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Mannatech has just announced that the company will soon add another country to their ever expanding family. The nutritional products company will expand into Singapore during the fourth quarter, 2008. Mannatech has had a great deal of success in the Asian Markets, and is looking forward to its newest expansion project.

Singapore is a leading developer and provider of skin care products and dietary and nutritional supplements. It was an easy and obvious choice for the company to expand into the country. Among the initial product offerings will be the company’s premier product, Advanced Ambrotose, in capsules and powders, MannaMatrix multi vitamin and mineral supplements and the PhytoMatrix caplets.

Until a new director for Singapore is announced, business in the country will be operated and managed from the company’s Australian headquarters. Mannatech expects their Singapore office to officially open during the first half of 2009.

Wayne Badovinus, President and CEO of Mannatech is looking forward to the company’s newest project, “Given our track record for global expansion success, we are looking forward to entering the Singapore market where we know there is already an interest in Mannatech products.”Opening in Singapore is a natural progression for Mannatech since we have had success in numerous Asian markets. Singapore’s culture and traditions relative to personal health align well with Mannatech’s emphasis on the combination of optimal health and financial wellness.”

Singapore has a great reputation in the direct selling industry. 11 percent of the populations, more than 500,000 people, are involved in direct selling. In the last few years, the total value of the direct sales industry was reported to be over $300 million dollars.

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Nutrilite posted a record $3.1 billion in sales over the last 12 months according to its owner, Alticor (Amway/Quixtar).

The Nutrilite brand has more than 200 nutritional supplements - including tablets, capsules, powder drink mixes, and nutritional snacks and bars - available in over 50 countries around the world by Amway and Quixtar distributors.

“This is quite an accomplishment for the Nutrilite brand and the many thousands of Amway and Quixtar IBOs,” said Alticor President Doug DeVos. “Nutrilite has become a recognized brand globally and is on track for continued market growth in the years ahead as our IBOs continue to make deeper inroads with our health-conscious consumers.”

“This is a remarkable achievement within an extremely competitive global marketplace,” said Candace Matthews, Alticor’s chief marketing officer. “The market validates our findings that Nutrilite’s array of
vitamins, minerals and dietary supplements are among the best in today’s market and will remain so for years to come.”

There are VERY few Direct Sales/MLM companies generating this kind of revenue. The $3B mark is a significant achievement even for Alticor.

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Chef Selections - a holding company that specializes in growing businesses through network marketing - has appointed a network marketing veteran as their new Chairman of the board. Don Karn, a vet of the industry with over 25 years of experience under his belt, will join the Chef Selection/Passion4Life family. We had broken this story a few weeks back about Passion4Life operating as a subsidiary of Chef Selections.

In his past life before joining Chef Selections, Karn has held management positions at several direct sales companies including, Avon, Tri-Chem, and Incomnet Communications. He also served as CEO, President and VP of International Relations for Shaklee.

Chef Selections felt that his successful track record at managing a large spread out sales force as well as his ability to motivate a team, made him more than qualified to take the helm as new Chairman of the Board.

Karn felt that after examining the company and its successful reputation, the choice to accept the position was a no-brainer. “After considerable research and consultation, we feel that Chef Selections has designed sales and marketing plan that is unique within the industry. This approach will instill gratification and create success for all who join our team and expend the effort,” said Karn of his new position. “When I factored in this unique approach with the size of the global nutraceutical and nutritional supplements market, which was a reported $74.7 billion globally in 2007, joining the Chef Selections / Passion 4 Life team was an easy choice for me to make.”

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NBTY (Bohemia, NY) (NYSE: NTY), a leading global manufacturer and marketer of nutritional supplements, announced results for the fiscal first quarter ended December 31, 2007.

For the fiscal first quarter ended December 31, 2007, net sales were $511 million compared to $506 million for the fiscal first quarter ended December 31, 2006, an increase of $5 million or 1%.

Net income for the fiscal first quarter ended December 31, 2007 was $46 million, or $0.67 per diluted share, compared to $51 million, or $0.73 per diluted share, for the fiscal first quarter ended December 31, 2006. This reflects the decrease in earnings in the Direct Response/E-Commerce division.

