Top 10 Direct Sales Firms in Utah
Direct sales, especially network / multilevel marketing, is big business in Utah, especially those with independent distributors/representatives. How big? How 'bout over $10.2 billion in annual sales?
Although I’m a California native, I realized today that I’ve now lived in Utah for over 40 years.
And anyone who has lived in the State of Deseret for any length of time comes to realize that one of the unique quirks about our state is that Utahns seem to have a proclivity for network marketing companies (also known at times as multilevel marketing or direct sales firms).
As it turns out, Direct Selling News magazine announced last week its top 100 direct sales companies of 2020, which piqued my interest.
But then I found out that not all of the top direct sales companies were included in its list. Didn’t matter, however, because by then I was hooked.
So … outlined below is my breakdown of the Top 10 Direct Sales Companies in Utah for 2020.
{NOTE: I chose to not include Utah-based companies in this list that hire employees (even temporary, summer sales teams) for their direct sales needs. To me, this is a different type of sales approach than utilizing independent representatives.}
No. 10 Direct Sales Firm in Utah: LifeVantage ($229 Million in 2020 Sales)
Eighteen-year-old LifeVantage (NasdaqCM:LFVN) is unique among the direct sales companies on this list in that its focus is to develop and sell products designed for “biohacking the human aging code.” Sounds cool.
Specifically, LifeVantage sells a mixture of nutrition and personal care products through a worldwide network of close to 75,000 independent distributors.
LifeVantage generated $229 million in revenue during calendar 2020.
No. 9 Direct Sales Firm in Utah: 4Life Research ($341 Million in 2020 Sales)
Privately held 4Life Research comes in as the ninth largest direct selling firm in Utah, with Business For Home pegging 2020 sales at $341 million.
Sandy, Utah-based 4Life utilizes independent representatives to sell its line of products designed to support and boost human immune systems.
No. 7 Direct Sales Firms in Utah (tie): Younique ($368 Million in 2020 Sales) and Modere ($368 Million in 2020 Sales)
Springville, Utah-based Modere describes itself in its most recent news release as
“… a worldwide, live-clean essential lifestyle brand of supplements, household, and personal care products.”
Modere sells its family of products through a worldwide network marketing organization.
Previously, however, Modere was known as Neways International(which is likely the name you may know the company as unless you are one of its distributors or have ties to the firm).
According to Business For Home, Modere did $368 million in revenue through its direct sales model in 2020.
Interestingly, Business For Home also claims that Utah-based Younique produced $368 million in 2020 revenue.
As might be expected, this makes me skeptical about the rev numbers for both Modere and Younique. BUT … those are the numbers I could find, so those are the sales figures I’m going to use for this article.
Given that it was formed in 2012, Lehi-based Younique is the youngest company on this list of leading direct sales companies in Utah.
The company is also unique from the other firms on this list in that its distributors (aka, Presenters) sell Younique products almost exclusively via the Internet and ecommerce websites. Very smart.
Oh, right, what does it sell? Cosmetics and beauty products.
No. 6 Direct Sales Firm in Utah: Nature’s Sunshine Products ($385 Million in 2020 Sales)
Nearly 50-year-old Nature’s Sunshine Products is one of the oldest companies on this list of Utah-based direct selling companies, but there’s also a twist to that claim. And that is the fact that over 450 of Nature’s Sunshine products were listed for sale on Amazon as of yesterday.
Nevertheless, Lehi-based and publicly traded Nature’s Sunshine (NasdaqCM:NATR) also sells products through a network of over 500,000 active independent managers, distributors and customers around the globe.
Such efforts led the company to record sales for 2020 of $385 million for its family of nearly 600 health and fitness nutritional products
No. 5 Direct Sales Firm in Utah: Unicity International ($735 Million in 2020 Sales)
Unicity International is a privately held firm that traces its earliest roots back to 1972 when the founder of Enrich International figured out how to encapsulate and market herbal supplements. Some 30 years later, Enrich merged with Rexall Showcase to form Unicity.
According to Business For Home, Unicity generated $735 million in 2020 through its global network marketing endeavors.
This Orem, Utah-based company sells a variety of nutraceutical-based nutrition products and supplements, as well as a line of Green Tea-based products.
No. 4 Direct Sales Firm in Utah: USANA Health Sciences ($1.13 Billion in 2020 Sales)
Publicly traded USANA Health Sciences (NYSE:USNA) generated $1.13 billion in revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020.
Formed in 1992, this West Valley City, Utah-based multilevel marketing company carries a line of nutraceutical-based products for both nutrition and body care.
