organic chocolate

I have to admit, I'm a bit of a perfectionist and like things that are really good. Have you ever had one of those experience when you've tasted or experienced something that wasn't quite as good as you thought it could be? Have you ever thought you could make something better? Building a better mousetrap is one way to start a business and lots of successful entrepreneurs get their ideas and inspiration from having a bad taste in their mouth. From my experience this is how I started a corporate gift basket business, I didn't like gift baskets and saw that they were super wasteful. Gary Erickson got the idea for starting Cliff Bar while trying to stomach Power Bars on a 200 mile bicycle ride, seeing an opportunity for tasty energy bars. Tiz and Tara from Zazubean Organic Chocolate have a similar story, while on a cycling trip with friends seeing an opportunity to improve the chocolate bar industry.

Top 3 Reasons Zazubean is All Good

1.  Carbon Footprint - cocoa beans come from Central and South America. The vast majority of them get shipped to the major chocolate houses of the old world (cross Atlantic trip number one) where they get turned into chocolate couverture which get shipped around the world (cross Atlantic trip number two) and used by chocolatiers to make chocolate truffles and other tasty treats. Zazubean works with North America's only certified organic fair trade bean to bar chocolate factory, hence the chocolate used in Zazubean bars travelled direct to the Pacific Northwest and played hooky from 2 cross Atlantic trips.

2.  It's my medicine! - Zazubean chocolates are paired with various herbs that have medicinal and therepudic value. The Lunatic Bar (aka the Women's monthly maddness bar) for example is paired with Dong Quai root and Chaste tree berry, two Chinese medicinal herbs used to alieve menstral cramps.

3.  Fair Trade helps poor farmers in the South get paid fair prices for the crops that they grow. Although there is debate around the value of Fair Trade certification, some even questioning the value of it in theory, fairly traded products can put cash directly into the hands and communities of the farmers working to produce the goods we demand every day. Fair trade can shrink the gap between rich and poor by eliminating uneccessary middle men, helping to build hospitals and schools in rural communities in the developing world.

Where's my main squeeze?

I'm a big fan of Zazubean's newest chocolate bar, Squeeze, which combines orange and ginger. I likey, it's juicy and got some quenching punch! Besides making tasty chocolate bars Zazubean's got a fun vibe, coming up with line's like "Save Earth! It's the only one with chocolate!" and have great photos for their different bars. The Nutbar was another new product in 2009, a tasty combination of almonds, coconut and lavender, features legendary Vancouver surfing yogi Eoin Finn. I ever popped my modelling cherry as the Zing bar guy having my hair straightened for the first time was an experience I'm not exactly looking for again but was pretty fun looking back at.

I'm always on the look out for amazing new products to add to our gift baskets. Checking out specialty shops, farmers markets, doing internet research to name a few, looking for the best delicious, locally sourced, organic and fair trade products. Gourmet foods, snacks, spa and body care products, coffee, tea, and of coursemany people's favorite, chocolate. There are days when something unexpected shows up, a package that wasn't ordered, someone sending me something to check out. This past spring I received one such package, from Sara Redpath of Sarandipity, a local chocolatier in Ladysmith, BC on Vancouver Island, filled with samples of her organic and fair trade chocolate creations. Another day at the office!

A few Sarandipity products really stood out for us so we decided to add them to our corporate gifts and gift boxes:

Chocolate Smores - graham cracker, marshmellow and chocolate goodness, without the mess of making them over the fire or the nasty preservatives in those store bought chocolate marshmellow cookies

Artisan Hot Chocolate - we tried Sara's 'A weekend in Paris'. Definitely a nice sweet treat on a rainy day. She's also got a whole bunch of other flavoured hot chocolates we've yet to try.

Northwest Chocolate Hazelnut Bark - thin, crispy, dark chocolate bark sprinkled with ground local hazelnuts. Nuff said. The bag didn't last long in our office.

Top 3 things we like about Sarandipity

1. Making it happen - we like how Sara just sent us her awesome chocolate knowing that we'd want it for our cool gift boxes
2. No compromises - Sarandipity chocolates taste great. Sourcing only organic and/or fair trade chocolate and cocoa ensure social and environmental responsibility. Not only does the chocolate make me feel good, so do the values.
3. Peace - That's how Sara signs her emails! Root natty root.

Cooperation once again triumphs. Last week Saul Good along with Eclipse Awards hosted an open house and green roof mojito party for our clients, associates and friends down at our green office space in the Strathcona Green Zone in Vancouver, BC. We wanted the opportunity to show our clients what we've been up to this past year, developing corporate gifts, recognition items and promotional products that say more than 'thank you', using sustainable materials and fair labour practices to create memorable and meaningful gifts that tell a story. Over the last couple years my strategy in this space was to throw a local, organic, wine cheese and chocolate tasting party for my clients to let them have a taste of what we have to offer in terms of our gourmet gift baskets, hosting the party in the fall leading up to holidays, giving ideas for corporate Christmas and holiday gifts. We reincarnated, made fresh mojitos, added a green roof and an amazing space and the 1st annual green roof mojito party was born.