At December 31, 2007, NBTY had total assets of $1.6 billion and working capital of $603 million, of which $236 million consisted of cash and short-term investments. The Company is committed to using its cash and leverage to increase shareholder value through opportunistic acquisitions and stock repurchases.

OPERATIONS FOR THE FISCAL FIRST QUARTER ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2007

Net sales for the Wholesale/US Nutrition division, which markets Nature’s Bounty, Solgar, Osteo Bi-Flex, Rexall, Ester-C and other brands, increased $12 million or 5% to $259 million from $247 million for the prior like quarter. Gross profit for the Wholesale operation increased to 44%, compared with 40% for the prior like quarter, reflecting greater efficiencies in supply chain management. The Company is currently experiencing higher purchase prices of certain raw materials. It is anticipated that a portion of these cost increases will be reflected in the prices of the Company’s products.

The Wholesale/US Nutrition division utilizes valuable consumer preference sales data generated by the Company’s Vitamin World retail stores and Puritan’s Pride Direct Response/E-Commerce operations to empower its wholesale customers with this latest data. The Vitamin World stores are used as a laboratory for new ideas and are an effective tool in determining and monitoring consumer preferences. This information, as well as scanned sales data from the Vitamin World stores, is shared on a real time basis with our wholesale customers to give them a competitive advantage.

Net sales for the North American Retail division increased $1 million, or 2% to $56 million for the fiscal first quarter ended December 31, 2007 compared with $55 million for the prior like quarter. While Adjusted EBITDA was positive, this division operated at an approximate $1 million loss.

Same store sales for North American Retail increased 6% for the fiscal first quarter of 2008. The North American Retail division continues to focus on rationalizing SKU’s, enhancing visual merchandising and increasing customer traffic. During the fiscal first quarter of 2008, the North American Retail division closed 5 under-performing stores and added 2 new stores. At the end of the fiscal first quarter, the North American Retail division operated a total of 534 stores consisting of 454 Vitamin World stores in the United States and 80 LeNaturiste stores in Canada. During the remainder of fiscal 2008, Vitamin World anticipates closing approximately 18 under-performing stores and opening approximately 10 stores.

European Retail net sales for the fiscal first quarter of 2008 increased $6 million, or 4% to $159 million from $153 million for the prior like period. European Retail division same store sales in local currency decreased 4%. The European Retail division continues to leverage its premier status, high street locations and brand awareness in a difficult retail environment. The European Retail division consists of 514 Holland &; Barrett and 31 GNC stores in the UK, 19 Nature’s Way stores in Ireland, and 70 DeTuinen stores in the Netherlands for a total of 634 stores. During the fiscal first quarter of 2008 the European Retail division opened 8 stores.

Net sales from Direct Response/E-Commerce operations for the fiscal first quarter of 2008 decreased $14 million, or 28% to $37 million from $52 million for the fiscal first quarter of 2007. This division varies its promotional strategy throughout the fiscal year. In the fiscal first quarter 2007, Direct Response utilized a highly promotional priced catalog which was not offered in the currently reported quarter. Therefore, in this less promotional quarter, Direct Response realized lower results. Direct Response’s historical results reflect this pattern and should therefore be viewed on an annual and not quarterly basis.

The Direct Response operations include catalog and online internet sales. This Division’s strategic plan is to increase internet sales by continuing to incorporate new technologies. For this fiscal first quarter online sales increased to 40% of total Direct Response/E-Commerce sales compared to 36% for the fiscal first quarter of 2007. NBTY remains the leader in the direct response and e-commerce sectors and continues to increase the number of products available via its catalog and web sites.

NBTY Chairman and CEO, Scott Rudolph, said: “NBTY maintained its leadership position. We are confident that the initiatives we instituted in our direct response business will be the cornerstone for generating positive results. We continue to enhance our position as the global leader in the nutritional supplement industry and take steps to best respond to cyclical changes in industry segments and garner greater market share.”

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