sofi Awards

Hello everyone! Apologies for the spotty blog entries recently. We have been really busy with the launch of our improved, more natural cupola cookies and our brand new savory snacks, cupola clouds. Our days have been spent touching base with numerous retailers and sending them samples of our products. The response has been positive overall, but with the Easter holiday upon us, many of our contacts at the retailers where we would like to get on the shelves have been quite busy.

Since cupola cookies and cupola clouds are now available in custom-printed boxes, which are simple but more visually appealing, higher quality and more shelf-friendly than our previous packaging, we are able to approach a lot more retail locations than we were in the past. So far we've reached out to more retailers in PA, OH, NY, VA, MA, NH and FL.

But today, I wanted to talk about the sofi Awards, because they have been on my mind a lot lately. Up until last year, the sofi Awards used to be called the Product Awards. The competition is sponsored by NASFT (National Association for the Specialty Food Trade and is the specialty food industry's premiere product competition (The Oscar or Tony Awards for the specialty food industry if you will). This year, there are over 32 different award categories, such as Outstanding Pasta Sauce, Outstanding Salad Dressing and Outstanding Chocolate.

It's pretty interesting to see what products and companies have won awards in the past. NASFT features this information in the Product Awards section of their site. I warn you though, that you will work up an appetite as you check out the award winners and finalists.

Each year NASFT receives about 2,000 entries for the competition, so the competition, in the words of Christian Siriano, winner of this season's Project Runway, is FIERCE! But we think our cupola cookies and our cupola clouds have that something special, so we're going to enter them into the competition this year. Whether we place or not, I think it will be a good experience for us and we'll learn a lot about our products and how they measure up to the competition.

On your mark, get set, eat!

Blogging About Blogs

I thought it would be ironic, and kind of fun to do a post about blogs on this blog. Since I've started blogging, I've paid a lot more attention to blogs in general. If they're written well, blogs can be witty, entertaining, while still providing good information. The thing that I love about blogs is that they can be as personal or impersonal as you want them to be. Some people blog with their hearts on their sleeves, others censor themselves a bit more, but all blogs provide bloggers and readers an opportunity to say what's on their minds.

The only downfall to finding a blog that you like, is that as a reader, they can be addictive. I'll be the first to admit that I read a mixture of blogs- most are related to food (naturally, I'm a bit biased towards this particular genre), but others are about current events, pop culture or the arts.

One of the best things I think I've gotten out of starting this blog is that it makes me stop every so often and reflect on what we've been doing with the business. I think this is important, especially with how busy we've been lately. As a kid, I attempted numerous times to keep a journal or diary of sorts, but was never dedicated enough to making regular entries. In fact, I think I still have a slew of bubblegum pink and Barney purple notebooks, each with just two or three entries. A testament to my lack of commitment as an 8-year old, really. Since I've started this blog in July 2007, I've done my best to update it with new post and articles at least every other week.

A blog is a great space to discuss, to inform, to vent and to applaud. If you think you might want to start a blog, here are some links to a couple sites that will help you set one up for free:

Blogger
MovableType
WordPress

I also thought I'd share a couple of the food blogs that I've been following:

SimplyRecipes.com- a constantly updated collection of great recipes, peppered with entries about specific foods and eating. I love that each recipe has a little bit of a narrative or background story to go with it.

EAT- started by a 20-something foodie from Pittsburgh who moved to New York and chronicles his eating, dining and cooking experiences in the Big Apple. his mom chimes in from time to time with a post or two.

Happy Blogging!

Boxes are the best!

Earlier this week, our long awaited boxes arrived from the printers! Considering the fact that neither my mom nor I have had any previous experience designing packaging and neither of us have any formal training in graphic design, we think the boxes turned out quite well!

From start to finish, the whole process of designing and producing our new packaging took about 2 months. Here are some pics I took so you can check out the finish product for yourself. Now that we have the new boxes, in the next several weeks we will be sending samples to as many retailers as we can. Some are smaller individual specialty food stores while others are larger purveyors of fine foods, with multiple retail locations.

We have also given our website a mini-makeover. After getting some much needed pointers from my web design professor, the site is cleaner, simpler and easier to read. She pointed out that the text and logos on the previous site were much too large- definitely a good call. The site also features the most current product information, including details on our new line of savory snacks, Cupola Clouds.

The main updates made to the site:

• We've added a section that talks about the health benefits of our cookies
  
• We've added a gallery where you can check out even more delectable photos of our baked goods
• Our "How to Eat" section now has recipes and suggested beverage pairings for our products
  
• For now, we are going to hold off on selling our baked goods over eBay as we have in the past. Based on customer feedback and our current marketing and sales goals, we decided that it would be better to sell our products directly on our site once we have the capabilities to do this. This way we'll be able to provide you with a variety of payment options, (instead of just PayPal) and a quicker, easier and yes, more enjoyable online shopping experience!
  

Drumroll please....Product Updates!

In the last couple weeks, I've been a bit vague about what we’ve been working on in terms of product development, packaging and the like- but all with good reason. This is because we have been working hard on hashing out the related details and timing. We definitely have a much better idea of the direction we are moving in and we are aiming to launch a new, improved product line (including the addition of some savory snacks!) in March.

We also felt we owed it to our current retailers to share this information with them first. Now that we’ve relayed these details to them, I am excited to share some updates with you all! I’ll also pass along additional info throughout this month, leading up to the actual launch.

Marketing

• The cookies are getting a new name! In March, the cookies will be debuting as:
  

Why, you ask? Because after some time in the market and speaking with customers and retailers first hand, we realized that our cookies are quite different (in taste and recipe) than the traditional European meringues being sold. Traditional meringues are typically very sweet and contain lots of sugar, but our baked goods are lightly sweetened. In addition, meringues are primarily made out of egg whites and sugar, but our cookies also contain all natural ingredients such as garbanzo bean flour and nuts. To sum it up, we feel we need a unique name to describe our unique cookies.

