Organic Certification-now a necessity

Someday, within the next six or so months, you'll be seeing this seal on our labels. The one big take-away, which kind of took us by surprise, is that because of our sales level, we have now put us in the category of 'now we have to' get certified. Before, it was merely an option, something to be put off until we felt we had the money to pursue it.


The nice thing we also learned this weekend, is that the USDA will re-imburse us for much of our certification fees. That's a godsend. Our business is small and certification fees, depending on who we choose to be our certifying agency, can be nearly 1/5th of our sales. But, the government has a program for all of us small businesses to help us get most of our money back - for the trouble of having to get certified in the first place.


So - watch for it - soon you'll be seeing it.

More information coming soon.

Smith Organic Chocolates is dedicated to bringing you updated product, business, industry, and nutritional information.

New Products - September 2011

We have several new products and updates to share with you! We think you'll be as excited about them as we are!

ORGANIC CASHEW BALLS

Made with organic cashew butter, these are a great alternative to those with peanut allergies. These dipped balls have crushed cashews on top. The way to tell the difference between a cashew ball and a peanut butter ball is that peanuts are a light brown, and cashews are like an ivory color.

NEW BALL ASSORTMENT

Now our popular Organic Ball Assortment includes four (4) balls. Pictured from left to right, top to bottom: Coconut Ball, Peanut Butter Ball, Cashew Ball, Almond Butter Ball.

ORGANIC CARAMEL CHOCOLATES

We've finally developed our caramel ganache truffle. One of our approved ingredients we didn't know about before, is heavy whipping cream! So, we make our own caramel ganache, rich in caramel flavor, and put it in a milk shell, drizzled with a yellow-gold dyed white chocolate. These will melt in your mouth!

ORGANIC MILK CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

Made from high quality, Guittard Organic Milk Chocolate, these are milk chocolate through and through! A milk chocolate shell filled with milk chocolate ganache, drizzled in milk chocolate! Can't get much richer than that! Much better than Hershey's!

ORGANIC MILK CHOCOLATE ASSORTMENT

We now have four milk chocolate truffles to offer in an assortment! From left to right, top to bottom: Milk Chocolate Truffle, Vanilla Bean Creme, Caramel Chocolate, Strawberry Banana Truffle. We think the milk chocolate lovers out there will love this!

ORGANIC RICH DARK (DAIRY) TRUFFLES

We learned this summer that we are allowed to use heavy whipping cream in our ganaches. We've been making a dynamite Non-Dairy Dark Chocolate version for several years. We changed the look of that to a dark chocolate "D" on top. So...the traditional (dairy) version takes on the drizzled look. All dark chocolate ganache in a dark shell, drizzled in dark chocolate! Made with organic butter and organic heavy whipping cream! A great way to get in your "chocolate-a-day"! When we first made these, we thought we were in heaven! The richness of the heavy whipping cream makes a lot of difference in how a dark chocolate ganache tastes!

Here's the new look of our Non-Dairy Dark Chocolate Truffles. Note the "D" on top for "Dark."

For more information on these or any other products, please refer to our website or email us. Contact information on the website.

Smith Organic Chocolates is dedicated to bringing you the pertinent product & nutritional information!

New Customer Cost Offset Programs

This summer, we took a hard look at our chocolate business, and we had to make some hard choices. Our materials, packaging, and other incidental, but necessary, costs increased our costs dramatically, but we think the changes improved our products and presentation significantly.

DECISION TO UPGRADE INGREDIENTS

We made a decision last year to only use certified organic ingredients wherever possible. Since chocolate is our main ingredient, we made a change from our coverture source, to using Guittard Organic, dark & milk, which is certified organic. Previously, we had been using Vintage Plantations, but they are not certified organic. We are thankful to Vintage Plantations, as we were a small customer just getting started, and their chocolate is usually good quality and they worked with us even though we were just getting started.

DECISION TO UPGRADE PACKAGING/SHIPPING

But we felt we should make a change and we did so last year. We were also receiving complaints from one particular long distance about our packaging, and how their chocolates were almost always broken...so earlier this year, we upgraded our packaging to include set-up boxes, pads, and trays. We have not had any complaints about broken or smashed chocolates since.

