Herbalife remains upbeat about Asian opportunities

"Asia has two-thirds of the world's population, and we haven't gone deep into it as yet. There is still a lot of work to do," chairman and CEO Michael Johnson said yesterday.

Johnson said Thailand was the company's sixth-largest Asian market. Taiwan, China and South Korea are the three biggest.

Latin America and the United States are other hot growth markets for Herbalife, while Europe is showing less growth, he said.

The global slowdown is not a major concern for Herbalife, as the company offers high-nutrition products it believes many consumers will still want regardless of the economic situation, Johnson said. He cited a growing awareness of the need to eat more healthily and consume fewer calories and less fat.

Moreover, the company offers opportunities for people to become independent Herbalife sales representatives, thus adding to their income and securing their financial status.

Johnson said the overall food-supplement market had doubled in value in five years. He estimates it will triple in the next three or four years.

Herbalife generated US$2.2 billion (Bt73.7 billion) in net sales globally last year and $604.4 million in this year's first quarter. Its goal is to achieve $5 billion in annual global sales within the next five years.

However, Johnson considers the global market to be very weak.

He said the company still had to work hard on training its independent sales representatives, talking to doctors and educating consumers on the benefits of consuming food supplements and its products.

On the marketing front, Herbalife regularly sponsors sport events as well as the Los Angeles Galaxy football team, which has David Beckham as a star player.

Sponsoring athletes and scientific research is also part of its strategy to build global awareness of the company and its products, enabling its independent sales representatives to customise business plans to fit local market and economic conditions.