BLOG
Sixty-Five Years of Making the World Better
1959 seems like a very long time ago. Mattel debuted the Barbie Doll. The iconic thriller The Twilight Zone made its television premiere. The Guggenheim opened its doors to the public in New York City.
It was also the year that Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel founded an American company still operating today: Amway.
After serving in World War II, close friends Rich and Jay decided to pursue their shared dream of business ownership. Several ventures later – including a flight school and a drive-in restaurant (stories for another time) – Amway was born in the basements of their homes.
So how did two friends end up launching a company that lowered barriers to business ownership, while offering some of the most well-known health and wellbeing products on the market? The inspiration actually came from Rich’s childhood.
As a young boy, Rich would often tag along with his grandfather who sold vegetables door to door in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Growing up during the Great Depression, fresh, nutritious food was hard to come by and Rich’s grandfather was often a welcome sight to the families he sold to. His grandfather’s work, and his relationships and easy rapport with his customers, became the driving force behind Amway’s model.
The first product Rich and Jay developed at the inception of Amway was one of the world’s first biodegradable all-purpose cleaners. Then came dish and laundry detergent that also used biodegradable and renewable source cleaning agents.Thus began the journey of a company focused on creating high-quality products that focused on science and caring for the environment, years before the terms ‘organic’ and ‘sustainable’ had entered our everyday vocabulary.
The company started building a stronger reputation for promoting healthy products when it acquired Nutrilite in 1972. As the first multivitamin, multimineral product to hit U.S. markets, Nutrilite had a big impact on Americans and its popularity soon spread around the world. The groundbreaking scientific work of Nutilite’s founder Carl F. Rehnborg unlocked the power of plant-based nutrients and became the foundation behind many Amway products. Backed by decades of innovation, Amway’s scientists have continued to stay at the forefront of nutrition science making Nutrilite the world’s number-one selling vitamin and dietary supplement brand.
Today, valuing health and wellbeing also includes taking care of the environment.
Amway employs some of the most sustainable farming and manufacturing processes in the creation of their products. Restorative farming practices such as raising red earthworms to produce liquid biofertilizer, using leftover plant material as organic compost, controlling damaging crop pests with ladybugs on its over 6,000 acres of organic farmland where it grows the ingredients for its products – are practices Amway has implemented for decades to restore soil biodiversity and rebuild soil organic matter. Amway has a history of winning accolades for its trailblazing work with environmental protection – from receiving the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) Environmental Achievement Award in 1989 to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Safer Choice Partner of the Year Award in 2017.
Amway’s manufacturing processes also keep quality and sustainability at the forefront. The company’s products undergo over 530,000 tests each year to ensure that the products reach the Independent Business Owners (IBOs) all across the country in excellent condition. Testing involves using cutting edge technology, including X-rays that look for contamination and a stop at the “Room of Doom” to ensure durability in transit. These stringent quality and safety standards have earned Amway recognition from various organizations including EcoCert , NSF, and the Skin Cancer Foundation’s Seal of Recommendation.
The two friends were passionate about putting business ownership within reach of everyone and were deeply committed to making entrepreneurship accessible. Amway offers a low-cost, low-risk business model for individuals to explore business ownership without facing the hurdles and costs of starting a business from scratch. It prioritizes hands-on engagement and community-building from the 290,000 Amway Independent Business Owners (IBOs) who sell directly to consumers in their localities.
Rich and Jay also envisioned their business to be of service to the communities in which it operates, a value that remains to this day. The company also empowers IBOs and employees to give back to their communities in the way that is most meaningful to them. Individuals can choose to be involved in one of Amway’s many long-standing philanthropic commitments or can receive company support in backing causes that mean the most to them. The AmGive grant program is a perfect example. Through this initiative, Amway awards up to $250,000 in financial support to the organizations that the Amway community is most passionate about. Over the past 20 years, Amway has provided more than $315 million in charitable contributions and clocked over 4.5 million volunteer hours– impacting 14.5+ million people. Jay Van Andel said it best, “Amway is a successful renewing company because it does keep the best of the past, but changes with the times.” Amway has grown to be the number one direct selling company in the world, because it lives its values passionately and empowers its people to do the same. Here’s to another 65 years of making the world a better, healthier place.