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Bravo International Growth Award | PM-International

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The Power of Consistency

Three decades of consecutive growth are rare in any  industry. That’s why Direct Selling News is pleased to award PM-International our Bravo International Growth Award once again; this award recognizes direct selling companies outside of the United States that achieve significant financial growth that year. In its 32nd consecutive year of growth, PM-International Group achieved $4 billion in annual retail sales for 2025—an increase from its record-setting 2024, in which the company exceeded $3.25B.

“This success continues our 32-year track record of consecutive growth, proving that sustainable expansion delivers lasting results year after year,” shared Rolf Sorg, Founder and CEO. “This is a strong testament to the trust and relevance of our FitLine® brand. It shows that customers around the world believe in our vision and share our burning desire to increase life quality.”

It Started with a Product Launch

PM-International kicked off 2025 by introducing the world to its newest product, TopShape, the company’s latest addition to the FitLine collection, designed to support natural weight management. The January release set the tone for a transformative year.

“Just in the first few days after the launch, we sold more than 45,000 units,” Rolf shared. “As part of FitLine’s holistic concept, TopShape redefined the product portfolio in combination with our Optimal-Set and ProShape products for weight management and personal care.”

The enthusiastic response from distribution partners and customers alike was the result of the company’s continued focus on research and innovation and its commitment to exceptional product quality, which has garnered the trust of millions of customers worldwide. This trust has allowed PM-International to remain a leader in its health, fitness and beauty niche, further celebrated by the milestone of over one billion products sold globally.

Two-Fold Investment

PM-International’s success was built on a foundation that values investment in its distribution partners as much as its product innovation. The company has consistently invested in developing the tools, support systems and a leadership culture that enable distribution partners to build lasting businesses. After more than three decades of building PM-International, Rolf is more committed than ever to the direct selling business model.

“Direct selling is a people business,” he said. “By staying true to this principle, we have created long-term stability and opportunity for our partners. Their dedication and long-term commitment make this success possible, reinforcing our belief that the direct selling model works at a massive scale.”

PM-International’s distribution partners are fueled by exceptional products, developed through the company’s focus on continuous innovation and rigorous quality standards. Rolf credits much of the company’s success to the strength of its research and development efforts, which have ensured its leadership within the health and wellness space.

Healthy, Sustainable Growth

Thoughtful expansion into new markets has opened doors for PM-International and supercharged much of its growth in recent years. Today, the company’s global footprint extends further than ever, with new regional headquarters in key locations, including Asia Pacific in Singapore and the Americas in Sarasota, Florida. In 2025, FitLine products were delivered to more than 100 countries. 2026 holds even more expansion, with planned openings in Kazakhstan, the Czech Republic, Vietnam and Ireland.

“Our strategic global market expansion has significantly strengthened our international presence,” he said. “By entering new markets and reinforcing existing ones, we have expanded both accessibility and growth potential worldwide.”

Looking ahead, PM-International’s sights are firmly set on a new milestone: $5B in sales by 2027. For Rolf, that target is a natural extension of the same disciplined, people-first philosophy that has driven 32 consecutive years of growth. With a long-term vision of worldwide market leadership in the channel, Rolf and his team are building the foundation for another chapter of growth through continued investment in infrastructure and the research and innovation that keeps the company at the forefront of the health and wellness space.

Perhaps most importantly, PM-International will continue investing in its field of hundreds of thousands of distribution partners across 45 countries.

“We remain committed to empowering our distribution partners, because their success is the true engine of our future growth,” he shared.

Congratulations to the entire PM-International team for this award and another year of record growth!

From the May/June 2026 issue of Direct Selling News magazine.

Partner.Co Honored for Visionary Leadership

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Partner.Co was recognized at the Globee Awards for Excellence with four Globee Awards. These honors recognize achievements in the workplace by celebrating individuals, teams, departments, companies, products, services and digital initiatives that demonstrate excellence, innovation and create impact at local, regional and global levels.

