A Small Gift

The Coconut Bliss family is extremely grateful for all the support that you, our wonderful fans, have provided us over the last year. We wouldn’t be where we are today without your love & support and this is one small way of saying thank you.

Amy Palatnick, a local potter, made us some small custom bowls for our Night of Bliss boxes and we loved them so much we had her make us a few more for gifts. They have the Coconut Bliss elephant on the underside & each bowl has a unique layering of glazes on them.

After some long and serious contemplation on how I was going to give these bowls away & having no clear thoughts I turned to my co-workers. Lakshmi had a great idea that really stuck with me so I’m going to use it! She wants to see pictures of your favorite way to enjoy Coconut Bliss. This could be something as simple as your pint of choice & favorite ice cream spoon, or as complex as a multi flavor sundae creation.

You can post the picture to our Flickr Group, on our Facebook page, in a Tweet (twitpic ect), or on your own website or blog! Wherever the picture is posted please leave me a link here to the picture & a way to contact you if the picture is not posted to a network I can contact you on.

Feel free to submit as many pictures as you like, but you can only win one of the five bowls I have to giveaway. Entries for the giveaway can be submitted until midnight January 3rd, 2010. I will contact the winners on January 4th, 2010 and hopefully will have been in touch with all of them by January 5th to be able to share all the winning entries with you!

Have a blissful holiday season!
Kiley

Our Coconut Bliss Staff, December 2009...

Big things have been happening over the last couple of months at our Bliss offices as we've been planning for 2010. It culminated this week in putting the finishing touches on our 2010 budget! We're excited, and we've got some really neat things planned for the coming year.

We're also looking back at 2009, and we're really thankful...for our customers and our families, and their support of our Coconut Bliss and the way we do business. We are feeling, well, quite blissful.

So, here's a picture of our team, taken earlier this week in Eugene, on one of the coldest, clearest winter days in (my) memory.

... and just as I typed this, it started raining. Well, back to our normal weather patterns, and time for some Naked Almond Fudge. :)

~Vince

Jaya Lakshmi And Coconut Bliss at SF Green Fest Parties 2009

[An update from Jaya Lakshmi, Director of Events and Public Relations...]

Last weekend, we had a blast sponsoring the two Green Festival after parties in San Francisco. I flew down for the weekend from Eugene, OR with Jenya (very cheap flights on Alleigant Air!)

We attended Common Ground Magazine's 35th Anniversary party at 1015 Folsom St. We had a table there along with the other sponsors; we gave out samples and sold bars. Shanna, our Bay Area "Bliss Op" came in with the freezer and other supplies (amazing  how she handles that freezer!).

It was a rockin' party, split into three rooms - my favorite of course was the cozy 'Kirtan' room downstairs, where I performed a kirtan set, and got to sing along with Mukti (thanks to Shanna & Jenya covering the table). Delhi 2 Dublin played on the main stage, and we also experienced some other great bands and fantastic entertainment by El Cirque. We didn't leave the venue until 4 am!

On Saturday night, November 14th, we sponsored the Hamsa Lila party at the Regency Ballroom, along with Earthdance, Lydia's Lovin' Foods, Nutiva, Alter Eco and other vendors. This was actually a benefit for Common Vision. Our spot was in the lobby, and wow, what a scene it was all night long!

It was quite a tribal family gathering - there must have been at least 800 people there. I recognized folks from all eras of the rainbow trail: super fun to serve out Coconut Bliss, constantly, for 8 hours, and at the end we gave the rest of our bars away. It was surreal to see everyone in the whole lobby licking their Coconut Bliss bars! (Hey, special thanks to those who helped us carry the freezer up & down all those stairs!) Hamsa Lila had an incredible re-union show, stronger than ever. 

We'll definitely be back next year, possibly in the Festival as well, to participate in one of the most incredible celebrations of our green economy and neo-tribal culture that happens on the planet...right here on our expansive, frontier west coast where dreams come true!

If any of you out there have links to pictures from any of these events, feel free to leave them in the comments! 

Thank You For Giving US a Night Of Bliss

We were incredibly honored and excited as we greeted friends -- old and new -- at our 2009 A Night of Bliss Benefit, on Saturday, Nov. 7th, at the Eugene Waldorf School.

We opened our doors at 5pm, with people already waiting. We had hoped to give away 24 gallons of Coconut Bliss--we actually had to run back to our office freezers to get more. When all was said and done, we pulled out another 6+ cases! And on a cold, rainy night in Eugene, over 450 people came out to donate their money and time...and eat our endless Coconut Bliss sundaes.

