What's in store for 2012?

The response from our customers about our 20th Anniversary last month was overwhelming. Thank you so much to the hundreds of our customers who reached out to us with congratulatory messages, kudos for past accomplishments and best wishes for the future. My staff and I were amazed and touched at the outpouring of goodwill!

What about the next 20 years? Well, I'm not sure I am capable (nor willing) to look that far in advance, but even the next 20 weeks are going to bring significant changes to our Absolutely Natural family.

We are so proud to announce that we have signed a licensing agreement with IMG to be the official and propitiatory sun care line for Salt Life. For those of you in Florida and up the eastern seaboard, you are probably well aware of the power of the Salt Life brand. You see bumper stickers and t-shirts everywhere and IMG has led the way with effective marketing. Salt Life is truly a lifestyle brand and there are more than 1500 accounts supporting the lines.

 This is Absolutely Natural's first entree into traditional retail and we couldn't have a better partner. Salt Life will have a complete array of sunscreens, aloes, a lip balm and tanning oils, all in award winning designs by our own Suzanne Clements.

We have more new lines coming before the end of 2012 as our long awaited Sunburn Rescue is in the final stages of development. Sunburn Rescue will be offered in resort hotel rooms for those who take in a little too much sun and need, well, rescuing! Enhanced versions of our all natural, famous Rosehip aloe and Pure aloe with tea tree will be paired with an aloe mist in a handy kit. The kit will include specific directions on how to treat that nasty sunburn and get your skin back in shape.

In addition, our "new look" sun care line for Absolutely Natural will debut this fall. In addition to a new decoration and sizes, our formula for our sunscreens is changing. Among other ingredients, we are adding zinc to our active ingredients as well as a host of anti-oxidants.

 Also planned are a new series of cosmetic grade serums including night, day and eye treatments that have been in the works for years (more on those later). We are also developing a natural self tanner, an insect repellant and several new fragrances of our Rosehip lotion. A natural lip balm is also in the works.

Late this year we are debuting our new comprehensive catalogue which will be our end of the year mail out. Plans call for at least two issues annually to keep you updated on all of our product offerings as well as tell you a bit about the resorts we are so proud of.

Finally, we are opening our first Florida retail store at our factory in Melbourne. The "Factory Fresh" store will open in July at 644 Atlantis Road in Melbourne, Florida.

Again, I want to thank you for all your support these last twenty years. You can be assured that we will continue to make the world's best product for many years to come.

Best regards,
Charley