Ryan S. Napierski of Nu Skin: Insisting on Sustainable Development and Providing Products under the Philosophy of "All of the Good and None of the Bad"

CRI Online: Global climate governance has become one of the most pressing issues facing the world. With the carbon peaking and neutrality goals put forward, green development has become the consensus of enterprise development. For enterprises, the dual carbon goals bring significant development opportunities, with more challenges emerging. As a multinational company that provides innovative beauty and wellness products and services to consumers around the globe, Nu Skin Enterprises (hereinafter referred to as Nu Skin) is committed to keeping its global communities clean, safe, and protected for the future, focusing on three critical pillars: people, planet and products, with sustainability ingrained in the corporate culture. Recently, the President and CEO of Nu Skin, Ryan S. Napierski accepted an exclusive interview with a journalist from CRI Online and explained in detail Nu Skin's initiatives and achievements in sustainability, social responsibility, and digital innovation.

Providing Consumers with Products that Have "All of the Good and None of the Bad"

Nu Skin has participated in four consecutive China International Green Innovation Development Forums, and at the recent Seventh China International Green Innovation Development Forum, Nu Skin was honored as a "Leading Enterprise in Low-Carbon Development".

Ryan S. Napierski, President and CEO of Nu Skin

According to Ryan S. Napierski, Nu Skin was founded 38 years ago with a sustainable product philosophy: to provide consumers with products that have "All of the Good and None of the Bad", meaning that Nu Skin focuses on responsibly sourcing the best ingredients for its beauty and wellness products and avoiding harmful fillers.

He stated that “product quality is the cornerstone of our commitment to consumer rights and corporate development. In the pursuit of prolonged effectiveness and safety in products, Nu Skin has developed its own 6S quality process to tightly maintain quality, efficacy, and safety controls through each and every stage of the product development and production process. This includes things like the production and procurement of raw materials, subject research selection of active ingredients, qualitative and quantitative analysis to product safety to ensure we meet the highest standards and comply with all relevant government requirements. With quality management, all of Nu Skin's products, regardless of the country in which they are marketed, undergo a series of verification procedures for product ingredients, production processes, and so on, in accordance with local laws and regulations, including all current standards for health care products, food, and cosmetics. Nu Skin only markets and sells its products in China after they have passed the testing and approval process according to relevant national regulations," said Ryan S. Napierski.

Earlier in 2022, Nu Skin released its 2021 Social Impact and Sustainability Report. The report outlines the progress made in its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) areas, which includes the sustainability commitments of Nu Skin. With improvements made to product packaging in 2021, Nu Skin successfully saved 131 tons of plastics and 34.4 tons of paper. Furthermore, Nu Skin has been working to make all product packaging recycled, recyclable, reusable, reduced, or renewable by 2030. This leads to better prevention of environmental pollution and resource waste and also strives to reduce the use of plastics and carbon emissions. What's more, Nu Skin's Ingredient Dictionary, which has become the company's consumer-oriented explanatory document on ingredients, is continually updated to allow consumers to search for product ingredients by name and to obtain information on the functions of the various ingredients and why they are used. Moreover, the Phase II project of Nu Skin Greater China Innovation Headquarters Park is constructed in full compliance with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, the international green building certification system, to maximize its efforts in implementing the concept of energy conservation and environmental protection.

Completing Nu Skin's Digital Ecosystem

Internet-of-Things (IoT) connectivity reaches out to almost every industry and vertical market. IoT devices have penetrated the fields of communication, transportation, fitness, and even oral care. A recent McKinsey report on the Internet of Things predicts USD 5 trillion to USD 12 trillion in economic value by 2030 as consumers connect with services that provide them with more insight and value. The beauty and wellness industries are on the cusp of this disruptive technological transformation. Ryan S. Napierski believes that Nu Skin is well positioned to lead.