And amazing sundaes they were, in large part due to the sweet, gooey (and organic) toppings! Local natural food companies generously donated their time and their product: organic nuts and goji berries, raw granola toppings from Hummingbird Wholesale, sweet berry sauces from Sweet Creek Foods, luscious hot fudge sauce from PremRose Edibles, granola toppings from Grizzly Brand Granola, carmel sauce from Missionary Chocolates, fruit sauces from Lost Valley Educational Center, and a wonderful hot chai from Mountain Rose Herbs. On the savory end of things, Cousin Jack's Pasty Company (541-686-3211‎) offered locally sourced and freshly prepared pasties.

For entertainment, Jaya Lashimi and friends performed 2 one hour-long sets of kirtan & celtic-inspired music, with female vocalist Wind Song jumping on stage for a final song. And the South Eugene High School Drama Department gave a performance as well.

In addition, we gave away ice cream bowls (exclusively made for this event by local potter Amy Palatnik) to anyone during the evening who offered to appear on camera talking about Coconut Bliss. Amy's work is well known locally, and we're appreciative of her generous artistic contribution to A Night of Bliss.

All proceeds will be donated to four groups who focus on education and sustainability in our community. The beneficiaries of our 2009 event are

• Eugene Waldorf School (who generously allowed us to use their Great Hall),
• Lost Valley Educational Center
• Huerto De Familia
• South Eugene High School Drama Department

Over $2500 was raised -- it will be divided evenly amongst these 4 groups. In addition to the monetary donation (and our donation of Coconut Bliss), we gave our beneficiaries table space to share and explain to others what their groups do.

But we also wanted this event to be more than just "local", and it was. As the night began, Larry reminded us that-- across North America-- many others' "Night of Bliss" parties were already well underway, happening in synchrony with our event. Earlier last month, we awarded 50 Coconut Bliss tasting-parties ("Bliss boxes") to people who sent us their very personal expressions of how Coconut Bliss makes them feel. The winners of our Night of Bliss are listed here:

• poetry and prose entries
• graphical media entries

So, if you participated and 'played' along, how was your "Night of Bliss" experience?

If you have pictures, videos or commentary, leave us a comment on this blog entry. And if you have a Flickr photo account, please join our Coconut Bliss Lover's photo pool to have your photos feed into our pool of Coconut Bliss-related pictures.

We're already looking forward to next year. Thanks for helping us make this vision become a sweet reality and grand success.

PS: Here's our first video from a national winner's "Night of Bliss" tasting party. And here's a blog post of another winner's event.

~Vince

Your Own Coconut Bliss Party, and our 2009 Invitees

We have selected our 2009 "A Night of Bliss" invitees and have just shipped off 50 Coconut Bliss "parties-in-a-box" to locations across North America (one evne from Canadia!). Thanks again for all your amazing contributions! A list  is at the end of this post, and you can view them by clicking here.

Even if you can't make it to our party, you can still have your own Night of Bliss party on November 7, or any other night. In fact, you can even throw a "Morning of Bliss" brunch if that excites you, complete with Mimosas and Bloody Marys or fresh waffles!

A Coconut Bliss party is a great opportunity to connect with those you love, break the ice with new friends, and soften the ice with someone you've had tension with. Coconut Bliss has a way of bringing people joyously together. Nothing like melting Bliss to melt barriers between people! This is your party, so create it in whatever way you and your guests will enjoy, be that kirtan and candelight, or celto-punjabi-dub-hop and strobe lights.

Suggestions on Who to Invite:

• Friends and family who love Coconut Bliss
• Friends and family who've never even heard of Coconut Bliss
• People you would like to get to know better (e.g., your favorite checker at your local market)
• Your next door neighbors
• Your co-workers (one you like and one you avoid)
• Children (they help awaken giggles, silliness and pure enjoyment)
• A neighborhood stray kitty (cats love Coconut Bliss)

Serving Ideas:

We enjoy Coconut Bliss best in glass or ceramic bowls, especially handmade ones. It's fun to have lots of toppings, such as sliced mangoes or bananas, fresh berries, toasted nuts, goji berries, or cacao nibs. In Italy, they like to pour a freshly pulled shot of espresso over vanilla gelato (they call this "affogato"). Get creative!

