Category Archives: Farming

Trusting Nutrilite Organic Farming Practices

A key reason why consumers trust the Nutrilite™ brand is because of the continual innovation occurring on our certified organic farms. Our farms represent an advanced ecosystem that combines thousands of acres of fertile farmland with sustainable organic farming practices.

The research field at Trout Lake West. Research and innovation happen on all of our certified organic farms.

Our commitment to vertical integration allows us to control the entire production process from the seed planted in the soil to the supplement you eat every day. In practical terms, this means we can maintain a steady supply of the nutritious botanicals used to make ingredients for your favorite Amway products, including Nutrilite™ supplements and Artistry beauty products.

Early Inspiration

The inspiration for our farming practices began quite humbly when my father, Nutrilite founder Carl Rehnborg, started growing alfalfa on a small farm in California’s San Fernando Valley in the 1940s. He simply wanted the purest, most nutritious botanicals for his supplements, and he intuitively knew that they needed to be grown sustainably and naturally, without chemical pesticides or fertilizers. This was before we even knew to call it organic farming.

Farmer using a scythe in field.

I remember helping him harvest alfalfa when I was a young boy. He included me in his daily work on the farm, even when I might have been creating more trouble for him than being helpful. As I reflect on those early days, I can see that his thinking at the time created the foundation our farming practices are built on.

Practicing Our Sustainable Organic Philosophy

Our farms represent the pinnacle of our sustainable organic philosophy put into practice, and we do it on an impressive scale. Even so, the farms are not large enough, or diverse enough, to provide the steady supply of botanical ingredients that go into all our products.

Our flagship supplement alone, Nutrilite™ Double X™, contains as many as 22 different plant nutrients. And if you count all the different plant ingredients in the full complement of Nutrilite products, the number exceeds 190 botanicals.

That’s why we can’t source every plant ingredient found in our products from our own farms. Not to mention that many of our ingredients come from unique geographic locales around the world.

Our NutriCert™ Program

So how do we do it? It all happens because of our NutriCert™ program, an incredible supply-chain system that has been in place since 2004. We just wouldn’t be able to provide the breadth of plant-based products for you without it.

Through NutriCert™ we partner with farmers around the world who have values like ours. In this way we can grow plants with newly discovered phytonutrients that wouldn’t flourish on our own farms. NutriCert™ certification requires partner farms to be traceable, ecologically sustainable, and socially responsible.

On our own farms and partner farms, we can monitor every step from seed to finished product. We can even trace a plant back to the farm and field where it was planted and grown.

Here are some examples of our NutriCert™ program practices:

  • Maintenance of a natural and balanced farm site environment
  • Ecologically vital operations that enhance biodiversity
  • Good agricultural practices that promote food safety
  • Worker safety and development
  • Community outreach and involvement
  • Documentation of farm management plans and production activities
  • Traceability of final ingredient to the agricultural field location

The great thing is that the partnerships we’ve created benefit everyone involved. Farmers benefit financially by learning to grow crops using the high NutriCert™ program standards. This, in turn, helps invigorate the local communities. We benefit by expanding our supply chain in a controlled way without compromising quality. Finally, consumers benefit as we can meet the ever-increasing demand for Nutrilite™ products.

It creates a natural success cycle that continues to improve the products we produce and the world we live in. What could be better than that?

Cheers!

Farming in the Future

A person smiling for the camera
Nutrilite Scientist, Susannah Cooper, Ph.D.

Talk to Susannah Cooper, Ph.D., about innovation in farming and you’ll soon find yourself discussing the ins-and-outs of regenerative agriculture. It’s a newer approach to farming that could make a big difference in how we cultivate the soil and grow crops.

Dr. Cooper works in the Innovation Sciences Department at Nutrilite managing a team of scientists and agronomists who are experimenting with the future of farming.

A long history of sustainable farming

There’s a long history of farming innovation at Nutrilite. It started with my father growing alfalfa in the 1930s before we even knew to call it organic. He was looking for the purest, most nutritious botanicals, and he already knew that they needed to be grown sustainably and naturally, without any synthetic fertilizers or chemicals.

A picture containing outdoor, person, grass, field
Nutrilite Founder Carl Rehnborg in a field of alfalfa.

From our beginning, we’ve believed in the power of plants to deliver the best products to our customers and Amway Business Owners. But it was an “a-ha” moment my father had about happy, healthy cows that helped pave the way for our sustainable farming techniques that we practice up to this day, albeit on a much larger scale. It was the seed of an idea that has blossomed into a movement to help improve the nutrition of people all over the world.

Dr. Cooper’s Ph.D. is in plant breeding and genetics. She also has a master’s degree in entomology, so she understands insects and how they might interact with plants. I spoke with her recently about current Nutrilite farming practices.

The right plant in the right place

Dr. Cooper has a saying. “The right plant in the right place.” It’s a simple phrase, yet it captures the complexity of what she and the team do. The idea is to cultivate the best crops based on geography and type of farming. Hydroponic farming may make sense for certain crops, while other crops will grow better in one of the climates where our organic farms are located. In addition, the large variety of plants Nutrilite grows increases the biodiversity in our farming. Biodiversity, and using cover crops strategically to increase the health of the soil, is not only good farming practice, but it is also good for the planet.

According to Dr. Cooper, it all comes back to focusing on the soil as the most important component of our farming philosophy. The undisturbed soil that regenerative agriculture relies upon can increase carbon sequestration and keep healthy microbes working in the dirt to increase the nutrient density of the plants growing on the land. And healthier soils mean better climate resilience and drought tolerance.

High-tech, earth-friendly techniques

Nutrilite is harnessing the best of emerging technology and combining it with simple, effective, and earth-friendly techniques. For example, the biggest challenge for sustainable farming is weed control. Conventional farms often use synthetic chemicals to control weeds. We don’t. That means we rely on simple weeding along with innovate techniques to keep weeds from germinating. We use flaming early in the season to keep weeds from going to seed and we continue to experiment with lasers that zap weeds before they can even appear.

Trout Lake Farms Agricultural practices. Weeding the field.

Using advanced technology to keep the soil healthy and the crops filled with healthy nutrients is not only the present, but the future of farming. We’ve been relying on GPS tractors for years, but there’s even more innovative technology we can lean on to supply healthy plants for Nutrilite products.

Keeping the soil rich for future generations is the type of stewardship that’s ingrained in our work.

We wouldn’t want it any other way!

Cheers,

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