Product Development

• The cookies (Chocolate Cashew, Chai Pistachio, Espresso Walnut) will be made with organic evaporated cane juice instead of sugar, making them even healthier and more natural.

• Per cookie calorie count will be 11 calories instead of 24 due to a new and improved recipe. But don’t worry, the taste and texture of the cookies are still the same.

• We will be introducing a line of savory snacks, made from real cheese. They will be called:

Packaging

• To make it easier for you to eat our cookies on-the-go, we are making them slightly smaller, but you will get the same exact amount of product in each bag. This is because we’re increasing the number of cookies in each bag from 5 to 7.

• The cookies will soon be available in boxes, which will contain 15 cookies- the boxes are simple and (I think) visually appealing. Great for sharing and to give as gifts. A larger package means they’ll last around your house a bit longer too!

More to details to come soon!

When technology becomes the bane of your existence

Today was supposed to be like any other day. Until I sat at my desk, tried to turn on my computer and all I got was a black screen. HORROR. You know that infamous scene in Psycho where Janet Leigh gets stabbed in the shower? The string music from that scene was running through my head.

I tried to reboot the computer about 10 times before I conceded that this was a job for a professional. In the two years that I have had my Dell Inspiron E1405, I have never had to contact tech support, but it was one of the reasons why I had chosen a Dell laptop to begin with. Friends and colleagues had raved about the tech support and customer service that came part and parcel with being a Dell owner.

I figured out that you could do a Live Chat with a tech specialist through the Dell site, and using my parent's computer, logged on. After a couple minutes, I was connected to Dalip, who for the next 5 hours (yes, I said 5 hours), tried to help me pinpoint the problem. During this time, I actually physically took apart my computer- something I thought I would never, ever do. I'm not technologically incompetent- I love my computer, blogs, Facebook and Gmail, perhaps just a bit too much, but I've always been apprehensive about handling hardware.

Suprisingly though, minus the frusration and anxiety over whether my files could be saved, it was actually kind of fun taking apart my computer and putting it back together- flashback to memories of playing Operation as a kid. And I now know the general anatomy of my laptop- I could even tell you how to take out and replace the memory modules, modem, and hard drive.

At multiple points though, I admit that panic started to creep in- this is the computer that holds most, if not all of my personal and business documents. Yes, I do backup the most important files, but not everything. Dalip though, he was rock- calm, cool and collected and ridiculously patient.

At the end of 5 hours, Dalip decided that the motherboard on my little computer was busted. He reassured me that he was ordering the part and then having it shipped to a Dell technician who would contact me to set up a time to come by and replace the part in the next first 2-3 days. And most importantly, he confirmed that my files were safe.

At first I felt like I had lost half of a work day. But this unpleasant encounter with the troubles that can arise when you rely on technology too much has provided me with some much needed perspective:

1) I need to write things down on paper more often. Not to mention printing out hard copies of important documents and e-mails.

2) I should remember to back-up everything on my computer. Everything.

3) I need to remind myself that technology isn't human, but it was designed by humans, so it's not perfect.

Wishing you a technology trouble-free week!

Food Can Bridge The Cultural Divide

I stumbled across an article this past weekend that debunks the history behind the typical ending to a meal at almost any Chinese restaurant- the fortune cookie. The most interesting finding discussed was that contrary to popular belief, the fortune cookie actually comes from Japan, and not China. This is why you will never see a fortune cookie served in a restaurant in Beijing or Shanghai.

The cultural migration of the cookie actually happened here in the U.S., beginning on the West Coast when Japanese immigrants started serving the cookies in their restaurants, many of which happened to serve Chinese style cuisine. This got me thinking just how foods can travel across geographies, seamlessly adapting and in some cases transforming into something culturally unique and distinctive, yet continuing to possess strikingly similar characteristics to their counterparts around the world. Some examples:

samosa (India)
empanada (Spain, Portugal, the Caribbean, Latin American and the Philippines)
croquette (Netherlands)

ravioli (Italy)
wonton (China)
pierogie (Poland)

noodles (China and other Asian countries)
pasta (Italy)

gyro (Greece)
taco (Mexico)

Proof that food just may be the ultimate unifier. I've posted the article on the history of the fortune cookie, "Solving a Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside a Cookie" to the blog- check it out!

It's Just A Cardboard Box, Right?

Wrong. Over the past month or so, we have been taking steps to upgrade the packaging of our cookies and so far, the process has been eye opening! I have never in my life had more artistic appreciation for the box that Cheerios come in, or the canister that holds my coffee.

We've decided to create boxes so we can package larger quantities of our cookies and provide retailers with a more shelf-friendly product. Since I don't have a formal education in art or graphic design, I've been learning so much about the various elements you need to think about when it comes to packaging.

Some examples:

1) I've had a crash course in packaging terminology. I am now comfortable using words like "auto-lock bottom," "double-tuck," and "viewing window" in real conversations.

2) I can probably tell you the RGB and CMYK formulas for the chocolate brown color we use for our logo off the top of my head.

3) I actually know what UPC stands for (Universal Product Code!) and have figured out how to get one for each of our products.

It's amazing how much you can learn just by asking questions. We have been working with a packaging company that has been great about providing us with information on the step-by-step process of printing boxes. Knowing that we are novices, they have also been patient and helpful in getting us price quotes and creating prototypes for the packaging that we're interested in. Something I've realized in the last couple months is that it's really important to find vendors and other business partners that you feel comfortable with, are reliable and will do their best to help you accomplish what you want to achieve.