Activities for Your Party:

• Invite your guests to feed each other at some point during the party
• Blindfolded "guess the flavor" contest
• Create a performance and video it (send us the link!)
• Extend your bliss by sharing foot or back rubs (or tummy rubs if some have over-indulged)
• Have a sharing circle about what brings you bliss
• Twister Bliss
  

After your party send us links to your photos, videos and stories! If you're on Flickr, you can join our 'photo pool' : http://www.flickr.com/groups/coconutbliss/pool/

Please share your ideas with us! Leave us your comments. Thanks! :)

AND here are the invitees:

• Jessica Brown - Juneau, AK
• Brittany Shelton - Fayetteville, AR
• Koali Pontual-Thorne - Patagonia, AZ
• Jennifer Stroup - Long Beach, CA
• Wendy Yu - Los Angeles, CA
• Christian Hellmers - Del Mar, CA
• David Ray - Sebastopol, CA
• Debbie Paul - Sacramento, CA
• Lisa Franzetta - Oakland, CA
• Vanessa Smith - Nevada City, CA
• Kelly Brozyna - Longmont, CO
• Marie Woodhull - South Glastonbury, CT
• Ruthie Berman - West Palm Beach, FL
• David Soleil - Decatur, GA
• Colin Lusher - Honolulu, HI
• Jamile Shirley - Ames, IA
• Ashely Bagot - Chicago, IL
• Maggie Schmit & Elli Plunkett - Bloomingto, IN
• Terri Deletetsky - Brookline, MA
• Maryann DellaRocco - Ellicott City, MD
• Anne Jacobs - Newcastle, ME
• Jennie Smith - Menominee, MI
• Stacy Gangestad - Farmington, MN
• Ariel Berube - Charlotte, NC
• Grayson Hoberg - Harvey, ND
• Justine Levine - Flemington, NJ
• Robyn Howard - Somerset, NJ
• Whitney Krueger - Santa Fe, NM
• Jaimie Shaff - Brooklyn, NY
• Nancy Guberti - Scarsdale, NY
• Michelle Brose - Staten Island, NY
• Elizabeth Stark - Beachwood, OH
• Melissa Helsel - Mustang, OK
• Sukita Crimmel - Portland, OR
• Traci D'Elia - Hillsboro, OR
• Jessica Dadds & Casey McDonald - Portland, OR
• Paolo Vidali - Philadelphia, PA
• Randa Clark - McKees Rocks, PA
• Margaux C. Chang - Daniel Island, SC
• Michelle Kane - Spearfish, SD
• Kym Colella - Brentwood, TN
• Becky Martin - Katy, TX
• Cresta Schiefer - Park City, UT
• Meaghan Sutherland - Arlington, VA
• Adrienne Fortune - Milton, VT
• Brandie Kajino - Vancouver, WA
• Kimberly Halinen - Spanaway, WA
• Spencer Beard - Seattle, WA
• Scott Rudolph - Appleton, WI
• Josh May - Vancouver, BC

Congratulations!!!

~Vince, Larry, Luna & Kiley

"A Night Of Bliss" Invitees To Be Announced Soon

Luna & Larry are now beginning to excitedly sift through the many creative, comedic, wonderful and wacky things we received from fans, as we approach our Coconut Bliss  event, "ANIGHTOFBLISS". Please stay tuned to our blog/twitter/facebook feeds for the announcement of the invitees, and other updates.
 

In Eugene, Oregon on Saturday, November 7th, we'll be giving away Coconut Bliss sundaes from 5pm-9pm, at the Eugene Waldorf School. All proceeds and donations will be going to four local education/sustainability focused groups.

• Here's more info about the event
  
• Here's a map and directions

We hope to see you there!

Deadline Extended 1 Week for A Night Of Bliss

Ok, you asked, so we're extending the deadline for A NIGHT OF BLISS-- it now ends 10-7-09. Again, if you haven't heard, Luna & Larry are inviting 50 fans to participate in our Coconut Bliss 'Night Of Bliss' with tasting kits.

A box o' fun: it can be used for a rollicking kids and parents party. Or you can reserve it for a swanky adult one. Your call, your bliss.

Go to Anightofbliss.com  for more details.

2 Days To the Deadline & A Video Entry

You have 2 days before the Night Of Bliss deadline.  

Here's a link to a fan's videos that came in over the weekend: video.

But just a poem will do. C'mon, send it in.

One week remains!

This is just a gentle reminder that there is exactly one week left before we send out our invitiations to our Night of Bliss ! We are starting to get a steady stream of some really art/poetry/etc, but we still don't have one for every state....

We really love sharing the bliss,and want to be able to share that joy with you! Make sure you don't miss out on this great opportunity to have your own Coconut Bliss tasting party, (deadline October 1st, 2009).

In other news we've decided to host a local (Eugene, OR) Night of Bliss party, because well we really do love giving Coconut Bliss away! I leaked the details on our Facebook wall-Look for another blog post with more details after the Night of Bliss entries have closed.

