Vitacost.com announces expansion of operations in North Carolina

May 21 2010

Vitacost.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: VITC), a leading online retailer and direct marketer of health and wellness products, today announced the groundbreaking for the expansion of its east coast manufacturing and distribution facility in Lexington, North Carolina.

“We are pleased Vitacost has the opportunity to expand its operations in North Carolina and has qualified for certain state incentive programs”

The Company will add approximately 113,000 square feet to its existing facility, increasing the total square footage to roughly 225,000. The Company will equip the facility with new state-of-the-art, A-Frame technology that will allow the Company to double the number of orders processed in its distribution center from approximately 500 per hour currently to 1,000 per hour. The Company expects to be able to process 1,700 orders per hour at peak utilization. The state of North Carolina will provide up to $2.5 million in incentives to the Company based on program eligibility.

"We are pleased Vitacost has the opportunity to expand its operations in North Carolina and has qualified for certain state incentive programs," said Ira Kerker, Vitacost.com's Chief Executive Officer. "We have operated in North Carolina since 2008 and greatly appreciate the support of the state. Our new facility will not only greatly improve our efficiencies over time, but will provide the infrastructure needed to support the continued strong growth we expect to meet the demands of Vitacost's growing healthy living and wellness customer base in the years to come."

Separately, on April 29, 2010, the Company announced that it hired the independent executive search and consulting firm, SSA Executive Search International, to assist its Nominating Committee to identify and review the qualifications for several new, independent director candidates which will help diversify the Board and bring additional expertise in the areas of e-commerce, manufacturing, nutraceuticals and overall public company Board experience. This process is progressing and the Company expects to begin conducting interviews with a number of selected candidates in the next week to 10 days.