Watkins 1868

A walk through history. Scrolling through the Watkins website is like taking a walk through time. In 1868 Joseph Ray Watkins bought the rights to Dr. Ward's Celebrated Liniment for $100 and began making it in his home in Plainview, Minnesota, selling it door to door to farm families with tired, aching muscles. He moved the company to Winona in 1885, and Watkins products have been made there ever since. The 1911 Administration Building and the Winona plant were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

America's first guarantee. In 1869 Watkins molded a "Trial-Mark" about a third of the way down each bottle. Customers could use the liniment down to the mark and still get a full refund if they were not satisfied. The company says this was the first money-back guarantee in America, and it still backs its products with one today.

The Watkins Man. From the beginning, Watkins relied on door-to-door sales through its team of Consultants, and "the Watkins Man" became a household name across the Midwest. By the 1940s Watkins was, by its own account, the largest direct sales company in the world. The 2002 Emmy-winning television movie Door to Door told the story of Bill Porter, a Watkins salesman who walked his Portland, Oregon route for more than 40 years despite cerebral palsy. Today's Watkins Consultants are home-based business owners who sell through their personal Watkins websites, at booths and markets, and face to face.

Kernel Season's, Spice Hunter and Sauer's branded spices and seasonings are exactly the kind of high-quality brands that complement the heritage business Watkins has been growing for more than 150 years.

J.R. Rigley, CEO, The Watkins Company — The Shelby Report, September 2026

A flavor company now. Watkins once sold everything from cough syrup to dish soap. In 2017 it sold its home care, personal care and remedy lines to a private equity buyer, which runs them as the separate J.R. Watkins brand. Since then Watkins 1868 has focused on food: Original Gourmet Baking Vanilla, pure and organic extracts, herbs and spices, grilling rubs and marinades, sugars, sprinkles and dye-free food coloring, recipe mixes and bitters. The company says its products are made without artificial flavors or colors, GMOs or corn syrup, and that it does not test on animals. Recent launches include Cherry Bitters in 2025 and specialty salts in 2026.

New owners, bigger company. Minneapolis investor Irwin Jacobs bought Watkins in 1978, and his son Mark Jacobs ran it for decades. In October 2024 KDSA Investment Partners and Cannae Holdings bought a majority stake for about $80 million, with Mark Jacobs keeping a significant share. Cannae described Watkins as "a premium brand in the spices, seasonings and extracts category, one of the fastest growing segments in the US food industry." In September 2026 Watkins agreed to buy Sauer Brands' spice and seasoning business, including the Kernel Season's and Spice Hunter brands and plants in Virginia and California. For Consultants this means a brand with more retail muscle behind it, and a catalog that is likely to keep growing. The official site is watkins1868.com.

There is no physical starter kit. Instead, a Watkins Consultant buys a membership for $19.95 plus tax, renewed every year. The company says the membership comes with a full 30-day money-back guarantee. For the fee you get Consultant pricing on everything you buy (the site says up to 35% off), your own Watkins e-commerce website where customers order and you earn on the sale, access to the Consultant Resources training site, and eligibility for sales and leadership bonuses and incentive programs. Nonprofit organizations can also join to fundraise.

You sign up on the Watkins site, enter a sponsor's ID if you have one (or let Watkins assign a sponsor), and you are ready to sell with nothing more than a phone or laptop. Two things from the consultant agreement are worth knowing before you join: the term is one year, and if you do not renew you lose your Consultant rights, including any team you have built; and to be eligible for income and bonuses you agree to resell at least 70% of the products you buy rather than stocking up just to qualify. Watkins sells and ships only within the United States and Canada.

Watkins Consultants earn in two ways: a discount on what they buy and sell, and bonuses on team volume. The company advertises the discount as up to 35% and says it rises with monthly sales. Historically the tiers have run from 15% on monthly sales over $150 up to 35% on monthly sales over $10,000. Free shipping has applied to orders over $100. Customers who order through your Watkins website pay retail and you keep the difference.

Team building adds achievement-level bonuses that are paid on your whole group's points for the month, not just your own sales. In the plan we last saw, points were roughly one per $1.10 in team sales, and the bonus ran from 2.5% at 500 points to 10% at 2,000 points, with leadership bonuses above that. Watkins does not publish the full plan on its public site and tells prospects to ask a current Consultant, so treat these figures as a guide and check the company's current compensation plan for exact rates and rank requirements.

PROS

• One of the oldest brands in direct sales, with name recognition most companies cannot buy
• Low cost to start: a $19.95 yearly membership, no kit, and a 30-day money-back guarantee on the fee
• Everyday products people already use and reorder, most priced under $10
• Made in the company's own Winona, Minnesota plant; organic and non-GMO options, dye-free sprinkles and coloring
• Recipe library on the website gives Consultants ready content to share
• New owners and the 2026 Sauer Brands deal point to a growing company

CONS

• The same products sit on thousands of grocery shelves, so customers can skip the Consultant
• Small-ticket items mean small commissions per sale; volume matters
• Compensation plan details are hard to find online; you have to ask a Consultant
• Membership and team rights lapse if you miss the annual renewal
• The remedies and home care lines that made the brand famous are now a separate company and no longer sold by Consultants