Last but not least this is Kiley posting which means I have goodies for you! I've got 10 $1.00 off coupons for the first 10 comments left on this post. Please be sure to leave me away to get in touch with you so I can get an address to send the coupon too!

Days of the "Burn" and A NIGHT OF BLISS

Coconut Bliss was at Burning Man...did you get the pleasure to enjoy us?

We didn't have any signage or our logo up anywhere, just a sign reading "Coconut Milk Ice Cream". How did this happen you ask? A vegan advocate named Christian Hellmers came to us (with generous funding from Vegfund.org) with an idea to serve 40+ tubs of Coconut Bliss! We heard that there were shouts of joy and disbelief to see organic vegan ice cream existing in a place like the 'Playa'! We thank Christian for getting it rolling (and our Chris. G for assisting).

Did you experience Bliss at Burning Man? Why not leave us a comment on this post about your experience at the 'Burn' ; we would love to know about it! And we'll give t-shirts to some of the best comments/stories (keep in mind that we still only have large shirts available-sorry!)

Looking forward to our A Night of Bliss parties, the deadline is fast approaching. In case you haven't heard, we are giving away 50 ice cream tasting kits for you to host a rockin' Coconut Bliss party. The entry form is quick and easy, and so far we've received lyrics, poems, stories, and lots of love: hosting your very own Coconut Bliss party-- yumm! AnightOfBliss.com .

A NIGHT OF BLISS and, free t-shirts today!

The entry form webpage at is now working: ANIGHTOFBLISS.com

But It wasn't working over the labor day weekend (oops) . If you submitted an entry, we didn't get it). We apologize for this; we want to see your entries! 

For more details on how to win, see the blog post below or go to ANIGHTOFBLISS.com

(and we'll randomly give out t-shirts today to people here submit an entry today at ANIGHTOFBLISS.com)

An invitation from Luna and Larry...

Unless you live in Eugene, you probably missed the tasting parties we threw back in the early days when we were just getting Coconut Bliss off the ground. Fifty or more people would crowd into our tiny living room to taste our newest offerings of flavors and would wax poetic as they discussed their subtleties, debate their virtues, and proclaimed their favorites. One of our favorite things about being involved with Coconut Bliss has been watching people's faces as they take their first taste.

We also love giving away Coconut Bliss, so we are inviting you to join us in creating this special event that is all about sharing bliss with the people we love.

Here's the plan: 50 simultaneous parties in all 50 states. We'll provide the Coconut Bliss and you host the party. Together we will create a critical mass of ecstasy that will ripple across the country, awakening joy and delight from Petaluma to Poughkeepsie.

Do you want to play? If so, here's what you do:

• Create something that expresses how you feel about Coconut Bliss.
• Send it to us as soon as possible, the earlier the better (the deadline is October 1st, 2009) 
• HERE's THE LINK: www.anightofbliss.com

It could be a :

• poem
• limerick
• haiku
  
• rap
• brief essay (under 250 words)
• visual image
  
• recipe featuring Coconut Bliss with directions and a link to a photo
• Flickr photo/photo series/collage
• YouTube Video
  
• song
• audio collage
  

50 winners will be chosen from amongst the entries (one representing each state). Each winner will receive a "Night of Bliss" kit that will include all the essentials that you need to make your party a rapturously creamy success.

Also, if we really like your submission, we may feature it on our 'sites' (blog/facebook/Twitter/flickr, etc. etc.) with links back to your site/blog/Twitter feed, etc. (if you happen to have such things). 

So scoop yourself a big bowl of Coconut Bliss for inspiration and energy and let your creative juices flow! When you're done, wipe up any messy drips and go here to send your creation to us:

www.anightofbliss.com

Tell your friends about this, so they can play too! Again, the official deadline is October 1st!

STAY TUNED to our blog and our Twitter feed for more tantalizing details to come...

Blissfully yours, 

Larry & Luna

Something big is brewing...

Hello again, Kiley checking in here! If you're looking for the “exciting announcement” that I mentioned in my last blog post, well, all good things are worth waiting for, so check back here on Friday when Luna and Larry will have the honors of filling you in on all the “juicy details”!

In the meantime, I have another giveaway for you!

I've been handed 20 shirts and 10 free pints to give away today, however there is one little detail that I should share with you. Our shirts have proven to be wildly popular and I only have large t-shirts left!

I know what you are thinking, I would be swimming in a large and never wear it... Well fear not ! In a few minutes you can mod your shirt to make it fit you and look totally awesome!

A quick search yielded several cool ways to mod/hack a tshirt-these are just two possibilities!

