Forbes Feature Article Explores What Sets Melaleuca Apart on Value

Forbes ranked Melaleuca No. 2 among America’s Best Brands for Value, placing the company ahead of the nation’s most recognizable brands, including Toyota, Trader Joe’s, Lands’ End, USAA, Apple and Sam’s Club. The recognition brings Melaleuca into the national spotlight and highlights the company’s quality-first approach to value.

This award is evidence that Melaleuca continues to be discovered.

In the Forbes feature article “Melaleuca, Drury Hotels, Canva Join Costco as Top Value Brands,” published on June 30, 2026, Forbes explains the philosophy that has guided the company since its founding: Exceptional Products at Reasonable Prices.

The feature followed Melaleuca’s No. 2 ranking on Forbes’ 2026 America’s Best Brands for Value list.

“Most people think value means paying less,” Melaleuca Founder and Executive Chairman Frank VanderSloot told Forbes. “We think it means receiving more.”

Forbes business reporter John Schroyer interviewed VanderSloot about Melaleuca’s approach to quality, affordability, and value. That approach, VanderSloot told him, begins with quality.

“Regarding wellness products, people don’t want cheaper,” VanderSloot said. “They want better. They want effective products they can trust to make them healthier.”

Schroyer described Melaleuca’s philosophy as an emphasis on “both quality and affordability — in that order.”

Why Forbes Took a Closer Look at Melaleuca

The data placed Melaleuca ahead of America’s most recognizable household names, yet the company was less familiar to the Forbes editorial team than many brands near the top of the list.

During Schroyer’s interview with VanderSloot, the business journalist explained that although Melaleuca was a new name to him and his editor, Melaleuca is “doing a great job impressing its customers” and “doing something right to have its customers feel so positively about the brand.”

Schroyer described the HundredX methodology as solid and extensive, calling Melaleuca’s high ranking “pretty stunning, especially as a lesser-known company” compared with some of the world’s most iconic brands that appear on the prestigious list.

VanderSloot responded by saying, “We’re honored that our customers feel this way about us.”

What Consumers Told Forbes

Forbes partnered with consumer insights company HundredX to analyze 4.7 million ratings from more than 160,000 consumers between June 2025 and May 2026. The research measured the benefits consumers received relative to the price they paid.

More than 5,500 brands were evaluated on quality, price, customer service, satisfaction and likelihood to recommend. Only 300 made the final Forbes list.

The 2026 Best Brands for Value list is based on consumers’ assessments of their experiences: the quality they received, the price they paid, and the overall value they found in the relationship.

That distinction is meaningful. Melaleuca did not create the criteria, conduct the research, or determine its position on the list. Consumers did.

What “Quality First” Looks Like

The consumer research shows what people believe they are receiving for the price they pay. The other side of the equation is how Melaleuca works to create that value.

For Melaleuca, value begins with investing in science and research, seeking better ingredients and technologies, and utilizing that research to improve formulas and manufacturing processes. Then making those higher-quality products available at reasonable prices.

Quality comes first because it affects every part of the customer experience: how a product performs, whether customers feel confident using it, and whether they believe it is worth the price. Affordability remains essential, VanderSloot explained, but quality is not compromised for the sake of price.

Part of a Growing Record of Independent Recognition

Forbes has included Melaleuca on several national lists, most recently naming it one of America’s Best Midsize Employers for 2026 for the fourth time.

Other publications and independent research firms have also recognized Melaleuca, including:

• TIME named Melaleuca one of America’s Best Private Companies.
• U.S. News & World Report included Melaleuca among its Best Companies to Work For.
• USA TODAY named Melaleuca one of America’s Most Trusted Brands and one of America’s Best Stores.

Together, these recognitions reflect different aspects of Melaleuca, including how consumers view its products and how employees experience the company.

Learn more about the independent national honors Melaleuca has received.

VanderSloot recently noted that national media organizations are increasingly commissioning independent research based on consumer and employee experiences. Those findings reflect what people who know the company—as customers or employees—say about it.

Forbes’ recognition gives many others an opportunity to discover what Melaleuca customers have known for decades: exceptional products, offered at reasonable prices.