The Hindu Business Line : Amway to market life insurance products

AMWAY India, which has made its mark in the direct selling arena, is all set to enter the insurance sector by September. It is in talks with a leading insurance company to sell its life insurance products which would be marketed under the brand name of Amway.

Mr Stephen Beddoe, Director (Marketing and Distributor Relations), Amway India, told Business Line that the company is also looking at a strategic tie-up in the telecom sector.

Mr Stephen, who was in the city, said the company would be launching 24 new brands to cater to customer requirements. Currently it sells about 50 products in the categories of personal care, home care, nutrition and wellness and cosmetics.

Of the 24 new brands, about 15 brands would come under the nutrition and wellness segment and the remaining under the cosmetics range. It has about 10 products under the nutrition segment and about 14 in cosmetics.

The year 2005-06 would witness another 20 new brands coming in. Recently Amway introduced three new products in the nutrition and wellness category — Nutrilite Kids Berry Blast, Nutrilite Bio-C and Nutrilite Parselenium E. The next one to be launched under this category is Nutrilite Cal-Mag, a multi-mineral supplement in tablet and capsule forms. About 45 per cent of the total turnover comes from this segment.

Mr Beddoe said the company had a turnover of Rs 579 crore for the year ended August 2003 and would end the current year with a total turnover of Rs 630 crore. Amway India is looking at a growth rate of 10 per cent and is expecting to complete the year September 2004-August 2005 with a turnover of Rs 700 crore.

The turnover would come in from five areas and whatever addition comes in from the insurance sector would be a bonus, he said.

The company would be launching soft toys to cater to the kids' segment. Currently it has two soft toys, rabbit and a duck, called Quackie.

The next addition would be the teddy bear, which is expected to hit the market in September.

The teddy bear would be battery-operated and cost between Rs 250 and Rs 300. Quackie is offered to the customers at a price tag of Rs 249.

Commenting on the direct selling industry in India, Mr S. Parameswaran, Director (Legal and Corporate Affairs), said the direct selling industry had recorded a sales turnover of Rs 2,311 crore for the year ended March 2003 compared to Rs 1,723 crore for 2001-02.

Smaller countries such as Taiwan, Korea, Venezuela and Malaysia have emerged as much bigger markets in terms of turnover compared to India.

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