March 26, 2012

One of the hallmarks of Thorne Research has always been our dedication to providing the very best customer service possible. Recent efforts to continue this tradition have included expanding our Customer Service staff, making our return policy and other customer service policies more customer friendly, implementing the Patient Express program, and offering a number of customer-specific programs.

Thorne has always shipped our products within the United States from a single warehouse in Sandpoint, Idaho. We have primarily utilized Federal Express as our shipping partner and have enjoyed a longstanding and productive relationship with them. However, our current distribution model often takes as many as 5-7 days to reach customers in the eastern U.S. In fact, today, only one-fourth of our U.S. shipments are delivered in less than two days, and more than half take longer than three days to arrive. As our business continues to grow, our customer mix continues to be more diverse, and with Patient Express™ and direct shipments to patients increasing dramatically, it became clear to us that a different shipping strategy was needed.

We are pleased to announce that effective the week of March 19th, 2012, United Parcel Service (UPS) has begun assisting Thorne Research with product fulfillment and shipping. After a full week of testing, we will formally be utilizing UPS facilities in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and shortly thereafter (April 16th), Mira Loma, California to assist with our distribution. These FDA inspected, cGMP controlled pharmaceutical-approved warehouses, in addition to our Sandpoint shipping facility, will service our customers in the United States and parts of Canada. This will dramatically speed up the delivery time of our products to our customers. Nearly 75 percent of U.S. shipments will now be delivered in two days or less, with deliveries in most major cities taking only a single day.

UPS will assist Thorne in picking, packing, and shipping Thorne-branded products from their two warehouses according to Thorne policies and procedures. Thorne will continue to operate its shipping facility in Sandpoint as we have always done. Our Shipping Department will service the UPS warehouses in Pennsylvania and California, our customers in the Pacific Northwest and western Canada (through our distributor there), our international and large accounts, and all private label accounts, samples, and specialty shipments. For certain locations in the Pacific Northwest, we will continue to use Federal Express as our carrier to ensure the most expeditious delivery.

Customer Service will continue to process all orders for U.S., Canadian and international customers. Our computer system is now linked with that at UPS, allowing us both to distribute our product and monitor inventory as a single virtual company. With the exception of faster delivery times, this change will not affect your ordering.

We would like to thank you for your patience in the time it has taken to historically receive our products, and for your continued support. We look forward to working with UPS, to the faster delivery of our products, and to even more improved customer service.

Steve Clark
V.P., Support Services, Global Distribution & Technology

Tom McKenna
COO