| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | NASDAQ: RELV |
| Industry | Nutrition & Skin Care products |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Founder(s) | Robert and Sandra Montgomery |
| Headquarters | St. Louis, MO, United States |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Robert Montgomery (Chairman, President, CEO) |
| Products | Nutritional supplements, weight management, personal care |
| Revenue | US$ 78.748 million (2010)[1] |
| Operating income | US$ 2.91 million (2010)[1] |
| Net income | US$ 1.68 million (2010)[1] |
| Total assets | US$ 24.843 million (2010)[1] |
| Total equity | US$ 13.93 million (2010)[1] |
| Employees | 246 (2010)[2] |
| Website | www.reliv.com |
Reliv International, Inc. or Reliv, is a worldwide marketer and manufacturer of nutritional supplements. The company is based near St. Louis in Chesterfield, Mo., and its products are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Austria, the Netherlands and Indonesia. Products are sold through a direct selling format, with a network of 60,740 distributors globally as of December 2010.[3] Reliv has an 'A+' rating from the Better Business Bureau of the United States.[4]
Reliv International, Inc. is the corporation that develops, manufactures and markets Reliv products. Reliv Independent Distributors are independent contractors of Reliv International, Inc.[5]
Contents |
Reliv was founded in 1988 by Robert and Sandy Montgomery. The Montgomerys licensed a nutritional formula developed by Dr. Theodore Kalogris in the early 1980s. The formula, called Reliv Classic, became Reliv’s first product and was granted US Patent number 4,737,364 in 1988.[6]
In 1991, Reliv opened in Australia, its first foray into the international markets. A year later, in 1992, Reliv opened in New Zealand and Canada.[7]
The year 1993 was particularly eventful for Reliv International. The company became a publicly traded company on the American Stock Exchange. (Three years later, the company moved trading to the NASDAQ national market system under RELV.) Then, in the summer, the Great Flood of 1993 flooded the company’s headquarters and put a temporary halt to production. Later that year, Reliv opened in Mexico. Reliv was ranked number 3 of the “Top 100 International Companies” in International Business Magazine.[7]
In 1995, Reliv opened in the United Kingdom. Later that year, the Reliv Kalogris Foundation was established in honor of Dr. Theodore Kalogris, inventor of the first Reliv product, Classic.[7]
The company broke ground on a $4 million headquarters expansion in 1997. It was completed in 1998 and enabled the company to increase office space and enhance the manufacturing facility as the company continued to grow.[7]
An in-house research and development program was launched in 2000. That same year, Reliv opened in the Philippines. Two years later, Reliv Ireland opened.[7]
Reliv Founder and CEO Robert Montgomery was recognized by Ernst and Young as the Missouri Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003. The following year, Reliv opened in Singapore and also completed a $1 million upgrade to its manufacturing plant and laboratories. That same year, BusinessWeek magazine included Reliv International on its list of the “Top 100 Small Growth Companies” (also including Reliv to this list in 2005, 2006 and 2007).[7]
In 2005, Reliv International ranked number 11 Forbes Magazine’s “200 Best Small Companies” list and ranked number 14 in 2006. Reliv Germany opened in 2005, just as the company reached $1 billion in cumulative sales since its opening. The following year, Reliv expanded even further internationally by entering Austria and the Netherlands.
Reliv’s products encompass four product lines: Essential Nutrition (Nutritional shakes), Weight Loss (Simplicity meal replacement shakes and metabolism-boosting supplements), Targeted Solutions (Nutritional shakes targeting specific benefits such as digestive, joint, heart health, etc. and an energy shot called 24K), and Relivables (skin care, all-natural sweetener).[8]
Reliv is a member of the Council for Responsible Nutrition which is the leading trade association for dietary supplement manufacturers and ingredient suppliers.[9] Reliv states that the company bases its nutritional formulations on the latest in nutritional research, focusing on three areas of nutritional science: bioavalability, synergy and what Reliv refers to as the "standard of optimal nutrition." Reliv International. Web. 09 August 2010.<http://www.reliv.com/US/EN/Reliv-Difference.html>.</ref>:
Reliv International holds patents on the following products:
ArthAffect | Patent #6,224,8718 [15] | Granted 5/1/01 | Expires 3/11/18
Cellebrate | Patent #5,626,849 [16] | Granted 5/6/97 | Expires 6/7/15
FibRestore | Patent #5,567,424 [17] | Granted 10/22/96 | Expires 6/10/14
Innergize! | Patent #5,294,606 [18] | Granted 3/15/94 | Expires 11/24/12
ReversAge | Patent #6,368,617 [19] | Granted 4/9/02 | Expires 5/1/21
Reliv's first product, Reliv Classic, held patent #4,737,364 [20] until it expired in 2005.
Reliv is a direct selling company with a multi-level marketing plan.[21]