From its news release announcing its results from its fourth quarter (ended December 31, 2020), USANA had nearly 299,000 “active associates” worldwide, nearly identical to the global number of “active preferred customers” the company claims it has.
No. 3 Direct Sales Firm in Utah: doTERRA ($1.89 Billion in 2020 Sales)
According to Business For Home, doTERRA produced $1.89 billion in sales in 2020, making it the third largest direct sales corporation in the State of Deseret.
A multilevel marketing company headquartered in Pleasant Grove, Utah, doTERRA was formed in 2008 by former executives of Young Living. {See No. 2 below.}
According to its website, doTERRA describes itself as
“… an integrative health and wellness company and the world leader in the Global Aromatherapy and Essential Oils market.”
doTERRA also claims to have over eight million customers and distribution partners around the globe.
No. 2 Direct Sales Firm in Utah: Young Living ($2.2 Billion in 2020 Sales)
According to the latest data provided by Business For Home, Young Living generated $2.2 billion in 2020 revenue, making it the Number Two largest direct selling organization in the state of Utah.
Lehi-based Young Living was formed in 1994, although the vision behind the company started over a decade earlier with the launch of an organic herb farming and distillation operation by husband and wife team, D. Gary and Mary Young.
Today, Young Living is a multilevel marketing company focused on health and fitness products derived from essential oils.
According to the Young Living website, the company has over 3,000 employees and serves “well over six million customers.”
No. 1 Direct Sales Firm in Utah: Nu Skin Enterprises ($2.5 Billion in 2020 Sales)
The granddaddy of the nutraceuticals industry in Utah, Nu Skin Enterprises (NYSE:NUS), just happened to generate $2.58 billion in worldwide revenue in 2020, placing it at the top of the Direct Sales industry within the State of Deseret in 2020.
Formed in 1984, Provo-based Nu Skin provides health, beauty and nutrition products to consumers around the globe through a network of approximately 1.2 million independent distributors.
And as noted in last Friday’s Week-in-Review edition of Deseret Business Watch, Nu Skin just announced it has hired Connie Tang as its new Executive Vice President and Chief Global Growth & Customer Experience Officer. In her new role, Connie will be directly involved with virtually every Nu Skin product, program, or distributor effort — globally.
So even though her title qualifies as one of the longest C-Level titles I have ever come across in my 35-plus-year career, I’m also quite impressed with A) Connie’s resume, and B) The fact that Nu Skin was able to land her.
Should be an interesting year for the state’s leader among its direct sales companies.
The Top 10’s Bottom Line
When you add it all up, the 10 largest direct sales companies in Utah produced over $10.2 billion in topline revenue in 2020 — and that doesn’t include companies that hire employees to handle their door-to-door sales efforts.
That $10.2 billion figure also doesn’t include the other 10 to 30 multilevel / network marketing companies in the state of Utah at this time — and I’m pretty confident there are a LOT MORE than most people realize today.
So there you have it — the 2021 Deseret Business Watch ranking of the Top 10 Direct Sales Firms in Utah.
ICYMI
If you haven’t read last Friday’s Week-in-Review report from Deseret Business Watch — Med School Money, doTERRA Earth Day, Gabb $14MM Funding, and More (The Week-in-Review, April 17—23, 2021)— I hope you’ll do so now.
This particular issue looks at eight separate news stories from the business community of Utah, and I think you’ll find the entire edition of DBW worth your time. Thanks.
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Hashtags this week: #deseret #business #watch #deseretbusinesswatch #utah #siliconslopes #firstquarter #sales #directsales #networkmarketing #mlm #multilevelmarketing
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About the Author
David Politis is a Marketing Mercenary, which is a fancy way of saying that organizations and individuals hire him to solve their marketing problems. To learn more, please feel free to visit David’s LinkedIn Profile or the website for his business: The David Politis Company. Additionally, if you have a story idea for him (or would just like to connect), you can reach him at me@davidpolitis.com.
David, great list of MLM Companies. Good idea since this industry has big influence on our community. I love your business news.
This is a fascinating list. It shows the growth power of direct sales. Another list I think would be fascinating is the less independent “summer sales” companies in Utah. Who are top amongst those companies. We seem to also have a proclivity for those types of companies. Having grown up in Las Vegas, and attended UNLV as well as an Idaho school. I can tell you it is not as ubiquitous for twenty somethings to go away for summer sales. I also know Vivint is a powerhouse business built on door to door sales. I wonder who else would make that list.