In 2017, it has set up strategic cooperation with Ali Cloud, a leading cloud computing tycoon to initiate the "digitization of all business"; at the end of 2019, it developed a basic cloud structure with "Nu Town" as the online platform; in December 2020, it engaged in the strategic cooperation with Tencent to expand the customer expansion channels with the data analysis function of Tencent's products. All of these contribute to the initial shape of Nu Skin's digital ecosystem. In September 2021, Nu Skin launched a mini program, Nu Skin Official Mall, with more than 1.55 million visits and 160,000 newly registered users on the first day of launch. In August 2022, riding on new trends, Nu Skin launched a digital ecosystem, integrating products, technology, and community to facilitate business partners to expand the market through this platform.

"For instance, the NU Store is not only an online store for business partners but also a powerful customer management toolIt is convenient to share and sell  products and links with Nu Skin Official Mall to provide business partners a clearer understanding of their customers, making it easier to expand their business and attract new customers.  Business partners will also be able to carry out community marketing and organize group purchases on WeChat, while customers will enjoy a new shopping experience as well," said Ryan S. Napierski.

Gathering "Force for Good" and Practicing Corporate Social Responsibility

Nu Skin's mission is to be a global force for good by empowering people to improve lives with innovative products, rewarding opportunities and an enriching culture. As a pivotal role in Nu Skin's "Force for Good" the Nu Skin Shanghai Foundation has always been concerned about children's health and the underprivileged in society, helping impoverished families and children escape poverty due to illness or lack of education and improving the educational environment through various programs. "Let's take Nu Skin Greater China Children's Heart Fund for instance. It helps children with congenital heart diseases gain health and hope by funding medical treatment for those from poverty-stricken families," introduced Ryan S. Napierski. “To date, the Nu Skin Greater China Children's Heart Fund has successfully raised more than CNY 100 million in Greater China: saving the lives of more than 10,000 children with heart disease."

Additionally, Nu Skin has many programs to promote the healthy development of children, such as the Nu Skin Primary School Project and the Nu Skin Spring Bud Program. To date, The Nu Skin Primary School Program has sponsored 30 schools and has helped over 47,000 students in total. Since 2014, through the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, Nu Skin has donated kitchen equipment to 63 schools to create a comprehensive nourishment program for thousands of children in need.

Ryan S. Napierski also mentioned that in addition to its nonprofit programs, Nu Skin has a for-profit one to help alleviate child hunger and nutrition problems. "Through its Nourish the Children program, Nu Skin and its business partners, customers, and employees have now purchased and donated more than 750 million VitaMeals since 2002 and have distributed VitaMeals to more than 60 countries worldwide. More than 1.7 million children in the Chinese mainland have improved their nutritional status through Nu Skin's aid."

For its remarkable contributions to charity, Nu Skin (China) has been awarded the China Charity Award five times by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China in 2008, 2011, 2012, 2016, and 2018. From 2010 to 2018, Nu Skin (China) won the China Philanthropy Top Ten Charity Companies Awards for nine consecutive years. Nu Skin (China) received the Guangming Meritorious Award and the Guangming Contribution Award in 2006, 2007, and 2010 for its active participation in the Lifeline Express Foundation's charitable efforts to alleviate poverty and treat blindness.

Thorough Development in Chinese Market is Nu Skin's Long-term Strategy

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, global economic progression and the international terrain are facing great obstacles. Nu Skin has been actively supporting and working side by side with the government, striving to achieve both epidemic prevention and control and sound production and operations. During the epidemic, Nu Skin actively promoted its online business to drive consumer demand and laid out its digital transformation to bring a different consumer experience.

Mainland China remains one of Nu Skin's largest markets, with potential for significant growth, according to Ryan S. Napierski. In 2014, Nu Skin invested nearly CNY 500 million to establish the Nu Skin Greater China Innovation Headquarters Park, the largest overseas investment by Nu Skin. As of now, five production bases and one R&D center have been established in China by Nu Skin.

"Recently, we have invested CNY 360 million to expand Phase II of the Park in Shanghai, which will quadruple production capacity to meet market demand in China and Asia. We have made these significant investments in China, using Nu Skin (China) as a key R&D center, manufacturing center, and innovation center for the company. We attach great importance to the opportunity to assimilate into the Chinese market as the Chinese government insists on reform and opening up to the global community. We believe that China's open market as the world's second-largest economy will bring tremendous potential, and we will continue to deepen the development of the Chinese market in the future and make it a long-term development strategy for the company," said Ryan S. Napierski.