Herbalife refers to both the company and the famous brand of health products that are distributed in many countries around the world. Herbalife is also classified as a multi-level marketing company that involves sales agents and distributors selling their various weight loss and nutritional products.  Herbalife as a company advertises itself as business opportunity for people who are willing to sell and/or distribute their products. As a nutrition brand, its products are targeted at people who want to lose weight and for those who want nutrition in the form of supplements.  Being a multi-level marketing company, Herbalife has its own critics and was involved in several controversies.  The following are some facts about the company and its products:

Fact 1:  Herbalife International is a hugely successful and growing business since its inception in the US in 1980.  With multi-million net incomes and billions of sales of its products, Herbalife is one success story in multi-level marketing and nutritional products.

Fact 2:  The Herbalife selling and distribution model and its nutritional products are widely distributed in almost 100 countries around the world. More than 3 million people are sellers and independent distributors of Herbalife products like supplements and protein shakes.

Fact 3:  Herbalife is deemed illegal in Belgium.  Its business model and practices as multi-level marketing company is considered an illegal pyramiding scheme by the Commercial Court of Belgium.

Fact 4:  Herbalife founder Mark Hughes started selling his products in the trunk of his car. The first products were protein shakes designed for weight loss and these were apparently sold by direct selling means with the help of his car.

Fact 5:  Not all sellers and distributors of Herbalife products become successful unlike the mother company they represent.  Based on official statistics from Herbalife’s own website, as much as 30% of its sales supervisors actually earn nothing when signing up to become part of their marketing team.

Fact 6:  Only a handful gain success from selling or distributing Herbalife products.  Less than 1% of the total sales force actually earns a significant amount of money from actual sales and commissions from selling Herbalife products.  Half of the sales supervisors only earn very minimal income from Herbalife.

Fact 7:  Herbalife is controversial in many countries because of its “get rich quick” scheme.  Many people see Herbalife as an illegal pyramiding scam and the products are simply used as a front for the business.  The actual earnings of the company are generated by the millions of would-be sales agents and distributors who sign up to become part of the pyramiding scheme.

Fact 8:  Some Herbalife products contain toxic and genetically-modified substances like soy derivatives.  This is another issue that has made Herbalife even more controversial.  Many health experts believe that some of its protein shakes and supplements contain harmful soy derivatives that can possibly lead to cancer.

 Fact 9:  Minorities in the US are targeted as sellers and distributors.  Minority groups such as Latinos comprise a big chunk of the marketing arm for Herbalife and they are enticed to join because of the controversial get rich quickly program.

Fact 10:  Most people that join Herbalife’s business scheme actually end up losing money.  Only a small percentage actually gets some income from the sales and commissions of so-called down-lines.  Most people end up earning no money at all.