ADA, Mich. (WOOD) — There is an area of the Amway facility in Ada where they used to produce and package soap, but times have changed.
These days, some 80 million cans of the company’s energy drink roll off the line every year.
Amway’s venture into the energy drink business began in 2002 when two Amway distributors convinced the company to add XS to their lines.
It took off.
By 2015, Amway’s bought the XS Energy drink outright. In 2020, the company built a new, nearly $16 million, highly automated facility to fill the demand.
“We supply the western hemisphere. That’s Canada, (the) United States and the Latin American systems,” said EX line Production Manager Aaron Ratigan as he walks through the 90,000-square-foot plant. “(The) other side of the wall is the most technically automated line at Amway. This is the most robotic line at Amway.”
Tuesday marks the 20th anniversary of the drink and News 8 got a look inside the factory Monday.
“We are producing over 20 flavors of energy drink in our own manufacturing warehouse, which is state of the art,” Brandi Huyser, XS Brand Manager, said.
Amway seems to have found a niche for its energy drink for both what’s in it and what’s not in it. It’s naturally flavored, but there’s no sugar and less caffeine than other energy drinks.
“So the XS team really focused on making sure that we delivered a sugar-free energy beverage that tasted good,” Huyser said.
Market analyst says the energy drink industry is expected to generate just over $68 billion in sales this year, growing to close to $99 billion by 2023.
“Our business in XS has continued to grow over the last five years. The great thing about the Amway business is as it grows, we continue to invest in the future,” Brian Kraus, chief supply chain officer at Amway, said. “This added about 25 jobs. We have another investment in Ada of roughly $50 million, hiring about another 100 people over the next couple of years. “
And as the popularity of energy drinks grows, so is the chance for future expansion.
To see current openings at Amway, click here.