This year’s awards included:

  • Visionary Leadership Achievement – The Partner.Co Founders
    Darren Zobrist and John Wadsworth were highlighted for their “fundamentally different approach” to reimagining the traditional network marketing model and replacing it with a scalable framework designed for today’s entrepreneur.
  • Sales Leadership Achievement – Lucy West
    As Senior VP, APAC and Canada and General Manager of Japan, Lucy West has been a key player in the company’s successful expansion. In 2025, under her leadership, the company’s Canadian market experienced tremendous year-over-year growth that was fueled by both a focus on customer acquisition and field productivity. The company stated that customer enrollments surged as a result.
  • AI Chatbot & Conversational Support Excellence – Ally Chatbot: AI Chatbot & Conversational Support Excellence
    Ally, an AI-powered conversation partner, delivers real-time insights to help Brand Partners operate smarter, faster and with greater confidence. An unconventional bot, Ally integrates directly with Partner.Co’s sales system to enable business data analysis, interpret performance trends and access actionable guidance within a single conversational interface.
  • Event of the Year (B2B) – PXP’25 | The Partner.Co Experience
    The global conference and customer engagement platform was designed to strengthen brand loyalty, accelerate product sales and drive Brand Partner enrollment at scale. This year’s events toured Dallas, Macau, Yokohama and Rome – all with regional accessibility and global brand consistency.

Bravo Global Good Award | Herbalife

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A Mission Rooted in Helping Others

The Bravo Global Good Award recognizes direct selling companies that demonstrate a proactive, sustained commitment to environmental sustainability, philanthropy and social responsibility. It honors organizations that have made giving not a department, but a defining characteristic of how they do business.

This year, Direct Selling News is proud to recognize Herbalife as the recipient of the 2026 Bravo Global Good Award.

Building Better, Healthier, Balanced Lives

With $5B in annual net sales and approximately two million independent distributors operating across the globe, Herbalife has built one of the most expansive networks in direct selling. From the beginning, its commercial growth and community impact have never been separate concerns. They are—by design—equal parts of the same whole.

From the beginning, the company has understood that nourishment could greatly improve the quality of people’s lives, which is why Founder Mark Hughes launched the Herbalife Family Foundation (HFF) as an independent public charity in 1994. Its legacy is firmly rooted in the belief that access to good nutrition affords people the opportunity to become the best versions of themselves, mentally, physically and emotionally. As Chief Marketing Officer, Hanan Wajih explained, “His vision was centered on helping people live healthier, better lives. That philosophy became the cornerstone of HFF, which continues to guide our efforts today.”

A Mission Measured in Impact

The flagship expression of that commitment is Casa Herbalife, a program in continuous operation since 1998, that awards grants to nonprofits providing children with access to nutritious meals, educational resources and safe environments. In 2025 alone, HFF distributed $5M in grants to more than 165 organizations across 60 countries and territories, contributing to a cumulative global investment of more than $60M and reaching over 200,000 children annually.

What makes those numbers more significant is how they’re generated. Herbalife’s independent distributors are at the center of the fundraising effort. Because they’re embedded in the communities they serve, they bring a local, personal dimension to these programs. According to Hanan, “It creates a shared sense of purpose where distributors and employees are all contributing to something larger than themselves.”

The result is a philanthropic model that doesn’t exist outside the business—it’s woven into it.

Empowering Communities

The range of Herbalife’s 2025 initiatives reflected the breadth of its reach. Central to that impact is a long-standing belief in the power of sports to inspire healthy habits and strengthen communities. This is exemplified through Herbalife’s 20-plus-year partnership with the LA Galaxy, which includes support of the LA Galaxy Special Olympics Unified Team, as well as local initiatives such as the development of mini pitches across Los Angeles, backpack distributions and nutrition education programs for students at several schools.

Herbalife’s commitment to expanding access to sport also includes a strong focus on women and girls. In 2025, the company served as the Official Nutrition and Hydration Partner for the Women’s College All-Star Combine and All-Star Game during championship weekend and launched the EmpowerHer Performance Basketball Clinic Tour, hosting clinics that bring free, elite-level training directly to aspiring young female athletes across the US.

The company has also supported broader health and wellness initiatives, sponsoring last year’s Desert Smash and making a donation to the WTA Foundation’s Global Women’s Health Fund, helping advance awareness around critical health issues.

Infinite Impact

Herbalife operates with the same long-term orientation for good. The company has pursued sustainable practices, launching its first solar-powered office space in Costa Rica and partnering with My Green Lab to earn green lab certification for its company-owned laboratories around the world.

The company also maintains long-standing community partnerships, including its decade-long collaboration with the American Red Cross, providing product donations that support blood donation centers and its work with the World Food Programme to help address food insecurity globally.

