Top Selling Dagoba Items

Dagoba recently published a ranking of its 2oz. bars. Below in order...

001140 DAGOBA BAR-XOCOLATL74% W/CHILI,NIBS,& VANILLA
001133 DAGOBA BAR-ECLIPSE 87% DARK
001096 DAGOBA BAR-NEW MOON 74% DARK
001102 DAGOBA BAR-LAVENDER & BLUEBERRIES - 59% DARK
001027 DAGOBA BAR-DARK 59%
001270 DAGOBA BAR-SUPER FRUIT 74%
001157 DAGOBA BAR-CONACADO 73% DK-FAIR TRADE CERT
001287 DAGOBA BAR-SEEDS 68%
001072 DAGOBA BAR-MON CHERRI 72% DARK
001065 DAGOBA BAR-ROSEBERRY 59% DARK
001010DA DAGOBA BAR-MILK 37%
001294 DAGOBA BAR-LEMON GINGER 68%
001263 DAGOBA BAR-NIBS 68%
001188 DAGOBA-LOS RIOS 68% ECUADOR ARRIBA-VAR
001201 DAGOBA-MILAGROS 68%FTC PERUVIAN AMAZONIA-VAR
001171 DAGOBA-PACUARE 68% COSTA RICAN CRU-VAR

These are the bars in order. These bars a great tasting, small (2oz.), and organic. Why not give them a shot?

Redstone Chocolate Bars Rock On...

Sales of our Redstone Chocolate bars continue to do well. So well that we launched a new bar - La Azteca. This is a throwback to how chocolate was originally made by the Aztecs. It is a 72% dark Belgian chocolate bar with crushed cocoa nibs, a little chili, and cinnamon. Stan, our President, dreams up all of the Redstone Chocolate Bar formulations. This is truely his best.

Give it a try - descriptions of all of our Red Stone's bars below.

55101 RED STONE'S MARGARITA CHOCOLATE BAR 24/2.25z
55102 RED STONE'S RED CHILI CHIPOTLE CHOCOLATE BAR 12/3oz
55103 RED STONE'S RED CHILI & CURRY CHOCOLATE BAR 12/3oz
55104 RED STONE'S JALAPENO & SALTED PEANUT BAR-MILK 12/3oz
55105 RED STONE'S OLD NEW ORLEANS CHOCOLATE BAR 12/3oz
55106 RED STONE'S CRANBERRY CHOCOLATE BAR 12/3oz
55107 RED STONE'S LA AZTECA 12/3oz

Also, I wanted to include an email from a huge fan. We get these every day... If you haven't tried our bars, give them a shot.


Hello there. I was recently in Dallas on business and stumbled across your Red Chili with CURRY Dark Chocolate Bar. AMAZING! May be the best candy bar I have had in years. I was glad I brought three of them back to Chicago with me but sadly they disappeared quite quickly. I've now been searching gourmet candy sections at World Market, Wholefoods etc and have yet to find your brand which is far superior then many of the others I have tried. Do you have distribuition in the Chicago area - or is there an online source for purchase? Thank you and I hope to hear from you.

Candy Sales Remain Strong

With the economy hitting a rough patch, many people are asking about the candy business. The candy business is still strong has has done well in economic downturns. One of the founders of Redstone, Helen Rothstein, often commented that she sold candy bars during the Great Depression. She quipped, "People couldn't afford their mortgage, but they could still spare a nickel for a Hershey bar." Don't worry folks, the year will turn out fine. Gas will go up, but who is going to cut back on an occasional affordable luxury. We aren't asking our customers to spend $10,000 on a luxury vacation, just $10-$20 for some candy.

Not surprisingly, the NCA (confectioner's association) agrees...

• Candy remains an affordable luxury
  Candy sales hit $29.1 billion in 2007 and are expected to increase up to 3% this year, said Susan Fussell, spokeswoman for NCA. "Historically during either recessions or economic downturns, people continue to buy candy in part because it's an affordable luxury," she said. Austin American-Statesman (Texas) (free registration) (7/21)

.

Wild West Lollipops Update

Just a brief update on the Wild West Lollipops.

They are going FANTASTIC. We are selling the fool out of them and so are our customers. Sell through is very strong and we are excited. We have just ordered another huge batch to arrive early fall and are working on some new items and some improvements for the beginning of the year. Give them a try, you’ll be glad you did.

Schokinag - About the Flavors

Now for more on the outstanding Schokinag – European Drinking Chocolate

Triple Chocolate: A rich treat made with tiny morsels of real dark and milk chocolate with a dusting of pure cocoa powder.

Chocolate Mint: The classic combination of rich dark and milk chocolate and refreshing mint now makes a smooth, comforting beverage. Perfect for the holidays, or for every day, this is chocolate mint like you have never experienced.

Chocolate Mocha: One of the best-loved flavor combinations the world over – chocolate and coffee – is taken to new heights with out chocolate lover’s version of the traditional chocolate mocha made with milk chocolate, white chocolate, and real Columbian coffee.

