Partner Spotlight

Thorne Empowering Individuals To Live Healthier And Longer.

Maryland Cycling Classic sponsor Thorne’s ambition is to empower individuals to live healthier for longer through personalized, scientific testing and solutions.

With a deep portfolio of personalized offerings – testing that provides individualized data, educational resources, and products that support specific health goals and needs – Thorne is here at every age and life stage.

Thorne is redefining what it means to live healthier for longer.

Thorne HealthTech, will sponsor the 2023 Maryland Cycling Classic Feed Zones, Kilometer to Go Markers and volunteer bags as well as activate with numerous products for the Bridges of Hope charity ride and athlete products. Wes Barnett, Thorne VP of Athletics and Corporate Wellness, took a few minutes to discuss Thorne and its ongoing vision.

What makes Thorne an industry leader? I’m going to change your question a little bit from “an industry leader” to THE industry leader! There are a number of differentiators separating Thorne from our competitors. I’ll just name a few.

First and foremost, Thorne has been in business since 1984. You would be hard pressed to find another company in the nutritional supplement space, that has been around for that long. It is difficult to thrive in this business for nearly 40 years without doing things the right way. Quality has been the name of our game right from the beginning and is a big reason why we are trusted by so many. Thorne manufacturers our products in-house. We have a 300,000 square foot facility located in Summerville, SC. If one doesn’t make their own products in their own facility, you can’t even come to the table and begin to have a conversation about quality. Speaking of quality, 15% of Thorne’s workforce is in quality control and quality assurance. This is more than any other sector of our company. Thorne spends approximately 5x more than our competitors do on quality. Next is our raw material sourcing. Thorne uses only the very best. Raw materials come to our facility already 3rd party tested for quality, purity, and potency. Once in-house, we re-test them to ensure they meet Thorne’s high-quality standards. If they don’t, those materials are rejected and sent

back to the supplier. Because other companies don’t have as high of standards, the raw materials we reject are purchased by our competitors. Good enough may be OK for others, but not for Thorne. When you start with high quality raw materials, you get high quality end product. The last thing that I will mention is testing. At Thorne, we do extensive, multiple rounds of testing for quality both in house and by third parties. Thorne also is the only supplement company in the world that collaborates with the Mayo Clinic on clinical research and education.

When you talk about testing and why it is important it comes down to three very basic things. Quality, efficacy and safety, meaning that you screen for herbicides, pesticides, pollutants, contaminants, toxins and heavy metals. Thorne combines third party testing with in-house testing to produce products above reproach. Why? We care about the people that put our products in their bodies. We do not take for granted the enormous trust our customers have in our company. Reputation is everything. Thorne has an extra ordinary commitment to sports performance, tell us about it? For years, Thorne was only in the medical space. Over the last 10+ years, Thorne’s commitment to manufacture products to help athletes protect their health and safety as well as their careers, while using nutritional supplements is unparalleled. There isn’t a single ingredient contained in any of our products that is on the WADA prohibited list.

Athletes should only need to worry about training and competition. They should not have to spend time doing extensive research on whether or not a product is going to give them a positive drug test or if the product is safe. One of our goals at Thorne, is to allow athletes to look at a label and have peace of mind knowing that the products have been tested for banned substances, efficacy and contaminants. Thorne understands that athletes are pushing themselves every day to be their very best. We know in that push, supplementation support plays a big part of an athlete’s regimen. This is why at Thorne, we push ourselves every day to manufacture the highest quality products, designed to support that effort.

How is Thorne working with Human Powered Health Pro Cycling team? And how has it been mutually beneficial? Thorne helps support the nutritional needs of the Human Powered Health cycling team. These athletes push themselves to the limits on an almost daily basis in training. On race day, they push even harder. We want to support them in that effort with products they can trust. Thorne has been around since 1984. For the first 25 years or so, Thorne only made supplements for doctors. We were a well-kept secret to others. In an effort to get the word out to a larger audience, we chose to work with HPH, based on the alignment of their messaging with ours…personalize your health.

The relationship benefits the team by providing safe, efficacious products to support gaps in their nutrition and benefits Thorne by creating new avenues of exposure and awareness to our company. Thorne is more than a “nutritional supplement company” – tell us how you’re different? While Thorne’s heritage is nutritional supplements, we are more of a health technology company. In addition to the supplements we offer, Thorne has an extensive offering of at-home testing kits.

Thorne helps to facilitate those who want to take control of their own health. We are different because we don’t push our products on people. Thorne supports individuals by providing resources such as educational content to assist people on their health journey.

The things that we are doing in the medical and technology space that complement our existing products and services is quite remarkable. Way too much to get into here, but I would encourage anyone who wants to learn more, to visit our website at thorne.com. I have already mentioned several differentiators that detail “how” we are different. However, to truly understand the “how”, one has to experience it for themselves. Thorne has made a commitment to sports performance, and now does it plan to attack corporate wellness? That is correct. We have occupied the medical space for years and have

now spent over 10 years in the sports space. We hope to significantly add to our efforts by supporting America’s workforce.

Thorne will bring the same quality and safety that doctors and athletes demand for employers to share with their employees. Employers understand the importance of general health and well-being and how it relates to personal wellness and workplace productivity. Oftentimes, employers struggle to know where to look and who trust. This leads to throwing things against a wall to see what sticks. Thorne can be a solution to that problem. It’s a big task, but Thorne hasn’t been around for nearly 40 years by shying away from challenges.

It’s no secret that the health of America’s workforce is not where it should be. Thorne wants to support the workforce and their families on their health journey the same way doctors have been doing for their patients and athletes have been doing in their professional lives for years. Our goal is to provide the same level of attention to quality and focus on workplace related conditions. I believe Thorne can benefit this population in many ways and we are excited to move into this new territory. Can you site Thorne’s best products for cyclists? That is tough to pin down. Thorne is not a one size fits all company, but rather a one size fits one. Because each athlete is different and has different physiological demands and needs, what is best depends on each individual.

With that said, there are certain general products that are very popular with the cyclists. I would say some of the favorites are Catalyte, Beta-Alanine, Amino complex, Magnesium and Vitamin D. Thorne has the most extensive line of NSF Certified for Sport products on the market so athletes have lots of choice.