Hi!

Hope you all have been enjoying February- it is so gorgeous out today (at least at the moment. One never knows with Vancouver...)!  What a great day for filing receipts and typing up four important documents. 

But these must be done- otherwise stagnation will only result. The documents are (since you asked):

1. An employee manual (almost halfway done!)
2. A recipe instruction book- right now, all of my recipes just look like numbers on a spreadsheet. I need to make them look like English in a word doc, so that future oompa loompas may use them. Guess that means a fifth document- a non-disclosure agreement. 
3. Application to the fair-trade federation. It is enormous. 
4. Organic certification- all of the ingredients used in Zimt products are certified organic, but the manufacturer of the final product (me of the Zimt chocolate), must also apply for organic certification. Otherwise, you can't get that neat little BC Organic circle on the packaging.
5. Non-disclosure agreement.

I will feel so much better after getting the first two finished, at least. And I guess the fifth one. Although everything in the NDA would be in the employee manual, which needs to be signed. 

Alrighty- so... this weekend was the Wellness Show. It is a trades show where the majority of consumers simply graze on product, and there are a good lot who really couldn't care less about what it is your company is offering. Kind of "Food. In. Mouth. Now.". That may be okay for bigger companies, who have a sample budget proportionate to such large events, but... Zimt is not quite that big quite yet. Soon. Soon, feel free to gorge yourself on fine Zimt samples. =) 

The Wellness Show was pretty alright, though- I got to hang out with my friend Ricky (we shared a booth), and Zimt got a lot of help from some really lovely people.  Manning a booth for three days for at least 8 hours each day is enough to make anyone go loopy. At one point, when my mom, aunt, and Anne were at the booth, I went and took a 45 minute nap on a demo bed in the middle of the exhibition- how liberating! My mom said I looked terrible and nobody would want to buy chocolate from me if I didn't get some sleep. Mom is right.
 
















In addition to napping being fun, bartering for goods at the end of the conference is also very fun. I exchanged some Zimt for some amazing products I would normally never, ever buy! One day I will though- with real money. Although chocolate was used as currency in the Aztec empire, it usually isn't in modern society anywhere. Anyway, I got great stuff! Lots of hemp products from Manitoba Harvest and Prana and some last- minute coconut milk from Arayuma. Amazing! I hope to get some time and space to use them in the near future. 

I also got to see some old friends! And, despite a good many people grazing,  some Zimt fans came to the booth and, wow, it is so nice to hear all those kind words and feel the gratitude! I love it when I tell people about Zimt and they are astounded that they can eat it, despite their dietary considerations. It makes me so happy to offer something nice to people who normally can't enjoy something nice. 

These trades shows are also great for building contacts- I met a lot of people in the industry and may even be able to force Zimt into Choices now. =) I guess it can be seen as a longterm investment- you may not make a ton at the show itself, but it does present future opportunities. 

An issue that must be addressed: some people are finding the chocolate to be overly smokey. While the beans are naturally smokey, simply because of the variety they are, this seems to be getting a bit overpowering. I have contacted my supplier several times and I will be getting this sorted out. 

I am very sorry if you have purchased a Zimt product recently and have been disappointed by a smokey flavour. Please let me know what you purchased and you will be compensated.

I honestly think that some are simply more sensitive to the smokey taste that others, too- not to say that this is not a legitimate concern. One woman even brought back a bar she had purchased at the Wellness Show, saying it tasted like smoke. Many people had bought bars from the exact same batch, though, and raved. Personal preference. 

That's about it for now- I really should be blogging more often. Not to make excuses, but this host site is really difficult to log in to! The password strength required is unreal and I always forget what I had made it the time before, since I need to always change it. Think I have fixed that.  

Two more things! I am going on two vacations (!!!!!) and cannot wait! This weekend is Seattle- pure bliss. Indescribable. So much fun and awesomeness in the very near future. 
March 18th is Taipei! I am going to collect Karl and see a bit of Asia. This will be very fun times, indeed. Takes me back to when we met up in Italy nearly two years ago. Crazy!

Here are some neat links- I want to make this a more frequent thing: 

Eat your growing food!  This is where you can find tasty, compassionate (vegan), non-candy/dessert, but real growing food recipes. I chose this one because Dreena Burton is a wonderful chef, who creates healthy recipes out of simple ingredients.  I also just had a dream about cooking lentils, so this seemed appropriate. 