One Planet Catering, Vancouver's leading socially and environmentally responsible catering company, provided an amazing array of things to eat and treat through the day. From hand made cinnamon buns and muffins in the morning to croissants with pear and brie to a spread of cheese and fruit into the afternoon and evening. Amazing artisan crisps from Gone Crackers paired with artisan cheeses and a selection of organic wines from Lotusland Vineyards, a local organic vineyard near Abbotsford, BC. We were also happy to showcase new artisan specialty nuts from Cocoa Nymph, a Vancouver based chocolatier, featuring espresso and cocoa covered local Agassiz hazelnuts, great items that are easy to share and enjoy for hosting or to send to your clients. Once again we were also happy to feature fair trade organic chocolate bars from Zazubean and the new single origin fair trade organic coffees from Salt Spring Island Coffee.

I felt really good getting to spend time with my clients, new and old, and meeting some of the companies that have been working with Eclipse over their 11 years in business. It was something that really pulled our team together both at Saul Good, Eclipse and how we both work as teams individually and collectively. We can't take all the credit, we had great help, insight and planning from Corwin at Red Wagon Management, whose work and experience made the event a smooth success. Did I forget to mention the party? Had a great time playing dj with Unkl' Funkl', one of my friends from BGI, mixing tunes well into the night. Thanks to all our friends and associates for coming out, contributing, good times and conversations. We're in it together and its really just begun.

Denman Island Chocolate were one of the first organic chocolate businesses in Canada and helped to lead the natural and organic food movement here in BC. Their founder Daniel is a great guy who has always been helpful to me with my business. Not only a nice guy, Daniel is a great chocolatier who makes damb tastey chocolate bars. A couple years ago I hosted an organic chocolate tasting party with a bunch of my friends and collegues who hands down chose Denman Island Chocolate as their favorite tasting chocolate bar!

Top 5 things we love about Denman Island Chocolate

1) Namaste - their organic chocolate Buddha with hazelnut belly is rad. We like to throw those in random corporate gifts just for fun to put smiles on people's faces

2) Rich and smooth taste won the Saul Good chocolate taste test hands down

3) Local ingredients - using local organic BC hazelnuts in some of their bars wins high praise with our standards

4) Ride on! Daniel loads up his bike trailer with outgoing orders for shipping at the Denman Island post office, saweet.

5) Roots natty roots - we totally respect how they were the first in what has become a growing and significant industry in the organic food movement.

Last fall I was contacted by Omicron, a leading architectural firm in Vancouver that specializes in sustainable design.  They were looking for client appreciation gifts to give out at Christmas and wanted something inline with their values, gifts that were locally sourced and filled with products that would be easy to share in an office environment.  I put some gifts together with local artisan and organic gourmet products and made my way down to their office in Downtown Vancouver.  As I sat in the reception area waiting for the meeting, thinking through my pitch, it hit me that I was off the mark.  The perfect gift was sitting right in front of me, not in my samples but in a informative display sitting in the corner.

Telling your story to build your relationships

Giving gifts are all about building relationships.  If one wants to say more than thank you, one really needs to understand their story, what a company is all about, and build those values and differentiators into the gift experience.  This is a powerful way to give things that are memorable, keeping you and your company top of mind for time to come.  So sitting in the corner was a display made from pine recovered from the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic we're facing here in BC.  The light coloured wood has distinctive blue streaks through the wood, a reminder of the train left by these infectious insects.  Taking a closer look I realized the story that Omicron was telling through the installation, that their architectural firm utilizes locally sourced materials and uses them efficiently and with attention to detail and design.  Aware of environmental issues and materials challenges, the firm makes the most out of what's available.  With a custom woodworking shop up my sleeve and a stack of mountain pine beetle sourced from a previous project I knew then and there that I needed to revise my pitch to best tell their story.

Organic chocolate truffles

Need I say more.  Made locally on Bowen Island, my chocolatier makes absolutely the freshest and tastiest artisan organic truffles this side of Switzerland.  We came up with the idea to fill these pine beetle boxes with amazing chocolates, easy to share and enjoy around the office.  The Omicron graphic design team came up with a fantastic card that included a chocolate map so people would know what they were tasting.  The box was made from mountain pine beetle wood and manufactured by Tradeworks Custom Products, a social enterprise that trains women in carpentry living in Vancouver's downtown eastside, working to build confidence and self esteem.  For more info on Tradeworks please see a previous post, Tradeworks Custom Products and FSC certification.

You know it works when...

It's all about building long term relationships built on quality and service, that's what Saul Good is all about.  Not only in how I help my clients build relationships with their clients and employees but also in how I'm building my business.  I know it's all coming together when I receive testimonials this one I got the other day from my friends at Omicron:

"We had the pleasure of working with Saul Good Gift Co. for our 2008 client holiday gifts.  When we initially contacted Saul Brown we did not have a predetermined idea and he patiently worked with us to find a wonderful option that met all of our needs.  When the boxes arrived they were perfect; his attention to detail exceeded our expectations!  We have no hesitation recommending Saul Good Gift Co. for their creative, sustainable gifts and fabulous, friendly service."

Working with Omicron reinforced rule #3, to always like your customers.  It was easy in this case and flowed naturally, helping them appreciate their clients through thoughtful gifts that tell a story and build relationships.  Values based relationship development, that's where the value is truly created.

We’ve heard nothing but rave reviews from all our clients who give out our chocolate truffles. High quality hand made artisan organic chocolate truffles, fresh and made to order in Vancouver, BC. Joanne and Carlos are quite the working couple with Joanne’s masterful skills in the chocolate shop and Carlos’ friendly nature as the face on their deliveries to the city. Cocoawest has a really nice chocolate café and Bed & Breakfast on Bowen Island where they live and make their amazing products. Really popular this season were handmade wooden boxes, made from Mountain Pine Beetle and filled with Cocoawest truffles.