 
The history of the Thuna family and their passion for herbal
medicine dates back to the year 1888! That was the year that Dr.
Max Thuna opened his first herbal retail outlet in New York. A
Master Herbalist, Dr. Thuna emigrated from his native Austria
and with the help of his children opened over 25 herbal stores
across Canada. The stores sold a full line of Thuna brand herbal
products bearing Max's picture including tablets, creams,
extracts, ointments, drinks, raw herbs, teas, vitamins, and
rubs. Dr. Thuna's formulas were advanced for that era and have
stood the test of time. Many of Max's products are still
available today.
Max's son, Dr. Jack Thuna followed his father's lead and
earned degrees in Naturopathy, Herbalism, and Chiropractic
Medicine. He opened the first door-to-door herbal products
company in Canada based in Montreal, Quebec. He opened a herbal
clinic in Montreal, treating a wide variety of patients with
chiropractic,
naturopathic and herbal medicine.
In an effort to raise the profession of herbalism, Dr. Jack
Thuna founded one of North America's first schools of Herbal
Medicine, The Emerson College of Herbology. Here he helped to
educate the new crop of herbalists by giving them the benefit of
his experiences.
Jack's son, Al was one of the first graduates (with honours
no less) of the Emerson College of Herbology. Al began his
herbal career as a salesman for Dr. Jack Thuna's door to door
business. Later he branched out forming Pharmetics,
 a
vitamin and herbal manufacturer with his brother. In 1967 Al
moved his family from Montreal to Toronto in order to expand his
company. In 1971 Al sold his interest in Pharmetics and along
with his wife Sandy opened "For Your Health", one of Toronto's
first dedicated herbal health stores.
For Your Health flourished throughout the 1970's causing Al
to require some rare and higher quality herbs to meet his
clientele's requests. His suppliers were unable to meet these
needs so Al & Sandy decided to open their own herbal wholesale
import business to supply what their customers desired.
As other stores heard about the selection Al & Sandy were
able to offer, the wholesale business blossomed. Eventually it
became too difficult for 2 people to run both a retail and
wholesale operation. In 1978 For Your Health was sold and The
Thunas dedicated their time and energy to wholesale
manufacturing and distribution. The Thunas enjoyed great success
including some industry milestones such being the first people
to bring Tiger Balm and Tea Tree Oil to Canada, as well as being
the first to bring Korean Ginseng to Canada.
In the 1980's it became clear that there was a void in the
Canadian market. There were no high quality Canadian
 made
herbal products designed for Canadian practitioners and
consumers. This is where Health 4 All was born. The Thunas
worked feverishly and launched Health 4 All to fill the void.
The Thunas believed that GMP (the governments mandated quality
standards) were not high enough, so they sought out higher
standards and Health 4 All became the first certified
Kosher and Parve herbal company in
Canada, a distinction which still remains today.
Being a family with a family business meant that Al and
Sandy's children became intimately familiar with the company and
the day-to-day operations of the industry. They were immersed in
it from the dinner table discussions to doing homework and
working in the storeroom of the retail store and wholesale
warehouse.
It came as no surprise to anyone that the Thuna children
began to become involved in the herbal business. Initially it
was limited to helping out at trade shows and during inventory,
but their involvement gradually increased. Since the early
1980's at least one of Al & Sandy's children were working at the
company. They worked in various departments including;
reception, order entry, customer service, purchasing, product
design, research and development, warehousing, production,
sales, label design, advertising, and information technology.
Today, two of the Thuna children are actively working for
Health 4 All. Garry who has a degree in Computer Applied
Electrical Engineering is the Information Technology Manager. He
is currently in the midst of writing a new custom inventory
management, product knowledge-base and accounting package for
us, due out later this year.
The other Thuna actively involved in Health 4 All is Joel,
who has a degree in Marketing and Production Management and like
his father, graduated from Emerson College of Herbology. Joel
manages the day-to-day operations of Health 4 All and can often
be heard lecturing on health topics around the country. He is a
frequent author for numerous publications including New
Directions and has recently completed his first book Clear Cures
which can be downloaded at
www.Fiberrific.com.
Helping Joel and Garry is a staff of dedicated professionals
that care deeply about our clients and our products. This
is because they not only make our products but they use them on
themselves and their families. They share with the Thuna's the
pride in Health 4 All, our products and the results the Health 4
All products bring to their own lives and the lives of our
customers.
Pretty soon, the 5th generation of Thuna's should be old
enough to see if they catch the family bug for herbs. With seven
potentials (and counting), there is a good chance at least one
will follow family tradition.
Over one hundred years after Dr. Thuna made his first herbal
remedy, the Thunas continue to produce the finest quality
natural health products available. This is the mission behind
Health 4 All and the value we hold dear. Max would be proud!
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