This summer, we've had to go the extra mile and use insulated shippers. These are very expensive, and we will absorb some of the cost of these, but they will keep your chocolates from arriving melted. We experimented with different combinations of insulated materials, with limited success - depending on how hot it was. We learned a lot from our mistakes.

All these things have increased our production, packaging, and shipping costs. It was a difficult decision, but we decided to raise the prices of our chocolates, especially the more labor-intensive truffles.

For our local, meaning Lancaster County, PA, customers, we have some less expensive packaging alternatives we think you'll like. This will be addressed in the next post regarding new products.

For everyone, we have TWO NEW customer programs - 1) Chocolate of the Month; 2) Preferred Customer.

CHOCOLATE OF THE MONTH

Our Chocolate of the Month program comes in two subscriptions, 4-month & 12-month, Vegan & Regular. All you have to do is sign up as a customer & order Chocolate of the Month, on our website: www.smithorganicchocolates.com and we'll put you in the Chocolate of the Month Customer Group. Designate which subscription you'd like to participate in. You'll be billed on your credit card once a month for the duration of your subscription.

Participation in this Club gives you a 10% discount off the 12-piece chocolate packages you'll receive during your participation.

PREFERRED CUSTOMER

If you've ordered from us at least twice, you can become a Preferred Customer. E-mail us at smithorganicchocolates@dejazzd.com if you'd like to be part of this group.

This Customer Group has a lot more flexibility. You only have to order twice, and then you'll get a 10% discount on your orders. We'll put you in this group, and you can order as much as you want whenever you want.

We think these changes will be of benefit to you, as well as help our bottom line. We appreciate our customers, and we will continue to bring you high quality organic chocolates.

Smith Organic Chocolates is dedicated to bringing you updated product and nutritional information.

Chocolate of the Month Club - additional info

Last time we talked about our new subscription to Chocolate of the Month Club. We also told you the basics on how to sign up and purchase the product.

Here's some additional information:

Once you sign in as a customer on our website: www.smithorganicchocolates.com and purchase the Chocolate of the Month in whatever way you'd like from our 12 choices, you'll be entered into a 'customer group' called 'Chocolate of the Month' and you'll receive a 10% discount on your order. Pretty cool huh?

Also - your credit card won't be billed until the first of every month. That's how we've set it up. That way you'll know exactly what you're getting. Shipping charges will apply, but we'll do our best to see you get the best shipping rate!

Example: We usually ship USPS Priority Mail to make sure your chocolates arrive in good condition. We then have the option of doing Flat Rate or Regular Rate. We always give you the lowest option. If regular Priority Mail is the better price, you get that. If a Flat Rate Box is the best option, you'll get that. We especially use Flat Rate boxes for shipping cross country. Sometimes the difference is around $5 plus, depending on where you live.

Officially, the Chocolate of the Month Club won't start until December - just in time for Christmas and will run on a December through November cycle for a 12-month subscription.

But we also offer 3 & 6-month versions of our regular subscription and 3 & 6-month versions of our 9-month Vegan subscription. We make 9 Vegan products and we offer them all in this special 9-month Vegan Chocolate of the Month.

To review the product, go to this link: http://stores.smithorganicchocolates.com/Detail.bok?no=137. It will take you directly to the product. Or, you can go to our website: www.smithorganicchocolates.com - then scroll down and click on the product link on the home page. Happy browsing!

Here's the process again:

1) Sign up on our website as a customer

2) Purchase the product

Then, you'll be entered into the Chocolate of the Month Club customer group and receive your discount! Your credit card will be billed prorated on the first of the month for the length of your subscription.

Smith Organic Chocolates is dedicated to keeping you informed of our products and new information about chocolate, its health benefits and general chocolate industry information.

