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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Great Publicity for New Tree - Oprah!

I think we can all agree that when Oprah talks, people listen. When a book goes on her bookclub, its an instant success. When she recommends a product, service, or even a person, she can move mountains. Dr. Phil got his start on her show and he has been on air for 10 years (our favorite quote, "Hows that workin' out for 'ya?" Her magazine is incredible and next year she is launching her own network.

Her magazine just put New Tree Chocolates on "THE 'O' LIST". Folks, it doesn't get better than that. In all seriousness, we expect to see a spike in sales and an increase in name recognition. This is really going to help the brand long term as well.

We should also remember to thank New Tree. We did a blog on "How to Taste Chocolate" and we stole most of the content from Oprah.

Please let us know what reaction, if any, you see to the increased publicity in the next month or two.


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Redstone Chocolate Bars

Lately we have gotten a ton of emails - that can only be described as fan mail. They all concern our Redstone Chocolate Bars. I won't go into too much detail about the chocolate bars except to say that they rock, we are adding more every few months, and you can see more information here:
http://redstonefoods.blogspot.com/2008/02/chili-in-chocolate.html. We recently added a Cranberry bar as well, also in 72% fantastic Belgian chocolate.

Below are the raves (just for this week):

Email 1:

Your Chipotle dark chocolate bar is one of the best chocolates I’ve ever had! What a delicious combination.

My problem is that I’m running out of the bar my friend bought for me when she visited XXXX and I have no clue where to find some locally up here in the XXXX area.

Can you help me find it? Otherwise I will want to order some directly from you. [Ed – we do not sell direct to the public.]

Help! I’m addicted.

Email 2:

I'm just writing to let you know how much I enjoy your spicy chocolate bars. I recently purchased two different varieties of Redstone chocolate bars: the jalepeno and salted peanut bar, and the chipotle pepper bar, at Central Market in Dallas TX. I enjoyed the mix of flavors and textures in the jalepeno bar, and the chipotle bar was a perfect balance of spicy and sweet. As someone who enjoys both spicy food and dark chocolate, it was perfect. I've tried several different kinds of peppery chocolates and truffles, and your brand was the best. My only complaint is that I actually live in XXXX, and haven't seen your brand for sale in my area, so I will have to wait until my next trip to enjoy it again.

Thanks so much for your work, and I look forward to you expanding all across the country!

Email 3:

My wife and I just experienced the wonderful sensation of your red chili chipotle dark chocolate bar. I purchased one at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport yesterday and we both fell in love with the decadent and exotic taste of your product. We would very much like to purchase a box of them. Please let us know how we can do so and how much they would be.

We look forward to your reply. Our sincere congratulations on your delightful product!

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Single Origin Chocolate - What's the Deal?

Okay, so I’m sure you are all asking, what’s the big deal about Single Origin chocolates. I have some information below, mostly from the NYT article http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/dining/08choc.html. The article is worth the read if you are really into wine or the finer points of chocolate. If not, a quick and dirty summary is below:

• Single origin chocolates are made from cocoa beans from a particular region or area.
• In the example of Santander (from the article below), the beans are all grown in Columbia.
• Estate or single varietal chocolates are a take on the single origin, only they are from an even smaller geographic area or plantation.

Many other things effect the taste of the chocolate including how the cocoa beans are dried and roasted, how much cocoa butter is added, the amount and quantities of everything else going into the chocolate such as sugar, vanilla, cocoa butter, and inclusions.

Happy Eating!

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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MARGARITAVILLE

Margarita is a great flavor - heck its a great drink. In fact, we believe it is the favorite drink in the Southwest. We'd like to talk about the margarita items that we carry. They are in 2 categories - Redstone Branded Items and Non-Redstone Items.

Redstone Branded Items
55101 RED STONE'S MARGARITA CHOCOLATE BAR 24/2.25z
55200 RED STONE'S MARGARITA DROPS 6/7oz
55165 RED STONE'S MARGARITA RIM TRIM 6/4.5oz
8140 RED STONE'S MARGARITA SOURS 12/10oz
55400 RED STONE'S MINI MARGARITA COOKIES 11/9oz
55300 RED STONE'S JELLY – MARGARITA 12/12oz

• These are all fantastic tasting, nothing is compromised in taste just to say Margarita.
• They do well all year, but particularly well in the Spring and Summer time.
  
• You will not have competition on price for these item from national accounts. You will not find these in any of the "Marts" or Wal-Greens, etc. We design these items with the specialty retailer, and the typical margins, in mind.
• These are all small case packs with displays where appropriate. All have an easy way to merchandise them and have solid turns to keep product on the shelf fresh.
  
• Special deal on Rim Trim - we have a buy 2, get 1 offer, while supplies last.
  

Non-Redstone Items
001269 COCKTAIL CANDY TWIST – MARGARITA 12/1.26z
0075 HOTLIX MARGARITA POPS W/SALT SUGARFREE 36/1oz.
52968 JELLY BELLY MARGARITA 10/LB
351 STRAWBERRY MARGARITA WRAPPED HARD CANDY 30/LB

• These are not generally available in the mass market.
  
• They can be part of a seasonal section in your store, but can be sold off the shelf as well.
• Merchandising is fun with these items! The first two do really well by the cash register, the final two FLY off the shelf when merchandised inside of an oversized cup or margarita glass.

Please give these a shot and let us know how it goes!

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Sconza - Fantastic Products

Sconza is a great company with some fantastic items. They are family owned by some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. On top of that,

Anyhow, they have 3 outstanding items that I'd like to mention.
they have some really terrific items. Did you know that they are the largest producer of Jordan Almond's in the country? Pretty cool heh?

1. Chocolate Toffee Almonds: Four scrumptious layers of quality confectionary goodness: toasted almond, layer of buttery toffee, drenched in rich milk chocolate and dusted in delicate powdered sugar

· Made with premium California almonds

· Real premium grade Milk Chocolate

· Real Butter in Toffee

· Dusted in special confectioners powdered sugar

2. Chocolate Toffee Pistachios: Four scrumptious layers of quality confectionary goodness: toasted pistachio, a layer of crunchy buttery toffee, drenched in rich milk chocolate and dusted in delicate powdered sugar.

· Made with premium California pistachios

· Real premium grade Milk Chocolate

· Real butter in Toffee

· Dusted in special confections powdered sugar

3. Dark Chocolate Walnuts:

• Oversized toasted Walnut pieces drenched in dark smokey chocolate.

· Made with premium grade walnuts

· 52% Cacao Chocolate

SCONZA CANDY GENERAL INFORMATION:

· Sconza family started making and selling candy in the San Francisco

Bay Area in 1939.

· Today, the third generation of the Sconza family continues the candy making tradition.

· Signature confections are chocolate covered fruits and nuts.

· Quality ingredients are part of the family legacy.

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