Herbalife expects China to become its largest market

China is expected to double the size of Herbalife's India market in about five years, which is currently its largest in terms of sales, Herbalife President Stephan Gratziani said in Shanghai.

The United States-based nutrition product manufacturer is confident in the Chinese market given the growth potential in the country's health and well-being sector.

"In 5-7 years, China is expected to double the size of our India market, which is currently its largest market in terms of sales followed by the US and Mexico," Gratziani said in a recent interview.

Currently, Herballife service providers operate about 3,200 community health-care and nutritional advisory clubs in China, and the number could grow significantly in the coming years given the potential, especially in lower tier cities.

"We believe that China holds a lot of advantages in terms of the macroeconomic policies, entrepreneurial spirit, and the generally upbeat market sentiment," Gratziani said.

He is also fully confident that Herbalife's products and services fit with the country's economic growth and consumption trends, having already launched over 40 new products over three years.

Besides weight loss and weight control offerings, Gratziani noted that there is a huge opportunity in the much wider health and wellness area.

For example, hydration products could be important for Chinese customers rather than sports nutrition supplements or post recovery protein drinks, hence the importance of developing local offerings for the market.

In 2020, Herbalife opened its first product innovation center in the world in Shanghai with investment of 160 million yuan (US$22 million).

That site was certified by the Shanghai government as a foreign-invested research and development center earlier this year, as it strengthens local research and development capabilities.

In 2022, it started operation of a tea concentration powder manufacturing base in Nanjing with nearly 50 million yuan of investment.