Herbalife entered 2026 with strong momentum, including a 19 percent year-over-year increase in new distributors in Q4 of 2025 and an evolving strategy centered on personalized nutrition, digital tools and community engagement. While the company earned the Bravo International Growth Award in 2021, the 2026 Bravo Global Good Award reflects something different: a sustained, decades-long commitment to doing business in a way that serves communities. Hanan sums it up beautifully. “Our focus is on continuing to build on the impact we’ve created and staying true to our mission.”

Congratulations to the Herbalife team and the Herbalife Family Foundation on receiving the 2026 Bravo Global Good Award.

From the May/June 2026 issue of Direct Selling News magazine.

Natura Partners with AI Biotech Platform to Shape Longevity-Driven Beauty Innovation

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Natura announced a new strategic partnership with Debut, an AI-powered biotechnology beauty leader, as it seeks to commercialize an AI-discovered longevity ingredient complex. Debut brings its proprietary AI to the partnership and the two entities expect that Natura’s decades of beauty expertise rooted in the biodiversity of the Amazon Rainforest will allow them to commercialize the AI-discovered complex upon successful clinical validation.

Debut’s novel actives will combine with Natura’s bioactive Amazonian botanicals to deliver an ingredient that the company anticipates will bring “best-in-class performance” in longevity, which is a key biological driver in skin aging. The complex could be available as soon as 2027.

“This collaboration represents a new frontier in beauty innovation where advanced science and nature work in synergy to deliver a new standard of clinically validated performance,” said Joshua Britton, PhD, Debut Founder and CEO. “By combining genomics-enabled molecular design with Natura’s unique heritage in botanical actives from the Amazon, we are unlocking new possibilities for product innovation.”

Debut’s proprietary AI platform computationally screens 96 billion molecular possibilities with measurable biological impact. Natura currently utilizes 46 socio-biodiversity bioactives to deliver high-performance functional cosmetics. Together, the pairing expect their resulting longevity complex to bridge precision biotech and nature in a way that will drive innovation.

“At Natura, well-being has always been at our core,” said Manuel Rios Krauss, Natura Chief R&D and Innovation Officer. “Now, we are taking a big step forward: evolving this essence towards functional well-being, backed by science. This collaboration is a key part of our journey into longevity. We are combining three powerful things: nature’s billions of years of wisdom, the traditional knowledge of our communities and the latest in technology and AI. We are using modern science alongside our roots to deliver real, effective results for our customers.”

Plexus Founder Named Philanthropic Business Leader of the Year

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Plexus Worldwide President and Founder Alec Clark was honored by AZ Big Media at the 2026 Champions of Change Awards as the Philanthropic Business Leader of the Year.

“Great companies are built with heart, driven by committed individuals who challenge, support and inspire each other every day,” said Tarl Robinson, Plexus CEO and Founder. “This award honors Clark’s vision, which helped shape the Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives now deeply embedded in the Plexus culture.”

Plexus is known for its efforts to alleviate global food insecurity, and Clark was selected for this recognition because of his leadership and commitment to transform the company into one of Arizona’s leading philanthropic companies. The company employs 300 Arizona-based workers and each one is given 16 paid volunteer hours a year to contribute to the community through structured CSR programs like food drives, monthly giveback campaigns and more.

The company’s Nourish One initiative, which has contributed more than 49 million meals around the world since 2018 and partners with Feeding America and Mary’s Meals, has created a direct connection between consumer purchases and impact.

“The ‘One Plexus’ mindset – the belief that we succeed together – comes from Clark and his motto that if you are blessed, you should be a blessing,” said Elizabeth Woods, Plexus Director of Philanthropy. “Clark leads with humility and heart, always emphasizing that our impact is a collective effort. His leadership has created a culture of purpose at Plexus, empowering us to make a meaningful difference in the community and in the lives of others.”

Ecommerce Platform Options for Direct Selling

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Shopify, BigCommerce, Open-Source Platforms (Woo, Medusa, Magento) Purpose-Built Platforms, and In-House Solutions Compared

Direct selling companies are facing a platform decision that didn’t exist in the same form five years ago. The ecommerce options available today are more capable and more varied than at any previous point, and the consequences of choosing poorly—in either direction—are significant.

