In December Usana, which is based in Salt Lake City, invested in another Utah company called Built Brands. Built Brands, based in American Fork, has been expanding its production and new product development capacity with a 185,000-sq-ft facility that opened in 2020. Usana’s minority equity investment in the company means it could use Built Brands’ expertise in food formulation to help drive the creation of Usana’s new Active Nutrition line, which launched in March.
The launch of the line helped drive higher sales in the first quarter of 2021, and its reception is key element in Usana raising its expectations for the rest of the year.
“The initial reactions from our customers has been very encouraging. This product line promotes a holistic approach to healthy weight management, as well as digestive health, energy and hydration,” said Usana CEO Kevin Guest. He made his comments as part of an earnings call with analysts that was posted in transcript form on the site seekingalpha.com.
Earnings details
Usana sells a variety of dietary supplements, functional foods and personal care items via a multi level marketing model. The company operates in 24 markets around the globe, and in recent years has posted its biggest sales in China.
For the first quarter of 2021 Usana reported $308 million in net sales, compared to $266.6 million in the same quarter a year previously. That represents a 15.5% rise year-over-year.
Of that $308 million, $251.3 million in sales came from the Asia Pacific region, where sales grew by 16.6%. Sales in Greater China (the company’s terminology) accounted for $149 million. Sales rose 13.3% in that region. Net sales in the Americas and Europe accounted for $56.7 million of the total.
The company raised its fiscal 2021 outlook slightly to $1.24 to $1.28 billion, up from $1.21 to $1.27 billion.
