It was quite an experience this past weekend....I don't think we were prepared for the amazing time that we had at the SF Chocolate Salon on Saturday, March 21 at Fort Mason. We arrived to set up around 8:45 on Saturday morning. Now we knew that there were going to be 50+ vendors all tasting and showcasing chocolate, but it wasn't until you see everyone setting up that you realize how much chocolate was in that hall - those were some serious calories! 20 minutes before the Salon was to open, there was already a "buzz" at the door and the lines of chocolate lovers were growing, pouring outside of the building and down the street. Then the doors opened and the people started flooding in - based on our table position, we were on the left hand isle, so people naturally started on the right hand side and worked their way down the isle, tasting, talking and everyone had smiles on their face! I realized that at this point - Herbst Pavillion was the Happiest Place in the Bay Area!
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We went through an amazing amount of samples and product - we thank ALL of you who waited patiently as we scrambled back to our warehouse to bring more product since we had sold out at 1pm with 5 hours still left in the day!
This is what I enjoyed most about the day (well a couple of things). When people would come up for a "taste" we'd tell them its a Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Rolled in Toffee....they'd seem a bit hesitant at first, thinking, can't be that good - then you'd watch their face - classic! Eyes would get big and you can see the pleasant surprise look on their face! Then they would tell us what they thought (people were full of all sorts of comments)
"Homemade Sin" - Vivian from Temecula, CA (which I understand has an amazing amount of wineries and a great place to visit)
"a party in my mouth of unexpected flavors" - Lindsey from SF
"the best kept secret in the bay area" - Michael from Alameda (let's not keep it that way Michael!)
The other thing that I really enjoyed about the day, talking to everyone! Part of owning your own business is that coming to shows like this, you get to meet your customers/fans - hear what they have to say - find out who they are.
Thanks to Megan Reilly - just the nicest person - she is the "owner" of a blog that focuses on Chocolate and Coffee (what a combo) - here is what she had to say about us at the show (I also used her picture from the event to show the crowd)
What we heard from many people was that we were a favorite at the show - unexpected and a great candy/snack! We look forward to hearing from the Taste TV folks to see if we were winners in any of the judges categories.
Congratulations to Jodie Stowe from Menlo Park - she is the winner of our CJ's Bitz and CJ's Stix Gift Basket!
Lastly - if you are fan of FaceBook - please make sure that you go to our page and become a FAN of CJ's Stix and CJ's Bitz - thanks in advance
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Congratulations to Joe Woerner & Laurie Haskell on their visit to Sydney, Australia with CJ's Bitz!