This piece lays out the real trade-offs across the main options available: Shopify, BigCommerce, open-source platforms including WooCommerce, Magento and Medusa, purpose-built direct selling platforms and in-house or commission-provider-bundled solutions. No platform does everything well for direct selling today. The goal is to give leaders in this channel enough honest information to make the right decision for their specific situation.

I’ve spent over two decades in this channel, first as an independent distributor, then as a consultant, and later as co-founder of DirectScale, a direct selling platform acquired by Exigo in 2022. I’m currently CEO of ShopIQ Commerce, which helps direct selling companies find the right ecommerce solution for their business. I’ve tried to write this piece with that background informing the analysis rather than distorting it.

Shopify

Shopify is the strongest general commerce platform available. Its checkout conversion rate leads the industry. Its mobile performance, payment infrastructure, app ecosystem and continuous R&D investment are difficult to match at any price point. Shopify processed approximately $292 billion in gross merchandise volume in 2024, and the scale of that network delivers reliability and platform investment that benefits every merchant on it.

But the trade-off is specific and significant. Shopify was built for retail. It has no native commission tracking, no distributor portals, no enrollment infrastructure and no multi-level compensation support. Every direct selling company currently running on Shopify solved that problem themselves, through a custom build, a third-party integration, a plugin stack or a purpose-built solution designed specifically for the channel. Naturally, the quality of those solutions varies considerably from company to company.

Companies that resolve the infrastructure gap well get world-class commerce performance underneath a direct selling operation. Companies that don’t carry operational debt that compounds over time, showing up as commission errors, attribution failures, field frustration and IT resources spent maintaining integrations rather than building for growth.

Best suited for: companies willing to invest in purpose-built direct selling infrastructure on top of Shopify—whether through a specialized solution provider or strong internal development resources. Shopify is also well suited for companies prioritizing customer acquisition, mobile commerce performance and ecosystem flexibility as primary growth drivers.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce targets mid-market and enterprise brands that want strong native ecommerce capabilities without managing their own servers. It charges no transaction fees on any plan; offers solid API flexibility; and includes more functionality natively than Shopify, which reduces dependency on third-party apps for certain features.

The cost comparison with Shopify is genuinely context dependent. BigCommerce’s no-transaction-fee model and native feature set can reduce app spend for some configurations. Shopify’s larger ecosystem and faster time to launch tend to reduce implementation costs and development overhead for others. The honest answer is that total cost of ownership across either platform depends heavily on your plan tier, app requirements and internal development capacity. Any specific percentage comparison you see cited in this area is likely sourced from one platform or the other and should be treated accordingly.

Like Shopify, BigCommerce was not built for direct selling and requires the same infrastructure gap to be solved externally. Its app ecosystem is significantly smaller than Shopify’s, which limits options when capabilities need to be extended.

For companies with complex B2B requirements, multi-storefront needs or a preference for more native features over app-based extensibility, BigCommerce is a credible option. For direct selling companies where ecosystem depth and commerce performance are primary concerns, Shopify’s broader platform tends to be the stronger choice.

Best suited for: mid-market companies with complex B2B or multi-storefront requirements, strong internal development resources and a preference for native features and zero transaction fees over app-based extensibility. Companies should model total cost of ownership across a realistic three-year horizon before comparing plans at face value.

Open-Source Platforms: WooCommerce, Magento and Medusa

Open-source platforms share a common appeal: full code control, no licensing fees and maximum flexibility to build exactly what you need. They also share a common burden: your team owns the infrastructure, security, updates and ongoing maintenance. For direct selling companies evaluating this category, that trade-off is the central question.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is an open-source ecommerce plugin for WordPress, with a large extension library and low entry costs at the software level. For content-driven commerce where editorial content is core to the brand, it has real advantages. For direct selling at mid-market or enterprise scale, the self-hosting overhead becomes a material operational burden. The same infrastructure gap as Shopify applies: no native MLM support, and the addition of hosting, security and plugin maintenance responsibilities on top of that gap makes it a demanding choice for larger organizations.

Medusa

Medusa is a newer open-source commerce framework gaining traction among technically sophisticated companies that want composable, headless architecture and full control over their commerce stack. It is modular by design, meaning companies can build only what they need and own every layer of it. For a direct selling company with a strong engineering team and a specific architectural vision, Medusa is worth understanding. For most mid-market or enterprise direct selling organizations, the investment required to build and maintain a production-grade Medusa implementation—on top of solving the direct selling infrastructure requirement—is prohibitive. It is a platform to watch, but not a practical option for most companies in the channel today.

