from Amway’s Nutrilite brand, which features a blend of brown rice, chia, and pea proteins.

What are your ”5 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started”?

In a constantly evolving industry, how do you stay ahead of trends to keep your offerings innovative and appealing?

We leverage traditional market and consumer research, but our team is also very creative and collaborates on new ideas. We are constantly sharing and discussing ways to move the needle, sometimes by bringing up something we saw on Instagram or TikTok or heard from someone at the gym. We are a small but mighty team, and it helps that sports nutrition products fit very naturally into our lifestyle. This makes staying on top of competitors and industry trends relatively easy. Another excellent resource is our Amway IBOs — who are boots on the ground, talking with consumers daily and getting the organic feedback that drives us to success.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

People fear the effects of aging, but it could be mitigated by adding 20–30 min of strength/resistance training 4–5 days per week. We lose muscle mass and strength as we age but this can be offset with the right activities.

There is more and more research that indicates people with high percentages of lean muscle mass tend to be healthier, more active, recover faster from illnesses and injuries and generally have a better quality of life. If I could start a movement, it would be to encourage people to build those 20–30 minutes of training into their lifestyle as early as possible.

What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?

You can learn more about XS at amway.com/xs or by following XSNation on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. If you’d like to reach me personally, please visit my LinkedIn page.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.

Read the full story here.