Celebrity fitness trainer, “Beto” Perez, stumbled upon the concept of Latin-inspired dance-fitness in his native Cali, Colombia in the mid-‘90s.
One day, he walked into his aerobics class and realized he had forgotten his aerobics music. Thinking quickly, he grabbed whatever tapes he had in his backpack. Beto’s tapes were comprised of songs he loved, the traditional Latin salsa and merengue music he listened to all his life. But it was a challenge to improvise a whole class on the spot using non-traditional aerobics music. Beto rose to the challenge and from this last-minute improvisation a revolutionary new concept in fitness was born – the Zumba® Fitness-Party™! The class soon became the most popular class at his fitness facility.
Timeline
1999
After his success is Colombia, Beto brought the class to the United States, and in 2001 he was approached by entrepreneurs Alberto Perlman and Alberto Aghion to create a global company based on his fitness philosophy. The three young entrepreneurs trademarked the word Zumba® fitness and set a goal to expand the brand all over the world.
2002
Perlman and Aghion secured a deal with a large infomercial company to launch the concept nationwide resulting in the sale of hundreds of thousands of videos in the U.S. market. The overwhelming response created a demand for more Zumba® instructors, so Zumba® Fitness created an instructor training program to satisfy the growing demand. The program was an instant success. By September 2006, there were thousands of Zumba® instructors worldwide.
2003
Zumba® Fitness teamed with the Kellogg Company to develop a fitness campaign for the Hispanic market. The Kellogg Company has since expanded the campaign to five additional countries. The Zumba® program has been featured on millions of boxes of Kellogg’s® Special K® cereal around the world.
2004
Zumba® Fitness launched a successful infomercial campaign in Spanish for the U.S. Hispanic market and Latin America, increasing sales to millions of DVDs in over 30 countries.
2005
The explosive demand for Zumba® instructors across the nation and abroad spurred the creation of the Zumba® Academy™, the educational division of Zumba® Fitness. With top-notch leadership from a diversified team of professional choreographers, fitness experts and certified education specialists, the Zumba® Academy has raised the bar and set a new standard in fitness programs, ensuring the highest level of integrity, quality and dedication to excellence, and exceeding industry standards.
Zumba® Fitness and the Zumba® Academy have aligned with AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America), ACE (American Council on Exercise), IDEA (the world’s largest association for fitness professionals), SCW Fitness Education, Can-Fit-Pro (International Trade Show and Conference in Canada), and many top national and international fitness facility chains and organizations. Instructors who complete Instructor Trainings offered through the Zumba® Academy are also eligible to receive continuing education credits (CECs) to satisfy recertification requirements from many of these associations.
2007
The Zumba® program launched internationally and currently spans six continents – North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. Now, the entire world is partying to the exciting rhythms of the Zumba® Fitness-Party™!
2008
Zumba® Fitness launched its third DVD collection with direct response industry leader, Guthy Renker. This time around, Zumba® Fitness has added exciting surprises like the Zumba® Toning Sticks and the Zumba® LIVE! Workout.
