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!

Bali's Best

We just got a new line in - called Bali's best. It is hanging bags of Coffee and Tea flavored items. It comes from Indonesia where Coffee and Tea are grown. The hard candies are all individually wrapped, 42 pieces inside of a bag. The coffee flavors are in a shiny bag and the teas in a matte finish bag. The price is very attractive and we have racks to display the product, if you like. This product is perfect for summer and right in-line with the trend of American interest in higher end Coffees and Teas. The flavors are strong and true - give them a try today.

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Chocolate Santander

Always on the hunt for the best and most saleable chocolate we can find, we found another hot one - Santander. Santander is a chocolate company based in Columbia. All of the chocolate they produce is single origin. Below are some highlights and our product list. I have stolen the wording and information liberally from their website.

• Chocolate Santander, a single origin chocolate produced in Colombia, takes its name from the State of Santander, Eastern Colombia. The privileged terrains of the Andean mountains of Yariguies, yields Colombia’s best cacao known by its exquisite and delicate flavor.
• Peasants in the Santander municipalities of San Vicente de Chucurí, El Carmen, Rionegro and Landázuri have been growing cacao for more than two centuries in medium-size and small farms that sustain over 12,000 families. Cacao pods, in colorful yellows and reds, oranges and violets, are hand harvested with scissors and forks, split-opened with short machetes, sorted, fermented in wooden boxes, and then dried in the sun on wooden boards, all according to a centuries-old tradition that brings out the outstanding organoleptic attributes of Chocolate Santander.
• The special features of Chocolate Santander, the mix of Trinitario and Criollo cacao, rural tradition, and modern processing and quality-control technology are the pride of Compañía Nacional de Chocolates. Remarkable of this exceptional family of exclusive single-origin chocolates are the outstanding flavor, the richness of its floral and fruity aromas, and the distinctive nutty hues, attributes that will doubtlessly please the palates of the most demanding chocolate experts.
• For over half a century this company has been promoting good cultivation practices among growers like the use of organic fertilizers, species improvement and soil protection through adequate shading in planted forests that protect water sources and mountain slopes. For over half a century since the 1950’s, Compañía Nacional de Chocolates has been working side by side with cocoa growers. Its policy has been that of building an equitable and fair model that benefits producers and consumers alike and contributes to the country’s development.
  
  Aware of its responsibility, the Company abides by its corporate principles, namely:
• Fair prices and cash payments to growers.
• Permanent attention to maintaining good working conditions for all our personnel.
• Contribution to the wellbeing of workers and their families.
• Support to research and new technological developments at the Company’s agriculture farm.
• Promotion of sustainable and friendly agricultural practices.
• Establishment of a new farm with other sector members.
• Strengthening of cooperatives and growers associations.
• Improvements to growers’ competitiveness and returns, emphasizing sustainable environmental management of crops.
• Active participation in the Cocoa National Council, the Sector’s Policy Committee and the Technical Committees that direct and determine the sector’s future.
• Sponsorship of educational programs in cooperation with the Presidency of the Republic.
• Execution of the educational program “Nacional de Chocolates loves children” in existence for more than ten years.

Now its time to give this a try. My mouth is watering.

The product is inexpensive compared to other premium bars and is sold in 10 counts. Another neat thing is the range of cocoa contents as well as the interesting inclusions. Let us know what you think!

Click on the item number to see a picture.

40042	SANTANDER 36%COLUMBIAN S/O COCOA BAR	10/2.5oz
40041	SANTANDER 53%COLUMBIAN S/O COCOA BAR	10/2.5oz
40040N	SANTANDER 65%COLUMBIAN S/O COCOA BAR	10/2.5oz
40043	SANTANDER 70%COLUMBIAN S/O BAR W/COFFEE BITS	10/2.5oz
40044	SANTANDER 70%COLUMBIAN S/O BAR W/EXPRESSO	10/2.5oz
40252	SANTANDER 70%COLUMBIAN S/O BAR W/NIBS	10/2.5oz
40122	SANTANDER 70%COLUMBIAN S/O BAR W/PASSION FRUT	10/2.5oz
40123	SANTANDER 70%COLUMBIAN S/O BAR W/PINEAPPLE	10/2.5oz
40039	SANTANDER 70%COLUMBIAN S/O COCOA BAR	10/2.5oz

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The China Question

Sorry we were gone for so long. We're back!

Many of our customers have been asking about candy products from China. Below are some facts I thought you'd like to know.

-There have been no known problems with Candy from China.

-Factories that our suppliers use are larger and more modern than many of the factories where the problems in other industries have occurred.

-The factories our suppliers use are in business for the long term. They would not likely do something (like adding an unapproved filler) because they know that awareness is up and if they were caught they would be out of business forever.

-Many of the factories are HAACP certified. This is a certification level set by the US Government that identifies potential problems and seeks to avoid or correct them. This is very common in other industries such as juice or canned food, but not candy. Many Chinese factories meet these standards - many US companies do not.

-Labor rates are much less in China than in the US or even Mexico.

-Sugar costs more in the US than anywhere else in the world due to price supports. This makes it less expensive to make the exact same item with the same equipment and same labor costs in Mexico than in the US. Thus, if you were to make a candy that requires lots of hand work/labor and lots of sugar, it will be cheaper in China than in the US.

-Our customers and end consumers require that cost is moderate and thus we see more pressure to manufacture outside the US. This is especially true this year when price increase have been at record levels.

NOW FOR THE BUSINESS NOTES: We cannot accept a return because something is made in China. If you'd like to know ahead of time what is made in China, we can let you know. However, once a product is shipped, it is yours.

By the way, it is not possible in today's world to avoid products from China. Go to any supermarket, grocery store, Wal-Mart, or Target and pick an aisle (not in clothing) and count the number of items from China. Chinese made goods are a fact of life. This is true in food, but it is also true in the cookware aisles and utensils that interact with food as well as the rest of the store.

Of course, we continue to have a huge number of items not made in Asia and can help you work through these concerns.

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