Hawaiian Tropic Canada - About Our Company

Hawaiian Tropic: Industry Firsts

	Hawaiian Tropic^Ž pioneered the use and popularity of Aloe Vera Gel (lauded as nature's greatest healer) in cosmetics.
	Prior to automation, Hawaiian Tropic^Ž Distributors would wait at the plant with blank checks made out to Ron ready to take as much product as he could possibly produce.
	Hawaiian Tropic^Ž was the first U.S. suncare company to: promote rich, natural ingredients for moisturizing the skin.
	Use tropical coconut/banana fragrance in lotions and oils.
	Place higher than a 15 SPF in the U.S. mass market.

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Hawaiian Tropic: General Information

Tanning Research Labs, Inc. manufactures
Hawaiian Tropic^Ž products at its plant in
Ormond Beach, Florida.

	Hawaiian Tropic^Ž will celebrate its 38th anniversary in 2007.
	Hawaiian Tropic^Ž holds a dominant position in U.S. and Canadian markets. We rank #1 on the Caribbean, Mexican and South American beaches.
	Hawaiian Tropic^Ž is the only international suncare brand manufactured by a privately owned company which specializes in suncare.

	Hawaiian Tropic^Ž utilizes over 125 product formulations and over 400 different types of ingredients.
	Hawaiian Tropic^Ž neither conducts or contracts animal testing for its suncare products.
	Hawaiian Tropic^Ž employs more than 2,000 people worldwide.
	The Ormond Beach headquarters facility for Hawaiian Tropic^Ž covers more than 306,500 square feet.

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Ron Rice and the creation of Hawaiian Tropic

Ron Rice is the epitome of the 'American Dream'. Born in the mountains of North Carolina and raised in a log cabin, Ron became an entrepreneur at an early age. By five, he was running his own roadside stand at the foot of his family-owned mountain. He sold apples, grapes, nuts, honey, apple cider, and wreaths at Christmas to help the family. His father instilled in him the basic American values that he lives by today--honesty, fairplay, tough competition, and plenty of hard work.

A firm believer in education, Ron graduated from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Science Degree and set out on a career as a teacher. This enterprising young man would still be a chemistry teacher/football coach/part-time lifeguard today, if it had not been for a trip to Hawaii. While he was there, Ron saw women on the beach using natural oils to protect their skin. Having looked in vain all his life for a product that would shield his extremely fair skin from the sun, Ron was determined to create a product that would allow him and others to achieve a tan like the native Hawaiians.

With $500.00 borrowed from his father, Ron set up business in his garage. He mixed coconut, avocado, kukui and other secret natural oils in a garbage can, bottled the formula and set out to sell it. "I had an old Ford Mustang convertible that the salt air had just eaten apart. I drove to pool decks and lifeguard stands and sold my original suntan product. I was obsessed," Rice says. The new product caught on immediately--no one had ever heard of a natural tanning formula before!

When it came time to hire a staff and a sales force, Rice looked to his old teaching, lifeguard and football buddies. He sent this modified super sales team to various parts of the world and built Hawaiian Tropic^Ž into the second largest suncare company in the world, today grossing over $200 million a year.

Ron shares his success with the love of his life, his daughter Sterling. When the two aren't traveling, they spend most of their time at their $5.5 million oceanfront estate in Daytona Beach--the city where Hawaiian Tropic^Ž originated. The palatial home took five years to build and sits just a few feet from where Ron's lifeguard tower once sat. In memory of his father, Ron had it built with North Carolina granite rock trucked down from the mountains to Florida.

Ron continues to be the driving force behind the development, marketing, and promotion of new Hawaiian Tropic^Ž products. "Ron lives and breathes Hawaiian Tropic," says his director of advertising. "If he gets an idea at 4:00 a.m.--he will call you!"

Rice also knows how to mix hard work with fun. He travels over 250 days a year to various celebrity/charity events, Grand Prix Races (where Hawaiian Tropic^Ž sponsors several cars), Miss Hawaiian Tropic^Ž International Pageants, The Cannes Film Festival, and many, many more places promoting Hawaiian Tropic^Ž.

Amazingly, all the success and fame has not gone to Ron Rice's head. "My biggest peeve is people who become successful and forget their roots," he says. "The happiest day of my life was when I was able to pay my father back the $500.00 he loaned me and thank him for believing in me." The garbage can used to mix his first batch is now silverplated and stands in Ron's living room as a reminder of Hawaiian Tropic's early days, and Ron's tireless hard work and determination.

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