Nature’s Way wanted to sell its dietary supplements in China, but came up against a multimillion dollar barrier.
Health supplements must undergo a registration and approval process in China that would cost the Wisconsin-based company about $100,000 per product, said James Konkle, director of international operations. With 37 products earmarked for the Chinese market, Nature’s Way would have paid $3.7 million before making its first vitamin sale. That was three years ago, and the Schwabe North America Inc. unit instead opted for an alternative route to China’s 134 billion yuan ($19 billion) vitamins and supplements market.
