Sunrider Corporation, or Sunrider International, is a privately owned multi-level marketing company headquartered in Torrance, California. Sunrider lists thousands of franchise stores and tens of thousands of distributors internationally. Sunrider manufactures health, beauty, food, and household products at four manufacturing plants: Southern California, China, Singapore, and Taiwan. Sunrider does business in 42 countries, and operates offices in 22 countries.
Company history
Sunrider was founded in 1982 in Orem, Utah in the United States by the Taiwan-born herbalist, Tei-Fu Chen. In the late 1980s, the company moved its headquarters to the Los Angeles area. It has since expanded into an international corporation with about forty offices worldwide. In 2007 Sunrider purchased the Holiday Inn Asiaworld Taipei and renamed it the Sunworld Dynasty Hotel Taipei, and expressed plans to purchase more hotels in Asia. Sunrider has over 7,000 retail stores in China. In 1995 Sunrider International and its owner were charged with orchestrating a tax and customs fraud scheme to evade tens of millions of dollars in taxes. Chen and the Sunrider Corporation were indicted by a federal grand jury in a 20-count indictment charging them with conspiracy, tax evasion, filing of false corporate tax returns, and smuggling. In 1997, the Chens entered into a plea bargain with the court on the charges of tax evasion and customs fraud. Tei-Fu Chen served nearly a year in minimum security prison while his wife, Oi-Lin Chen, served six months of home detention. The couple paid over $100 million in back taxes, interest and penalties and an additional $4 million to avoid forfeiting the items they were accused of smuggling and undervaluing. Sunrider's founders were jointly named No. 6 on the Goldsea 100 list of America's top Asian entrepreneurs. And in 2017, Sunrider’s President, Dr. Oi-Lin Chen, was named one of the most influential women in the direct selling industry.
Business
Sunrider is a multi-level marketing company which is primarily known for selling herbal products such as diet pills, teas, and health snacks. As of 2009 the company was reported to have an annual revenue of over $700 million, and 300,000 distributors. Stephen Barrett has accused the company of making false claims regarding its products' therapeutic effects, and reports legal problems the company has faced from the FDA and state of California regarding false medical claims. However, none of them were substantiated, and the company has never been directed to pay any fines for such wrong doings. In addition, Barret has said that Sunrider distributors do not have the proper qualifications to advise their customers about the product. However, since the products are foods, there are actually no qualifications needed to make suggestions for product use. The company has instructed distributors to avoid medical claims. In 1992, Sunrider settled out of court to a woman who claimed that Sunrider products had negatively affected her health. This was settled out of court, even though the woman's estranged husband came forward with information about how poison had been added to the product after the woman received the products.
Hotel business
Sunrider owns and operates a hotel chain called Sunworld Dynasty, having acquired several hotels in Asia. In Beijing, the hotels are the Sunworld Dynasty Hotel and the Sunworld Hotel, located next door. In Taipei, Taiwan, the Sunworld Dynasty Hotel is one of the largest hotels in the city. Sunrider acquired the 297-room SLS Beverly Hills for about $200 million in mid 2015. The hotel is located at 465 S. La Cienega Blvd.
Manufacturing of products
Sunrider International researches, develops, and manufactures all of its own products and does not outsource any production. The manufacturing process begins with buying raw herbs, sanitizing/cleansing the herbs, refining and concentrating, and packaging. This process occurs at all of Sunrider's four manufacturing sites in Guangzhou, China; Taiwan; Singapore; and Los Angeles. A fifth manufacturing plant is under construction in Kunshan, China, in the metropolitan area of Shanghai, China. The Kunshan plant will have nearly of manufacturing space. The Los Angeles manufacturing plant was opened in July 2008 and also has nearly of manufacturing facilities and space. In 1987, salmonella bacteria were found in one of the company's products. Sunrider products are both kosher and halal, making them marketable and available to the Jewish and Islamic communities.
Philanthropy
Sunrider International has long held a global commitment to supporting initiatives related to health, education, and youth issues. Sunrider has contributed millions of dollars to organizations such as UNICEF, Torrance Memorial Medical Center, and numerous universities in the U.S. and worldwide.
