USANA participates in the 6th CIIE.Photos: Courtesy of USANA

 

The rural Angel Project of USANA Foundation

"With its inclusiveness and openness, the China International Import Expo (CIIE) gives us a great opportunity to showcase our brand achievement and innovation to interact with local and international communities, and most importantly, to share a healthy future with our old and new friends," said Sun Lei, vice president of Business Growth at USANA Health Sciences (USANA) China.

On November 5, USANA, together with over 3,400 exhibitors, will take part in the sixth CIIE in Shanghai with the aim of "Taking root in the Chinese market and sharing a healthy future." This is the second time USANA has participated in the CIIE, but this time, they bring something new.

Different from a year earlier, USANA invites more associates and more products, joining CIIE on a larger scale. 

The year 2023's emphasis is on promoting healthy lifestyles to all Chinese families. Through interactive design and experience, USANA hosts three theme-day events with each focusing on CSR, branding and vitality to convey its unique brand value to become the healthiest family on earth.

Having rooted in the Chinese market for 13 years, USANA has developed products that meet the specific needs of Chinese consumers. "The premise for a product to go viral is to be customer-centered. From product ideation to commercial launch, every step needs to be based on observation and a deep understanding of customer needs, " said Sun. Following this philosophy, USANA re-engineers its products based on market foresights in China. 

For instance, "probiotics" has become a popular nutrition in the Chinese health market. Chinese consumers linked it to gut health and strong immunity, and they are willing to pay for it. USANA observed the trend. After timely analysis and market research, they used diverse bacterial strains and advanced technology, integrated the latest research on prebiotics and postbiotics, and successfully launched a new probiotics product in September.

Based on this localized strategy, China has become the biggest consumer market of USANA, accounting for approximately half of the company's sales in the global market. 

Since entering the market in 2010, the company has witnessed a trend change in the health needs of Chinese consumers. They have become more focused on finding their own health needs rather than simply following suggestions from others. 

In recent years, as Chinese consumers have paid more attention to their health, the number of sales of health products, especially the vitamin and dietary supplement segment, has experienced a rapid increase in the Chinese market. 

The Asia-Pacific region has the largest market share in the world, about 33 percent and in all of the Asia-Pacific countries, China's food and health market growth continues to prevail. In the past five years, the growth rate has reached 2.5 percent. China's market share in the global market has also increased by 0.5 percent.

"As the industry matures and optimizes, China's consumption of health products should have greater potential," said Sun. There are differences in per capita health spending between Chinese consumers and consumers of more developed countries. 

According to market research, after the world recovers from the pandemic, Chinese consumers eat and live healthier than before. And the demand for vitamins and dietary supplements grows stronger. Taking vitamins and supplements has become a daily habit of Chinese consumers. 

There is a surprising new trend - a surge in demand for dietary supplements among young people. Conventional tablet nutrient products cannot satisfy their needs. They propose higher standards for nutrients and flavors. Not only do they want snack-like, ready-to-eat supplements, but they also want to have them labeled as "low sugar, low calorie, low fat, low sodium." To these young people, taking dietary supplements means being healthy and having a trendy lifestyle.

This aligns with the definition of health by USANA. Health can be interpreted as both physical and mental, and it can be achieved through exercise and diet. One's understanding of a healthy lifestyle should not be defined or restricted.

To promote the idea, USANA initiated a community marketing campaign named "Team U up" and invited everyone to explore sports, travel, food, charity, music and any other fun activities to find all possibilities of being healthy. The "U" in the group name is as in "USANA," but it also stands for every "you" in the community. 

By building such a circle-breaking platform, USANA wishes to provide all participants with a diverse and customized social experience and to help them make friends with similar interests. "USANA has always had an open and inclusive attitude to look for friends who value health to share their healthy lifestyle." Said Sun.

As a professional healthcare company that focuses on using cellular nutrition, USANA helps professionals maintain long-term health. Since 1999, USANA has provided trustworthy nutritional products to thousands of world-class athletes, helping them maintain nutritional health. In 2017, USANA became the sponsor of the National Sports Training Center (NSTC), providing nutritional products that have passed doping tests. 

The company renewed its contract with the NSTC in 2022 to provide national athletes with supportive products during the Paris Olympic training cycle. 

Professional athletes such as Olympic champions and sports experts are great sources of promoting health concepts, which is what USANA has been doing since it was founded. 

The company has a content creation team and media studio that works with external experts, scholars and KOLs to create content on nutritional supplements, related knowhow transfer and health tips based on Chinese seasonal solar terms. In addition, USANA also supports its associates in carrying out engaging and fun sports activities to drive more people to develop habits of taking up exercise and taking supplements every day. 

In 2018, China issued the 2018-22 Strategic Planning for Revitalization of Rural Areas to integrate urban-rural development. Responding to this policy, USANA became one of the first companies to join the Angel Project.