Dulce De Leche: Inspired by the creamy caramel and milk confection popular in South America, our Dulce de Leche drinking chocolate is made only with real bits of white chocolate and natural caramel.

Winner NASFT Outstanding Beverage 2004!


Extreme DarkTM: The ultimate dark chocolate lover’s drinking chocolate. Made with morsels of our Extreme DarkTM chocolate and a dusting of cocoa powder, it has a cocoa content of 79%. This is the richest darkest drinking chocolate available.

Winner NASFT Outstanding Beverage 2004!


German Chocolate Cake Flavor: Milk chocolate, caramel and coconut milk powder blend to create a beverage with the real flavor of a freshly baked German chocolate cake.

Winner NASFT Outstanding New Product 2004!


Moroccan Spice: Our most exotic Drinking Chocolate yet, this blend of aromatic spices with dark and milk chocolate will transport you to the dazzling, romantic bazaars of Morocco. Experience the mystique of a rich civilization unchanged by centuries.

Strawberries and White Chocolate: Our NEW Strawberries and White Chocolate is a smooth blend of natural strawberries and our finest white chocolate. With a fine dusting of a white chocolate powder, it completes the first of many fruit inspired beverages to come. This lovely drink is perfect to accompany a pastry, dessert, or just alone as a special indulgence. Served hot or cold, it is truly a decadent treat! It also makes a wonderful sauce, fondue, or ganache!


New for the fall is the Organic Extreme Dark. With all of the wonderful flavors and aromas of the Extreme Dark, now completely organic!


.

Drinking Chocolates - Schokinag

The idea behind drinking chocolates is this - its like drinking a chocolate bar. It is rich, think, and delightful. Its not the kind of thing you would drink a huge mug of in front of the TV or at a coffee bar. It is far to rich for that. To prepare it, you warm milk and put the drinking chocolate in the milk. Drinking chocolate is essentially a shaved chocolate bar and therefore it is heat sensitive in the same way that a chocolate bar is.

In a word, drinking chocolate is much closer to a fine chocolate bar, than to cocoa that you would use in chocolate milk.

Schokinag drinking chocolate is one of our strongest sellers. Though we do well with drinking chocolate from Santander (available in the fall), the E. Guittard, Dagoba, Scharffenberger, and others, Schokinag is the fastest mover and the one with the most flavors. Just so you know, Schokinag is one of the worlds top chocolate manufacturers, in the states, they do not have a retail presence, but in Europe they are huge.

A bit about the drinking chocolate, from their sales material...
Our European Drinking Chocolate line was created in the style of traditional European chocolate drinks of the 17th century. Made with tiny bits of real chocolate and prepared with milk rather than water, your customers will wonder why they ever drank instant hot chocolate.

This line sells best for us from September through February, but it is available year round. Later, I will post a bit about each of the flavors.


.

Gufstaf's Licorice

By now, many of you have seen our newest licorice brand - Gustaf's. Below are some pictures and a description of what is special about each of the 3 items.

However, we wanted to let you in on a secret...licorice lovers are CRAZY. They are very loyal and will drive across town to find what they are looking for. While maybe only 10-20% of your customers are serious licorice lovers, they are loyal and willing to pay for the good stuff. So, while licorice may not be a huge mover for you, it is an important part of attracting and keeping great customers.

Below is some "romance text" from the company. We thought this would help explain the product.

31400 Gustaf's Duet 12 x 7oz
A composition for two. Our Chef has toiled endlessly in our kitchen to compose this delectable harmony to tempt your taste buds. Premium ingredients releases the intense licorice flavors. Bon Appetit!

31401 Touch of Italy 12 x 7oz.
Italia: Is it the place, the people, or the food? One taste and you're there. As distinct as the region it hails from, Touch of Italy entices the palate with a hint of bay leave extract. Premium gum arabic releases the intense licorice flavor. Buon appetito!

31402 Royal Rounds 12 x 7oz.
Befitting a soverign, these magnificant, Royal Rounds will please the most distinguished taste. Rich flavors of licorice are enticed by the highest quality gum arabic. So rare these days, but with royalty, no expense is spared. Enjoy!

Flavored Candy Corn

The newest and host rage in the Mellowcream world, is flavored candy corn. For those of you unfamiliar with Mellowcream or Mellowcreme as some spell it, Mellowcream is a distinct type of candy. Most people are familiar with it as candy corn, though it can come in all shapes, sizes, and colors.

This year, the color/flavor combinations are stepped up a bit. We have lots of flavors for our customers and the colors to match. This product is from Zachary and the price is right. Click below for pictures and call us for more information.

For Halloween
05021 ZACHARY CARAMEL APPLE CANDY CORN
05027 ZACHARY CARAMEL CANDY CORN

For Christmas
05869 ZACHARY CANDY CORN - CANDY CANE
05871 ZACHARY CANDY CORN – EGGNOG
05870 ZACHARY CANDY CORN – GINGERBREAD

Give it a shot, its something new and exciting!

.