The Locals are Friendly

Planet Organic Health Corp. has deep roots in the Canadian natural products business. Mark Craft, one of the company’s founders, started his first natural food store in northern Alberta in 1978.

In 1993, Mark Craft and Diane Shaskin purchased Edmonton, Alberta based High Level Natural Foods – at the time, one of the most successful natural food retailers in Canada. They renamed it Terra Natural Food Market, redesigned the store, revamped the product mix and introduced a more contemporary natural products shopping experience. The Edmonton market responded extremely well to Terra Natural Food Market.

In 2001, Darren Krissie joined Mark and Diane to bring Terra’s “new health food store” shopping experience to natural food shoppers across Canada. The trio established Planet Organic Health Corp. and relocated Terra to a larger space in Edmonton under the Planet Organic Market banner. They established a strong brand for Planet Organic, creating a shopping experience that is as good as the products.

In 2002, the company added two new Planet Organic Markets, one in Victoria, BC and one in Calgary, Alberta. A fourth store opened in Port Coquitlam, a suburb of Vancouver, BC in 2003. Expansion continued in 2004 with the purchase of Great Ocean Natural Food Market in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 2006 second locations were opened in Edmonton and Calgary. The growth continued with the addition of a store in Port Credit, Ontario, also in 2006. The acquisition of 11 Mrs. Greens Natural Market stores, in the United Statees was another significant event for the Company, more than doubling the number of retail outlets.

The company acquired Sangster’s Health Centres, a national chain of vitamin and natural health outlets, and Trophic Canada, a leading Canadian manufacturer of vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements in 2004. Subsequently, in 2006, the company acquired Healthy’s the Athletes Edge Inc., a chain of vitamin and natural health outlets in the Toronto area. In response to current operating conditions, Sangsters, Trophic and Healthy’s were all divested in 2010.

As a tightly integrated, complete natural products industry company, Planet Organic Health Corp. benefits from significant efficiencies in the areas of management, operations, information technology, purchasing, distribution, marketing and human resources. These efficiencies will help to ensure the company’s long term competitiveness and enable it to focus on building shareholder value.