Sunrider
Encyclopedia
Sunrider Corporation, or Sunrider International, is a privately owned direct sales company with thousands of franchise stores worldwide, the stated goal of which is "to bring wealth and health to people all over the world". Its headquarters are in Torrance, California
. Sunrider manufactures health, beauty, food, and household products at four manufacturing plants worldwide. Sunrider does business in 42 countries worldwide, and operates offices in 22 countries.
in the United States
by the Taiwan
-born herbalist
, Dr. Tei-Fu Chen. In the late 1980s, the company moved its headquarters to the Los Angeles
area. It has since developed into a multinational corporation with about forty offices worldwide. Sunrider recently acquired several hotel properties in East Asia
. Sunrider has over 7,000 retail stores in China
, and will have 200 more stores in Malaysia this year.
Sunrider is an early innovator in stevia
products, using a non-chemical extraction method that removes the green color and the bitter aftertaste of the Stevia leaves.
Sunrider is an official sponsor of the annual Los Angeles AIDS Walk, Enterprise Mentors International (non-profit microfinance organization), the Torrance Chinese School, the American Cancer Society
"Relay for Life", UNICEF, and the Los Angeles Consular Corps
. Sunrider is the Sole sponsor for the Establishment of the Special Committee on Sub-health under the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies.
Sunrider is the exclusive food supplement supplier sponsoring the 2008 Israeli Olympic Team.
Sunrider has also made large monetary contributions to the Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF, the Gang Alternatives Program (GAP) in Los Angeles, the Deseret International Foundation, the Make a Wish Foundation in Korea, and numerous charities and scholarships in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Sunrider International constructed a new manufacturing and research & development facilities in the Harbor Gateway neighborhood of South Los Angeles
. The new facilities is one of five manufacturing locations that Sunrider operates worldwide. The L.A. manufacturing plant is over 1000000 square feet (92,903 m²).
.
In commemoration of the company's 25th anniversary, the 2007 Grand Convention was held in China and Hong Kong
, with nearly 10,000 people in attendance. Asian pop stars Richie Ren
and Kelly Chen
performed at the Convention.
The 2008 and 2009 Grand Conventions have been held in Anaheim, California. In 2010, Sunrider conducted convention during a cruise vacation. The 2011 Grand Convention is scheduled to convene in Long Beach, California
.
; 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 1000000 square feet (92,903 m²) of manufacturing space. The Los Angeles manufacturing plant was opened in July 2008 and is the largest of its kind in the world, having nearly one million square feet of manufacturing facilities and space in the heart of southern Los Angeles, California
and is recognized as a "Good Corporate Citizen" by the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County
Sunrider also manufactures its products in a way that ensures kosher and halal quality of their foods and supplements, making them marketable and available to the Jewish and Islamic communities.
Torrance, California
Torrance is a city incorporated in 1921 and located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Torrance has of shore-front beaches on the Pacific Ocean, quieter and less well-known by tourists than others on the Santa Monica Bay, such as those of neighboring...
. Sunrider manufactures health, beauty, food, and household products at four manufacturing plants worldwide. Sunrider does business in 42 countries worldwide, and operates offices in 22 countries.
Company history
Sunrider was founded in 1982 in Orem, UtahOrem, Utah
Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the north-central part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is about south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the principal cities of the Provo-Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Utah and...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by the Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
-born herbalist
Herbalist
An herbalist is:#A person whose life is dedicated to the economic or medicinal uses of plants.#One skilled in the harvesting and collection of medicinal plants ....
, Dr. Tei-Fu Chen. In the late 1980s, the company moved its headquarters to the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
area. It has since developed into a multinational corporation with about forty offices worldwide. Sunrider recently acquired several hotel properties in East Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. Sunrider has over 7,000 retail stores in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and will have 200 more stores in Malaysia this year.
Sunrider is an early innovator in stevia
Stevia
Stevia is a genus of about 240 species of herbs and shrubs in the sunflower family , native to subtropical and tropical regions from western North America to South America. The species Stevia rebaudiana, commonly known as sweetleaf, sweet leaf, sugarleaf, or simply stevia, is widely grown for its...
products, using a non-chemical extraction method that removes the green color and the bitter aftertaste of the Stevia leaves.
Sunrider is an official sponsor of the annual Los Angeles AIDS Walk, Enterprise Mentors International (non-profit microfinance organization), the Torrance Chinese School, the American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
"Relay for Life", UNICEF, and the Los Angeles Consular Corps
Los Angeles Consular Corps
The Los Angeles Consular Corps is an informal organization representative of the over 100 consulates located in Los Angeles, California. There is also a List of Los Angeles consulates....
. Sunrider is the Sole sponsor for the Establishment of the Special Committee on Sub-health under the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies.
Sunrider is the exclusive food supplement supplier sponsoring the 2008 Israeli Olympic Team.
Sunrider has also made large monetary contributions to the Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF, the Gang Alternatives Program (GAP) in Los Angeles, the Deseret International Foundation, the Make a Wish Foundation in Korea, and numerous charities and scholarships in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Sunrider International constructed a new manufacturing and research & development facilities in the Harbor Gateway neighborhood of South Los Angeles
South Los Angeles
South Los Angeles, often abbreviated as South L.A. and formerly South Central Los Angeles, is the official name for a large geographic and cultural portion lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central, and is still widely known...
. The new facilities is one of five manufacturing locations that Sunrider operates worldwide. The L.A. manufacturing plant is over 1000000 square feet (92,903 m²).
