Destined to rise above

The right product at the right time let to Mannatech’s spectacular take-off

In 1994, after years of controversy among lawmakers, nutrition experts, manufacturers and consumers, the U.S. Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act, a wide-ranging piece of legislation that for the first time gave “dietary supplement” a legal definition.

For manufacturers in general, this meant official validation of the public’s surging interest in supplements. For Mannatech, a company that had just been launched in suburban Dallas, Texas, the act meant a green light just as its revolutionary discover of glyconutrients cam to fruition.

“In the U.S., prior to 1994, if you wanted to make a health claim for a product, you had to develop it as a drug,” says Stephen Boyd, M.D., Ph.D., Mannatech’s senior medical director. “The new law instead allowed companies t use their science as educational material in support of a nutritional supplement.”

In Mannatech’s case, the science in question was Glycobiology, at the time an obscure field devoted to the study of carbohydrates. At several companies, researchers who later joined Mannatech had been studying the function of these sugar molecules inside the body, with a growing focus on the aloe vera plant. Mannose sugar – or acemannan – had been pinpointed as a primary factor in aloe’s beneficial properties.

“Our researchers hypothesized that certain sugars represented a new category of nutrients, just like vitamins, mineral and amino acids,” says Sam Caster, chairman, founder and CEO of Mannatech. “We were the first to recognize that those sugars are essential for the proper function of every human cell, and yet for the most part, they are deficient in modern diets.”

In 1994, Mr.Caster secured a license to distribute Manapol, a compound derived from aloe vera. The patented process for creating Manapol was instrumental in launching Mannatech’s early business. Other advances quickly followed, culminating in the introduction of Ambrotose complex, a unique, patented glyconutrient formula the remains Mannatech’s most popular product.

Since then, Mannatech’s success has been nothing less than astounding, with sales doubling every few years. “Ninety percent of our growth was due to the effectiveness of the product,” Mr. Caster says. “We knew very early on that we were going to be successful, because we saw the initial response from customers. If our products had no effect, we wouldn’t have the sales.”

Mannatech’s success hasn’t gone unnoticed. Last year, one of America’s premier news magazines, Business Week, ranked Mannatech sixth among the nation’s top 100 Hot Growth companies in the U.S. The magazine rigorously culled a database of 2,200 publicly traded companies to choose the top 100.

“What these companies prove is that talent, teamwork and creativity often win out, even against tough foes like a struggling economy and fierce competition,” the magazine said. “Most of this year’s performers have hit on innovative ideas or tapped into economic trends that continue to fuel their growth.”

In January 2005, the reputable BRW Australasian magazine listed Mannatech as the number-one direct-selling power in nutritional dietary supplements.

Mannatech’s success demonstrates the viability of its products, its business model and its unique positioning within the nutritional supplements industry. And despite its aggressive international expansion, the company remains debt free.

Today Mannatech is a worldwide hit, with nearly 30 products aimed at health, nutrition, weight management, sports performance and skin care sold in numerous countries. Any of the company’s 510,000 active Independent Associates and Members worldwide can share the benefits of Mannatech’s products with others, and many of them find even greater satisfaction in the company’s extensive charitable efforts to help orphans and struggling communities.

Though much has been accomplished, the best may be yet to come as glycobiology and the role carbohydrates play in cell-to-cell communication move from the footnotes of science textbooks to the front pages of prestigious journals. More than 20,000 peer-reviewed articles have now been published on the biological functions of glyconutrients, a great vindication in light of the skepticism that once greeted the topic.

“Glycobiology has caught the eye of mainstream medicine and the pharmaceutical industry has become a very hot area of research,” says Robert Sinnott, M.N.S., Ph.D., Mannatech’s chief science officer. “We were one of the first players in glyconutrients, and the first to do it right as a supplement.”