CJ's Stix - Chocolate Dipped Pretzels Hand Rolled In English Toffee

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!

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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Well, I never thought that I would see something like this!  I found in my mail today, a nice envelope with a newspaper clip inside.  I read the note and was looking all over the paper for an article about us....well it wasn't an article - it was a comic strip!  I think its hilarious and will be framed and put in the office!  Thanks to the Novato Advance for its creativity!  Thanks to my friends Katie & Sarah Cooper for sharing and to all of you who support us!!!

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Can you think of a better way to spend your day - tasting the best wines and sampling food that will pair with it...including our CJ's Bitz!  This weekend we will participate in the SF Chronicle Wine Tasting event at Fort Mason - Saturday, February 28th.

We are also getting excited about our March 21st event - the International Chocolate Salon .   As SF magazine 944 just state - life is like a box of chocolate, how much better can it get....50 chocolate vendors, $25 entrance fee and tasting like it is the wonka factory tour! 

We sent out goodies to local press this week to let them know we were participating in this Chocolate Salon - see what 944 had to say in their blog

What do you think about our product - we'd love to hear what you have to say in our blog....become a fan on our FaceBook page...let us know you are out there!

If you come to any of our events - please say "Hello" to us at the booth!

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We know how delicious our product is - we've been saying it for years....now people all around the country are "talking" about us and agree with us when we say that CJ's Bitz is Love at First Bite!  Here is the buzz....

InsideBayArea.com - Jolene Thym from the Oakland Tribune had the following report from the Fancy Food Show

LOVE BITE: A pretzel is just a pretzel ... until Cheryl Jagoda of CJ's in Novato gets her hands on it - dipping it in chocolate and rolling it in crunchy toffee bits. If you think this sounds good, you're wrong. These are much, much better than good. The treats, called Cj's Stix and Cj's Bitz, come in a range of flavors, but I only tasted the original flavor.  If you are looking for an indulgent snack that's worth every calorie, these are it. They're $6.99 for 4 ounces of Bitz; $4.99 for four 8-inch long Stix. The treats can be found in gourmet food specialty stores and online at http://www.cjsstix.com/.

Original Article can be read at :  http://www.insidebayarea.com/bay-area-living/ci_11564516

www.sfweekly.com - Tamara Palmer

Bay Area Bites from the Fancy Food Show:  CJ's Bitz

There are many chocolate-pretzel combinations on the market, but CJ's Stix of Novato takes it to the next level with the addition of chunks of perfectly salted toffee. CJ's Bitz, the bite-sized version of the Stix, are dangerous. Case in point: This writer has consumed nearly a whole box of the peanut-butter-filled version during the composition of this post. Find them at the Rincon Market (98 Howard), Gifted Basket (236 8th St.), Farm Fresh to You (1 Ferry Bldg.), Blue Fog Market (2567 Gough St.), and Boudin Bakery locations.

Original blog can be read at: http://blogs.sfweekly.com/foodie/2009/01/bay_area_bites_from_the_fancy.php

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Another holiday - Valentines is right around the corner.  Chocolate has to be the number one sweet gift items for this holiday of LOVE!   We've had lots of people ordering our Chocolatier Club Gift for their favorite sweetheart - a years worth of CJ's Bitz - what isn't great about that?!  Think about breaking away from the traditional heart shaped boxes of chocolate and give them something that they will say is "love at first bite". 

We are so excited about 2009!  We are gearing up for the Fancy Food Show this weekend.  We are also finalizing plans for two more shows at the start of the year.  On February 28th we will be attending and sampling our products at the SF Chronicle Wine Tasting event at Fort Mason.  If you like Wine and great food items that go with wine (like CJ's Bitz) - this is the place to be!  Then on March 21st we will participate for the first time in the 3rd Annual International Chocolate Salon.  What doesn't sound good about that.....over 50 vendors - all chocolate....tasting, buying and more.  This too will be at Fort Mason in San Francisco.  We'd love to see our fans/customers at all these events - make sure if you come, you stop by - take some pictures, post back on our BLOG - we want to hear from you! 

Do you know of an event that you think we should be at?  Do you have a favorite local gourmet shop or wine store that you think should sell our products?  As a small family owned business, help from our customers is critical - we'd love to know what you think, ideas and places to sell our product.  We always appreciate the input!!!

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It's the holiday time and another year that we will participate in the wonderful event called Holiday in the Vineyard - each of the wineries in Livermore will celebrate the season with special wines, music, arts & crafts, gifts and warm holiday experiences.

This coming weekend, December 6 & 7 - we will be showcasing our products at Wente Winery, but you can find CJ's Stix and CJ's Bitz at Steven Kent Winery and Concannon Winery as well.  And if you don't want to wine taste, but want to snack on our product - head over to Tommie's Deli in downtown Livermore.

The one thing that welove is being in front of our customer and no one does it better than Bruce!  From the Ferry Building in SF to the rolling hills of the wine country - everyone seems to know Bruce!  Many times I'll get comments from customers after a purchase online saying, "I tasted your product at the SF Ferry Building and the representative for your company was so nice at the demo" - I make sure that they know, it's not just a representative - it's one of the owners!  I think that is what seperates us from other companies!  Sure we have a fantastic product (we know that and hear it all the time), but we are a true family business and all the members of the family participate.  Bruce is passionate about the company and the product, he loves to meet and chat with new customers...just mae sure you don't wear a NY Yankees hat in front of him :) (just kidding).

So next time you see our product at a demo - maybe even this coming weekend in the Livermore Valley - make sure you stop by and say "hello" to bruce - we'd love to meet  you!

Happy Holidays....

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Just this past weekend, we participated at the 1st Annual Fabulous Food Festival. It was the first time that we had our own booth at a tradeshow versus a shared booth space - some new challenges, but we were looking forward to testing the waters.
 
There were three of us at the show; Bruce, Steve and myself. We got to the Exposition Hall early on Saturday morning to bring everything in and start to set up in our 10x10 space! By 10am, we were ready to go and receive the thousands of people that were ready to sample a variety of foods.

One of the most rewarding parts of doing demos or tradeshows is to watch the reaction of people when you tell them what they are going to sample and then to watch them as they eat it! Bruce is our main demo guy and has become somewhat iconic around the Bay Area! He’ll stand at the front of the table and say: “It’s a chocolate dipped pretzel hand rolled in English toffee”. We had one woman this year, from Lafayette, take the sample and say with a smile on her face, “you had me at chocolate!” These are the fun types of comments that we hear from people. We feel that we are able to connect with the attendees of these types of events, letting them know who we are, that we have a family business and a really great product!

Here are some other fun comments that we received over the weekend:

“It’s like a party is going on inside my mouth” – Michelle, Mill Valley
 
“Almond Roca on steroids” – Rich, San Luis Obispo

“It’s Out-of-the-World good!” – Hana, San Francisco

Thanks to all those that stopped by to taste and to buy – we always have a fun time at these events and we appreciate the support from our customers!

Congratulations to Danielle Brady from Mill Valley, she was the winner of the Gift Basket of CJ’s Stix and CJ’s Bitz we were giving away.

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