Grand Conventions
Every summer, Sunrider International hosts an annual event known as Grand Convention. The conventions are normally held in southern CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
In commemoration of the company's 25th anniversary, the 2007 Grand Convention was held in China and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, with nearly 10,000 people in attendance. Asian pop stars Richie Ren
Richie Ren
Richie Jen is a Taiwanese singer and actor. He has become extremely popular throughout Asia, particularly in the Chinese-speaking countries. He graduated from the Chinese Culture University's physical education department.-Films:...
and Kelly Chen
Kelly Chen
Kelly Chen is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress. Kelly has also been known as a diva in Asia. She has a great success in Asia Entertainment industry with nearly 20 million record sales of 38 albums...
performed at the Convention.
The 2008 and 2009 Grand Conventions have been held in Anaheim, California. In 2010, Sunrider conducted convention during a cruise vacation. The 2011 Grand Convention is scheduled to convene in Long Beach, California
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
.
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 throughout the globe Guangzhou, China; TaiwanTaiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
; Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
; and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. A fifth manufacturing plant is under construction in Kunshan, China, in the metropolitan area of Shanghai, China. The Kunshan plant will have nearly 1000000 square feet (92,903 m²) of manufacturing space. The Los Angeles manufacturing plant was opened in July 2008 and is the largest of its kind in the world, having nearly one million square feet of manufacturing facilities and space in the heart of southern Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and is recognized as a "Good Corporate Citizen" by the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County
Sunrider also manufactures its products in a way that ensures kosher and halal quality of their foods and supplements, making them marketable and available to the Jewish and Islamic communities.
Products
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Hotel Business
Sunrider has created a new hotel chain, having acquired several hotels in Asia. In Beijing, the hotels are the Sunworld Dynasty Hotel (on [{Wangfujing Avenue]]) and the Sunworld Hotel, which is next door. In Taipei the Sunworld Dynasty Hotel is one of the largest hotels in the city. Both hotels in Beijing are "Olympic" hotels, meaning that they are pre-booked by government officials for the weeks during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The Sunworld Dynasty hotels are five-star, while the Sunworld Hotel is a four-star. The Sunworld Dynasty Hotel in Beijing has Asia's largest indoor terrace plaza.Controversies
- Stephen BarrettStephen BarrettStephen Joel Barrett is a retired American psychiatrist, author, co-founder of the National Council Against Health Fraud , and the webmaster of Quackwatch. He runs a number of websites dealing with quackery and health fraud. He focuses on consumer protection, medical ethics, and scientific...
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. In addition, Barret claims that Sunrider distributors do not have the proper qualifications to advise their customers about the products' use. The company has instructed distributors to avoid medical claims, and no longer publicizes any such claims. - In 1987, salmonellaSalmonellaSalmonella is a genus of rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, predominantly motile enterobacteria with diameters around 0.7 to 1.5 µm, lengths from 2 to 5 µm, and flagella which grade in all directions . They are chemoorganotrophs, obtaining their energy from oxidation and reduction...
bacteria were found in one of the company's products. Since 1987, Sunrider has improved sanitary conditions, and has in fact received numerous awards in the category. - In 1992 a jury in Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, concluded that Sunrider had violated Arizona's racketeering laws and out of court Sunrider settled for $650,000 to a woman who claimed that Sunrider products have had a negative effect on her health. The company points out that no one else had negative effects from the products, and the woman's boyfriend admitted several years later to spiking the products with the toxic element thalliumThalliumThallium is a chemical element with the symbol Tl and atomic number 81. This soft gray poor metal resembles tin but discolors when exposed to air. The two chemists William Crookes and Claude-Auguste Lamy discovered thallium independently in 1861 by the newly developed method of flame spectroscopy...
to force Sunrider into an out-of-court settlement - In 1995 U.S. Attorney Nora Manella announced that Sunrider International and its owners had been charged with orchestrating a massive tax and customs fraud scheme to evade tens of millions of dollars in taxes. Manella announced that the Chens and 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. He served nearly a year in prison; she served six months of home detention. The Chens paid nearly $100 million in back taxes, interest and penalties and an additional $4 million to avoid forfeiting the artifacts they were accused of smuggling and undervaluing. Several years later, Robert Henrie published a book entitled "Journey to the Sun", in which he attempts to abridge all the events regarding the whole case.
Awards and recognition
- 2009 Forbes Magazine recognizes Sunrider's Dr. Tei-Fu Chen as one of top 28 philanthropists
- 2008 Certificate of Recognition from the Pediatric Therapy Network
- 2008 Certificate of Appreciation from the Torrance Unified School District
- 2008 Jade Sponsor Award from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles
- 2008 Gold Sponsor Plaque from the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce
- 2008 Commendation from the Mayor of the City of Redondo Beach
- 2008 World Healthcare Products Top 100 Brands Award for Sunrider China
- 2008 World Economy Top 10 Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Tei-Fu Chen at the 2008 Asia-Pacific Economy Council in Beijing
- Sunrider's founders Tei-Fu and Oi Lin Chen were jointly named No. 6 on the GoldseaGoldseaGoldsea.com is a large, fully featured magazine site. It is aimed at Asian Americans and publishes interviews and profiles of successful Asian Americans. The "Goldsea 100" celebrates high-achieving Asian American businesspeople and includes several billionaires, including one aged only 32...
100: America's Top Asian Entrepreneurs - 2007 Torrance Advantage "People to People" Award, presented by the City of Torrance, California
- 2007 Professional Enterprise Award to Sunrider Singapore
- 2007 Korea Marketing Distribution Grand Prix Award
- 2007 Certificate of Commendation from Singapore AVA for Sunrider Singapore Manufacturing
- 2007 AVA Grade A License for Singapore Manufacturing
- 2007 Certificate of Appreciation from UNICEF for Sunrider's generous donations
- 2007 Product Exemption from Quality Surveillance Inspection Certificate and Product Exemption from State Inspection Plaque
- Kosher Award
- Islamic Food & Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA) Award
- American Minority Business Award