Magento (Adobe Commerce)

Magento, now Adobe Commerce, is the most powerful open-source ecommerce platform available and has historically been a choice for large, complex retail operations that need deep customization and have the engineering resources to support it. It handles large product catalogs, complex pricing rules and multi-store architectures well. The trade-offs are significant: implementation costs are high; ongoing development requirements are substantial; and total cost of ownership at enterprise scale is among the highest of any platform in this comparison. For direct selling companies, the same infrastructure gap applies, and the development investment required to address it on top of an already demanding platform is considerable. Magento is rarely the right answer for mid-market direct selling companies and only merits consideration for large enterprise operations with mature internal engineering teams.

Best suited for: WooCommerce works for smaller direct selling operations with strong technical resources already in the WordPress ecosystem. Medusa is best suited for technically sophisticated organizations willing to build and own a custom composable stack from the ground up. Magento is relevant only for large enterprise companies with mature engineering teams and complex requirements that no SaaS platform can address.

Purpose-Built Direct Selling Platforms

Platforms built specifically for direct selling aim to solve the infrastructure gap natively. Commissions, enrollment, attribution, distributor portals and field tools are built into the platform rather than added on top. For companies where those requirements are the primary concern, this is a meaningful advantage.

The more active purpose-built platforms in this space have been investing in AI tools, mobile capabilities and back-office integration, with attribution systems and integrated payment infrastructure that address problems general commerce platforms require external solutions to solve.

The trade-off is on the commerce performance side. Purpose-built direct selling platforms do not carry the same checkout conversion data, ecosystem breadth, payment network scale or ongoing R&D investment that Shopify does. For companies where distributor infrastructure is the primary decision driver and retail commerce performance is secondary, purpose-built platforms are a credible and complete option. For companies where commerce performance and customer acquisition are primary concerns, the trade-off is harder to accept.

Best suited for: companies that prioritize distributor tools, back-office integration and field experience over retail commerce performance and want those capabilities managed as a unified system rather than assembled from multiple vendors.

In-House Builds and Commission-Provider Front Ends

Some companies built fully custom commerce stacks. Others are running the front-end solution bundled with their commission provider. Both are more common in this channel than the industry tends to discuss openly, and both share the same underlying problem.

These solutions typically require significant custom development to launch. More importantly, they continue to require that effort on an ongoing basis. Tasks that should be routine—running a promotion, launching a new product bundle, updating an enrollment flow—often require development tickets, sprint cycles and IT involvement.

Marketing and operations teams end up dependent on developers for decisions that should be within their own control. A meaningful portion of engineering capacity ends up maintaining the platform rather than building for growth.

For companies that made this choice a decade ago, the original logic was sound. The tools available then didn’t serve the channel well. The question those companies face now is whether the ongoing cost in developer time, launch delays and operational friction is still justified against what modern platforms can deliver.

For most, the honest answer is no.

Best suited for: companies with very specific requirements that no existing platform can address, and the internal development resources to maintain a custom solution over time without it becoming a drag on the business.

The Honest Summary

No platform does everything well for direct selling today. The decision comes down to where your company’s priorities actually sit.

If commerce performance, customer acquisition and ecosystem flexibility are primary, Shopify is the strongest foundation available—provided you solve the direct selling infrastructure layer correctly. Getting that layer right is not optional, and it is not simple, but when done well the combination is hard to beat.

If distributor tools, back-office integration and field experience are primary and you want those managed as a unified system, purpose-built direct selling platforms are a credible complete option. The commerce performance trade-off is real but may be acceptable depending on your model.

If you are evaluating open-source options, be honest about your internal engineering capacity before you commit. The flexibility is real. So is the overhead.

If you are running a custom build or a commission-provider front end and increasingly dependent on developers to make routine business decisions, it is worth running an honest total cost of ownership analysis against what modern platforms can deliver today. The gap has widened considerably in the last five years.

The companies making the best platform decisions in this channel are the ones that understand these trade-offs clearly before they choose—not after.

Rodger Smith has spent 25 years at the intersection of direct selling and technology, as an independent distributor, consultant, platform founder, and technology executive. He is currently CEO of ShopIQ Commerce. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

An Online Exclusive from Direct Selling News magazine.

