Latin and South American opportunities
There was some looking south in March. Vitamin Shoppe Inc. announced the opening of its first international franchised Vitamin Shoppe store in Panama City. The Panamanian franchisee, Reprico, opened the first store on March 4, but has been active in health and wellness retailing in Panama for many years.
Global network marketing company USANA announced plans to expand into Colombia during the third quarter of 2013. It is the 19th country the company will operate in.
USANA ranked 17th globally among all direct selling companies in 2011 with $582 million in sales, according to Direct Selling News.
We also looked at the opportunities and challenges of the nutrition sector in South America. Data from Euromonitor International indicated that the Brazilian functional and fortified packaged foods and dietary supplements markets have hit almost US$10 billion.
The markets have experienced significant growth over the last five years, with the Brazilian dietary supplements market growing from US$306.3mn in 2007 to US$473.2mn in 2012. Growth for the fortified and functional packaged food market has been even more impressive, growing from US$5bn in 2007 to US$9.8bn in 2012, an increase of 96%.