Sunrider International Headquarters

If you happen to pass by Torrance, California, there is the big possibility that you would see Sunrider International’s headquarters. Here is the background of the company. Sunrider International is a multi-level-marketing company owned by Dr. Tei-Fu Chen; a renowned herbalist. Born in Taiwan in the year 1948, he experienced being sick almost all the time. Through his grandfather, he came to know of the various medicinal herbs in their village. He understood the herbs’ potency and the possibility of them being used as modern-day medicine for illnesses.

To accomplish this, he went and studied his grandfather’s journals about herbs and coupled it with studying at the Kaohsiung Medical College. With the ancient knowledge about herbs and a degree in Pharmacy at his disposal, he dreamed of letting the world know the importance and the value of herbs to the world.

While at college, he met his future wife, Dr. Oi-Lin Chen. Upon getting married, they went to the United States sometime in 1974 to live there and to chase their dream. Like any immigrants, he went and worked at least three jobs to make ends meet.

He initially wanted to enter medical school in the United States but he was not successful in doing so. His wife; however, got her medical degree in 1982. During this time, he went back to his roots and began mixing various herbs to create medicines. He then sold them out from their apartment in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was at this time that he wanted to create a company that specializes in herbs and medicines. He was also researching another company during this time and in 1982, he was able to buy the said company and used it as a foundation to build the company that we now know as Sunrider and the Sunrider manufacturing plant.

He was fueled by the idea that with his meager earnings as a normal employee, he would never reach his goal of earning lots of money. He thought of franchising while musing over a hamburger for lunch. However, he also knew that franchising in itself needs a lot of money for it to even be a startup business. Because of this, when he finally founded Sunrider, he wanted it to be franchised so that other people would have the opportunity to build a business without the need of huge amounts of money.

Sunrider International early years

After two years in the business, Dr. Chen transferred his company to Los Angeles and began venturing to other household items like beauty products, cleaning materials, and food. All of these are made from herbs, of course. From a single company, Sunrider has now expanded to have more than forty offices worldwide. Not to mention that Sunrider is operating in about 42 countries and have more than 2,000 stores. In fact, Sunrider International has more than 7,000 stores in China alone.

All of this started from a young boy’s dream – a dream that became a goal in life. Dr. Chen wanted to spread the effects of herbs in the world and would like the people to experience the wellness that cured him of his illnesses when he was a child. The couple has five children and all of them helped their parents in making Sunrider grow into a global leader in herbal pharmaceuticals and into a big business opportunity for all to take advantage of.

Do take note that the herbs used in their products are grown and processed from within the company itself. These products are not only being manufactured in California but also in Mainland China, Singapore, and his native Taiwan. Their products are then sold worldwide by distributors that use multi-level marketing as a medium.

There were times that the company was challenged by legal problems. However, the business still thrived and prospered due to its tenets – great health and great financial opportunities. There were even accusations that their products have false claims about its therapeutic effects and that their distributors do not have proper qualifications to advise the people about their product’s effects. None of these were proven to be true though and since food is the main theme of their products, qualifications are not even needed for them to make suggestions on how to use the products. To be on the safe side; however, they advised their distributors not to make medical claims about their products.

It would be wrong to assume that only Dr. Chen and his wife were the main founders of Sunrider International. They also have enlisted the help of K. Dean Black who was a native of Salt Lake City, Utah and has a Ph.D. in human development specializing in gerontology. He was enthralled by the effectiveness of Dr. Chen’s herbal medicines when he personally experienced it when he was down with hayfever and various food allergies. It is also at this time when he received an explanation from Dr. Chen about the herbs’ potential to restore great metabolism and overall health. He became president of the company but left the position in 1984. Due to this, Dr. Chen became the chairman of the board and president of the company at the same time.

Sunrider Products

Two of their products are Fortune Delight and Calli. The former is a concentrated food supplement that nourishes the body while the latter is an Oriental tea that is to be consumed after meals to aid in the digestion of food in the body. Other products were specifically designed to aid the body’s immune and lymphatic systems, cardiovascular and circulatory systems, the reproductive system, and the digestive system. These products are Alpha 20C, Lifestream, Prime Again and Assimilaid, respectively. Some of their products are utilizing the effectiveness of that ever-so-popular herb called Korean white ginseng. Not only that, dong quai, Siberian ginseng root bark, goldenseal root, and white willow bark are also being used in their products.

After some time, a second Sunrider division was created and it was called Vitalite Weight Management. It primarily produced weight control products. These products (three of them) were to be consumed in specific hours of the day – morning, afternoon and evening. A third division was created and this time, its products are for hair and skincare. Its products are shampoos and hair conditioners, soaps, creams, lotions, and aftershaves. It came to be known as the Kandesn Skin and Personal Care.

Dr. Chen made it a point that all of his products would make the person using it feel revitalized, rejuvenated and for their health to be restored in optimal conditions. He wanted to prevent illnesses and diseases by using these various medicinal herbs and the goal was for the person to be regenerated, so to speak.

Aside from the medicine business, Sunrider International also delved into the business of hotels when they bought the Holiday Inn Asiaworld Taipei. It was afterward renamed the Sunworld Dynasty Hotel Taipei. They also have expressed interest in acquiring more hotels since they think that it is also a very profitable business in its own right.

Sunrider International also supports UNICEF, the Torrance Memorial Medical Center, and various universities not only in the United States but worldwide as part of its philanthropic projects.

Starting from a young boy’s dream, Dr. Chen, along with his wife have reached their goals. What started as a means to earn for his family, Dr. Chen’s Sunrider International is now helping others by promoting good health and financial stability at the same time.