LifeWave Documentary Wins Telly Awards

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LifeWave’s documentary film “Code of Creation” was honored at the 47th Annual Telly Awards in New York City. The film, which was directed by filmmaker Mikki Willis, blends scientific curiosity with storytelling as it follows LifeWave Founder and CEO David Schmidt alongside scientists exploring biological, mathematical and natural patterns connected to human potential and wellness.

The film was awarded two Silver Telly Awards, a recognition awarded by leaders from top media, production and entertainment organizations worldwide.

The documentary film was designed to highlight conversations around health, consciousness and human performance as it examines discoveries that challenge conventional perspectives.

“These two Telly Awards reflect growing acclaim for ‘Code of Creation’s’ storytelling, production quality and thought-provoking exploration of science and human potential,” the company wrote in a statement.

Farmasi Reports Projected 2026 Revenue

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Farmasi announced its projected 2026 revenue, citing a strong 2025 performance and continued global momentum. The company now has a footprint across more than 50 markets around the world and has plans to build on its global acceleration and increase its market share through its global network of independent entrepreneurs.

Farmasi reported more than $600 million in global revenue for 2025 and now projects $800 million in revenue for 2026. These totals reflect year-over-year growth in the company’s international markets and is powered, the company says, through its digital-first, community-led commerce model.

In 2025, Farmasi added more than 500,000 independent entrepreneurs to its distributor ranks. In April 2026 alone, the company expanded into eight new markets.

A dual-market leadership structure, led by CEO Sinan Tuna and President Emre Tuna, grandsons of founder Dr. C. Tuna, has driven the company’s global expansion by casting global strategy while empowering localized execution to develop regional relevance and unified brand growth.

Q&A with Thomas Stoffmehl, Vorwerk CEO

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Strategy 2030 and how both new and mature market growth has catalyzed revenue.

In 2025, Vorwerk set its sights on becoming “the world’s most attractive direct sales company,” with a thriving global community and innovative product ecosystems. As part of that ambition, Vorwerk launched Strategy 2030, the company’s long-term growth strategy focused on expanding its international footprint; further scaling its European strongholds; strengthening its Advisor community; and continuously innovating its integrated product ecosystems.

The results of that strategy are already visible. This year, Vorwerk earned its place on the DSN Global 100, ranking third in the world in the product-focused category, with $4.9 billion in business volume, and recorded a new all-time high in its global advisor community. At year-end 2025, more than 129,400 people had joined as self-employed Vorwerk Advisors, more than double the number of Advisors in 2019.

The company’s culinary division with Thermomix/Bimby and Cookidoo has become a growth driver with multiple consecutive record years in revenue growth over the past six years, and accounts for more than half (59%) of all revenue. Last year, more than 1.4 million devices were sold, including more than 1 million Thermomix® TM7 devices – which was introduced in February 2025 and represented the company’s most successful product launch in history.

As the company enters its next phase of growth, Direct Selling News sat down with Vorwerk CEO Thomas Stoffmehl to discuss the company’s unique sales model, its recent revenue momentum and what growth strategy it is leaning on as it looks to 2030 and beyond.

Q: Your sales model differs from most structures within the direct selling channel. How has a single-level structure impacted success and why is it important for Vorwerk that Advisors not be tasked with building complex hierarchical downlines?

A: Vorwerk is one of the few direct sales companies operating with a true single-level model. A lot of business models talk about being “people-focused,” and we, of course, are people-focused, but our model is slightly different.

Compared to many multi-level marketing models, our Advisors are not required to build hierarchical downlines or make upfront investments in inventory or starter packages. We deliberately keep the barriers to entry low. Advisors do not have to purchase products before selling them; take on entrepreneurial and financial risks; pay for trainings; or commit to complex structures. This makes our business model accessible, flexible and comparatively low risk for people who are looking for an additional source of income or a more self-determined working model.

At the same time, the attractiveness of our model goes far beyond financial aspects. Many Advisors join because they value the flexibility, strong sense of community and opportunity to share their passion for cooking and great products with others. Recognition, personal development and training also play an important role. For many people, it is not only about earning additional income, but about being part of a supportive and inspiring community that combines entrepreneurship with enjoyment, purpose and personal connection to cooking.

We are focused on bringing products directly from the company to consumers through our Advisors and Advisor network. At the same time, we are not a product-selling company like a retailer or ecommerce. We don’t simply sell products—we create experiences through personal demonstrations and direct interaction. That’s why the most important KPI for us is not units sold, but the strength and size of our sales force, because sustainable sales growth is ultimately a reflection of a strong, active and engaged Advisor community.