Chocolate of the Month Club

We're adding a couple new chocolate programs to our repertoire of chocolates! The first is Chocolate of the Month. We'll be initiating this to be sold as a gift package for the Holiday season, but we're telling you about it now so you can consider it, and sign up for it as soon as it's available. (kinda like Amazon does pre-sales). Many chocolate companies have these kinds of "clubs" and it's a fun gift for the chocolate lover on your list.

Here's how:

1) register as a new customer on our website: www.smithorganicchocolates.com

2) purchase the Chocolate of the Month product

You'll get a special customer discount. Your credit card will only be billed after a shipment.

The Chocolate of the Month Club will ship you 12 different chocolates - from barks & balls (sounds like dogplay doesn't it?) to our most elegant and newest truffles!

We pictured our newest product - our Organic Truffle Assortment. This is the half pound or 15-piece version. We ship it in an Everyday Elegance gold box, and it has a little bit of everything!

Vanilla Bean Creme - white drizzle on milk chocolate
Fresh Raspberry Truffles - red drizzle on dark chocolate
Coconut Balls - white coconut sprinkles on dark chocolate
Peanut Butter Balls - peanut sprinkles on dark chocolate
Almond Butter Balls - a white chocolate "S" on dark chocolate
Mocha Truffles - a mound of pulverized coffee grounds on top (looks like a dark chocolate mountain)
Strawberry Banana Truffles - pink & yellow drizzle on milk chocolate shell.

We've tried to make it sorta obvious what's inside by decorating the top. The box you may get may not look exactly as pictured, but we're sure you're going to love it!

Smith Organic Chocolates is dedicated to keeping you updated from time to time about our products, services, and chocolate industry & nutritional news.

All Natural Colors Used Here

FD&C colors - what are they? When surveyed, most people look at me funny, and they don't know what I'm talking about.

FD&C stands for (F)ood, (D)rug & (C)osmetic colors. They do use some natural vegetable colorings as basis for their processed colors, but many are also synthetically made. Some colors are made from certain insect shells. EE-yew!

From the beginning, Smith Organic Chocolates decided not to use any FD&C colors for our chocolates.

In giving a presentation recently to some B&B guests during a Wine & Chocolate Tour, I explained that certain FD&C colors have been linked to ADD, ADHD, and in extreme cases, some cancers.

That information alone made me not want to take a chance, even though the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) has approved certain FD&C colors for human consumption.

Notice our picture of our white chocolate two-piece rose box. There are what looks to be three colors there: red, yellow & green. Red & yellow are primary colors, but green is made from yellow & blue.

Our red is made from red beet. Our yellow from turmeric, and our blue from red cabbage. We also make purple from red beet & red cabbage, and our lavendars by adding additional white chocolate to the purple. We use those colors at Easter. Notice the cross below is drizzled with lavendar.

If you have additional questions, please email us at smithorganicchocolates@dejazzd.com, and we'll be happy to answer them for you.

Smith Organic Chocolates is dedicated to bringing you the best information regarding our chocolates and your overall health.

Always a Silver Lining

Ever lock yourself out of your house? Rarely have I ever done so - and it's been many, many years since I did.

But today - my precious husband was trying to be protective of our garage, and locked the door leading to the garage without my knowledge.

When I went for peanuts, that I use to make our homemade organic peanut butter - I found myself stuck in the garage without a hope of getting back in the house.

I always work in short sleeves, as I learned early on that long sleeves get dirty & wet real quickly.

I tried picking the lock with a couple different sized screwdrivers, and a even a pair of scissors. None of those methods worked. At least I know we are safe from amateur burglars.

I saw an old yellow blanket that my parents used to put on their bed. I put that around me, opened the garage door, and walked up Main Street in Akron to the Akron Nutrition Center. What a sight I was! Oh well. A school crossing guard & a local pastor got to hear I'd been locked out.

I got the car keys from my hubby at work, and he confessed to locking the door as a protective measure. I was relieved to get home so I could get back to work.

What are some of your locked out stories? Leave a comment and let me know. The winning entry gets a free Half Pound Organic Truffle Assortment.

Watch for more blog entries soon about Easter and nutrition news as it relates to chocolate.