Simply "click" to save animals!  All you need to do is to click on the button that says "Click here to give- it's FREE" and voila- you helped save animals! Almost as easy as going vegan, though not as delicious =) 


Until I post again,


Emma

xo

Hi!

Hope you all have been enjoying February- it is so gorgeous out today (at least at the moment. One never knows with Vancouver...)!  What a great day for filing receipts and typing up four important documents. 

But these must be done- otherwise stagnation will only result. The documents are (since you asked):

1. An employee manual (almost halfway done!)
2. A recipe instruction book- right now, all of my recipes just look like numbers on a spreadsheet. I need to make them look like English in a word doc, so that future oompa loompas may use them. Guess that means a fifth document- a non-disclosure agreement. 
3. Application to the fair-trade federation. It is enormous. 
4. Organic certification- all of the ingredients used in Zimt products are certified organic, but the manufacturer of the final product (me of the Zimt chocolate), must also apply for organic certification. Otherwise, you can't get that neat little BC Organic circle on the packaging.
5. Non-disclosure agreement.

I will feel so much better after getting the first two finished, at least. And I guess the fifth one. Although everything in the NDA would be in the employee manual, which needs to be signed. 

Alrighty- so... this weekend was the Wellness Show. It is a trades show where the majority of consumers simply graze on product, and there are a good lot who really couldn't care less about what it is your company is offering. Kind of "Food. In. Mouth. Now.". That may be okay for bigger companies, who have a sample budget proportionate to such large events, but... Zimt is not quite that big quite yet. Soon. Soon, feel free to gorge yourself on fine Zimt samples. =) 

The Wellness Show was pretty alright, though- I got to hang out with my friend Ricky (we shared a booth), and Zimt got a lot of help from some really lovely people.  Manning a booth for three days for at least 8 hours each day is enough to make anyone go loopy. At one point, when my mom, aunt, and Anne were at the booth, I went and took a 45 minute nap on a demo bed in the middle of the exhibition- how liberating! My mom said I looked terrible and nobody would want to buy chocolate from me if I didn't get some sleep. Mom is right. 




In addition to napping being fun, bartering for goods at the end of the conference is also very fun. I exchanged some Zimt for some amazing products I would normally never, ever buy! One day I will though- with real money. Although chocolate was used as currency in the Aztec empire, it usually isn't in modern society anywhere. Anyway, I got great stuff! Lots of hemp products from Manitoba Harvest and Prana and some last- minute coconut milk from Arayuma. Amazing! I hope to get some time and space to use them in the near future. 

These trades shows are also great for building contacts- I met a lot of people in the industry and may even be able to force Zimt into Choices now. =) I guess it can be seen as a longterm investment- you may not make a ton at the show itself, but it does present future opportunities. 

An issue that must be addressed: some people are finding the chocolate to be overly smokey. While the beans are naturally smokey, simply because of the variety they are, this seems to be getting a bit overpowering. I have contacted my supplier several times and I will be getting this sorted out. 

I am very sorry if you have purchased a Zimt product recently and have been disappointed by a smokey flavour. Please let me know what you purchased and you will be compensated.

I honestly think that some are simply more sensitive to the smokey taste that others, too- not to say that this is not a legitimate concern. One woman even brought back a bar she had purchased at the Wellness Show, saying it tasted like smoke. Many people had bought bars from the exact same batch, though, and raved. Personal preference. 

That's about it for now- I really should be blogging more often. Not to make excuses, but this host site is really difficult to log in to! The password strength required is unreal and I always forget what I had made it the time before, since I need to always change it. Think I have fixed that.  

Two more things! I am going on two vacations (!!!!!) and cannot wait! This weekend is Seattle- pure bliss. Indescribable. So much fun and awesomeness in the very near future. 
March 18th is Taipei! I am going to collect Karl and see a bit of Asia. This will be very fun times, indeed. Takes me back to when we met up in Italy nearly two years ago. Crazy!

Here are some neat links- I want to make this a more frequent thing: 

Eat your growing food!  This is where you can find tasty, compassionate (vegan), non-candy/dessert, but real growing food recipes. I chose this one because Dreena Burton is a wonderful chef, who creates healthy recipes out of simple ingredients.  I also just had a dream about cooking lentils, so this seemed appropriate. 

Simply "click" to save animals!  All you need to do is to click on the button that says "Click here to give- it's FREE" and voila- you helped save animals! Almost as easy as going vegan, though not as delicious =)