Q: How has this single-level approach influenced how you introduce products and expand existing categories across markets?

A: More or less, in every market where we are with Thermomix, we are by far the market leader in this category. I think that’s very interesting because this is a category of product that, in my opinion, can only really be introduced through personal demonstration. It’s important to understand that what we don’t demonstrate, we don’t sell. We do not design products, we design experiences. And we always keep in mind to give a “WOW” moment in demonstration.

Q: What is your vision for the future of Vorwerk and its global sales force?

A: It’s very important to understand that our sales force is not only the sales channel, but also an integral part of our strategy. In our Strategy 2030, we call it the “sweet spot.” The sweet spot is exactly where people and product meet, and everything we do strategy-wise needs to be in our sweet spot. This also means, that we stick very much to our DNA of personal, advisor-led direct sales and digitize products and processes to better support our Advisors, strengthen the customer experience and further increase the attractiveness of our business model.

Q: What role does international expansion play in Strategy 2030?

A: Vorwerk was founded as a family-owned company in 1883, and since 1930 we have operated our distinctive single-level direct sales model, first with Kobold and since 1971 also with Thermomix. To this day, the founding family continues to own the company. This long-term continuity shapes the way we think and act. Our strategy is not driven by short- or mid-term expectations, but by a long-term perspective. Everybody is fully aligned behind Strategy 2030 and committed to investing consistently in sustainable growth and international expansion.

When it comes to global expansion, we continue to see strong growth across our established markets, including Germany. The US is growing but on a smaller level. Still, we additionally identified Asia Pacific as a key strategic growth region for Vorwerk. In 2025, we opened or took over operations from our distributors in eight new markets Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Greece in Europe, and then Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia. The extremely positive development of these new markets has confirmed the strong international scalability of our business model and plays an important role in our long-term growth strategy.

Q: Is Strategy 2030 driven by new market growth or are pre-existing markets still an important revenue driver for the company?

A: The start of 2026 was amazing. By 2030, we have a very key ambition to increase the number of Advisors from 129,400 at the end of 2025 to 170,000 in 2030 and our turnover from EUR 3.6 billion to EUR 4.6 billion. We had growth without expansion, but it’s important to understand that growth comes from two directions. One direction, of course, comes from the new countries and new markets, but we grew in every mature market as well. We had double-digit growth in Germany, our biggest market, so it’s not only the expansion. The business model works as well in mature markets. That’s a true success story.

Q: The product portfolios for Vorwerk and Thermomix include higher priced items, like high-tech appliances, that require product demonstrations for success. How has that impacted your sales team growth?

A: It’s interesting because high-ticket items need more trust and deeper relationships. If you recommend something to your family and friends, you need to be really sure that you’re behind it, that you love it. It’s very important that the product is an enabler for this connection, and the COVID experience taught us how important personal contact is. As soon as it was possible to go back to personal demonstrations, our people chose it. Some companies are heading in a social selling direction, but for us it’s not an option. We closely observe these developments, but for us personal demonstrations remain essential.

Q: What gives you confidence as Vorwerk moves toward 2030?

As Vorwerk moves toward 2030, the company sees its future growth driven not by short-term trends, but by the continued strength of its unique business model: the combination of innovative product ecosystems, personal demonstrations and a growing global Advisor community. With strong momentum across both mature and newer markets, Vorwerk believes it is well positioned for the next phase of international expansion and long-term growth.

Success does not happen automatically. We are working with great passion, commitment and entrepreneurial energy to turn our ambitions for 2030 into reality.

An Online Exclusive from Direct Selling News magazine.

Iron Chef Ming Tsai Joins Amway as Global Cookware Ambassador

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Amway announced culinary expert Chef Ming Tsai has joined the company as a Global Ambassador for the company’s cookware line. Chef Ming has been the host and producer of PBS’s longest running cooking show, “Simply Ming,” for almost 20 seasons and won an Emmy for his work on the Food Network’s “East Meets West with Ming Tsai.” He is an Iron Chef, a James Beard Award winner, the author of five cookbooks and a member of the American Academy of Chefs Culinary Hall of Fame.

“We are incredibly excited to welcome Chef Ming Tsai to the Amway family,” said Melodie Nakhle, Amway Chief Marketing Officer. “Chef Ming’s distinguished career, his innovative East-West cooking style and his unwavering commitment to promoting healthy eating perfectly align with Amway Cookware’s mission to empower individuals to create nutritious and delicious meals at home. We are confident that his trusted voice and culinary authority will resonate with Amway Business Owners and customers worldwide.”

The company said it will rely on Chef Ming’s cooking experience, engaging style, expertise and passion for food to inspire people around the world to embrace the joy of cooking through shared experiences.

“I am incredibly honored to join the Amway Cookware family as their Global Ambassador,” Chef Ming said. “Amway’s dedication to high‑quality products and solutions, along with its vision for empowering healthier lifestyles – through cooking, everyday choices and shared experiences – deeply resonates with my own principles. I look forward to sharing my culinary insights and helping people discover the joy and simplicity of preparing healthy, flavorful meals with Amway Cookware.”

Vorwerk Reports 2025 Revenue Results

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The Vorwerk Group announced its financial results for the full-year 2025. The company ended the year with record revenue of approximately $4.1 billion, a 14.1% increase over 2024. Operating results improved 28.2% year-over-year to $321 million.

2025 was also the launch of the company’s Strategy 2030, which includes vision for Vorwerk to become the “world’s most attractive direct sales company,” with targeted expansion in what the company’s calls its “sweet spot,” or where its committed and passionate community and integrated product ecosystems meet. As part of Strategy 2030, the company is strategically expanding its international presence in growth markets, including Greece, the Benelux countries, Austria, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore, with the addition of Vietnam this year.

Developing these markets brought significant revenue improvement, growing it from $26 million in 2024 to $169 million. Revenue from these newly added markets contributed 28% to overall revenue growth in the group, and 70.6% of its direct sales revenue is generated outside of the German market. The company emphasized that this progress illustrates how the Vorwerk direct sales model can be successfully scaled internationally. The global Vorwerk community grew in tandem with revenue and market growth, increasing to 129,400, a number that is more than double 2019 totals.

Thermomix continued to be a strong momentum builder for the company in 2025. More than one million Thermomix TM7 units were delivered in its first year, making it the most successful product launch in company history.

“2025 was another exceptionally strong year for Vorwerk,” said Dr. Thomas Stoffmehl, Vorwerk Group CEO. “With the launch of the Thermomix TM7, we not only achieved the most successful product introduction in our company’s history — we also demonstrated the strength and effectiveness of our direct sales model, our unique community and our international organizations worldwide. This positive momentum confirms that our strategic direction is the right one. Building on the successes of Strategy 2025, we are now consistently advancing Strategy 2030, with a clear focus on innovation, international expansion and the continued development of our Thermomix and Kobold brands.”

Vorwerk’s akf-Group delivered $779 million in 2025 revenue and will receive a new brand identity in 2026 to move it “visually closer” to the Vorwerk Group. This brand relaunch will include a new logo, a clear endorsement and the green Vorwerk color palette.

“akf-Bank is an important part of the Vorwerk Group and shares core values with Vorwerk that also define us: trust, customer proximity, reliability, long-term thinking and individual solutions,” said Hauke Paasch, Vorwerk Group CFO. “We are delighted that this close connection will become even more visible in future through the new brand identity.”

Investments in production and logistics structures in Europe include a second factory in France and an associated logistics center. Updates are also planned for its Wuppertal site, which the company says underlines its clear commitment to Wuppertal as its headquarters and to Europe as a long-term production, innovation and development hub.

4Life Launches 2026 Tour Europe in Barcelona, Spain

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4Life embarked on its 2026 Tour Europe with an event in Barcelona, Spain. 4Life President and CEO Danny Lee and 4Life Chief Sales Officer Preston Richards, as well as Vice President of Europe Rafael Fernández kicked off the event, emphasizing the company’s commitment to science and research, and cast 4Life Founder David Lisonbee’s vision to share the 4Life Transfer Factor with 3 million new homes by 2030.

Lee also engaged in conversation with those in attendance, sharing insight about the future of the company in the European market and the leadership’s long-term goals.

“We’ve been planning this tour for months,” Richards said. “I am excited and enthusiastic. Our European corporate team and entrepreneurs in the field rank among the best anywhere. It’s an honor to serve them, and to represent 4Life while doing so.”