• from Jyssa on instructables

• from mistr3ssquickly on deviantart

The first 20 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a t-shirt, and the 10 pints will be given away to people randomly selected from the comments after that. The giveaway will run until 9am Friday morning (PST) when the winners will be picked!

-Kiley

P.S. I got a lot of requests asking for pictures of me in the last post. Here I am!

Good Morning America Features Coconut Bliss!

The ABC News Program "Good Morning America" featured Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss in their interview with dietician Ashley Koff. Here's the link (posted Aug. 16th).

The segment had some really useful infomation about coconuts and their health benefits.

It was exhilarating to watch them slowly zoom in on our Naked Coconut! We are very excited and grateful to have a television program with such a huge viewership include our product in one of their segments.

After watching the video , feel free to share this. If you haven't become a Facebook fan of Coconut Bliss or a Twitter follower, here are the links:

Coconut Bliss Facebook Fans

Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss Twitter Feed

~Vince

Thank you!

Hi everyone! I want to start this post by saying thank you to all the amazing fans and customers of Coconut Bliss, we're having an amazing year that wouldn't be possible without you!
When Vince & I (Kiley) joined the Coconut Bliss family this spring we saw an opportunity with Twitter & Facebook to reach out and connect with all of you and we've been humbled by the response we have received.
A little information about who does what around here; Vince is the primary manager of the Facebook page & I am the primary manager of our Twitter feed. However we both do a little jumping back and forth. Right now I'm also stewarding our fledgling Flickr page. Larry, Vince, and Myself will all be posting content to the blog, but I get to put up the really fun posts-the giveaways!

As I'm at the helm today, there will be a giveaway! To celebrate reaching 2000 followers on Twitter I'm giving away a T-shirt and a free pint to one lucky commenter!

To enter please leave a comment on this post telling us anything that comes to mind; why you love Coconut Bliss, what you would do with a free pint, where you would be rocking your new shirt, or just what the weather is there today! The giveaway will close August 21st at noon PST. Please leave me away to get in touch with you so I can contact you if you'll win.

If you know me from our twitter fan you know I'm a big fan of randomly generated numbers-which is how I'll be picking a winner. I'll add up the number of comments and have a number generated. If you comment is that number you'll be our lucky winner!

A little info on our awesome new shirts-they are printed on 100% organic cotton, & were printed locally here in Eugene! Vince is the handsome man you see modeling our shirt, the other photo shows the back of the shirt.

I also get the privilege of dropping a little hint about why you should come back here in a few days for a very exciting announcement! Let's see, what am I allowed to say today... Well we are going to throw a party.....
So come back in a few days for some more juicy details!

Bliss News: Global Green, G.O.T. Vibes, Twitter/Facebook

Here's a round-up of Bliss news:

Wow. We just got an email that said there's only a few days left for voting for us as "Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert of the Year" in the VegNews  Veggie Awards. This is the link--please vote if you haven't. :)

One little vote makes a big difference.  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=oes_2f0tloz0fA1jHSyPxMyw_3d_3d

*      *      *      *      *

Global Green Gets Gobs of Bliss: We donated a year of Bliss (yep, we mean many, many pints of Coconut Bliss) for Global Green USA 's Millenium Awards. Global Green has been rebuilding New Orleans with green buidings and sustainable school designs (Brad Pitt works with them). They also act as advocates for initiatives supporting clean water, climate stabilization, and the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Gathering of the Vibes: Our national Sales Manager Marc D. is out at the Gathering of the Vibes festival in Bridgeport, CT  this week, selling Bliss. If you go, you can get 'still warm from the oven' new Coconut Bliss t-shirts! Yes. You'll be the first to check them out. Get your P-Funk and your C-Bliss at the same time. (And if you do go and see us, feel free to Twitter or Facebook it)

Twitter, Facebook, (and all that social digital stuff): So if you hadn't noticed, we've charged up our Twittering and Facebook activity with a bit o' new voltage--that means up-to-the-minute updates of what's happening in our Bliss-o-verse. And if you use Facebook/Twitter, feel free to become our fan (Facebook) or 'follow us' (Twitter)...and you'll be privvy to our spontaneous giveaways of Coconut Bliss t-shirts and pints (thanks to Kiley for her constant updates!!!).

Link to Twitter: http://twitter.com/lunaandlarrys

Link to Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Coconut-Bliss/35826736835

PS: If you didn't get a chance to get a Dark Chocolate or Naked Coconut Bliss Bar at the Oregon Country Fair, take heart. They are available at a store near you (and if you don't see them in your local store, tell that store you saw em' and you want em' -- and you can print out this petition form to really get the point across to the store).

~Vince

Vote, Oregon Country Fair & Strawberry Lemon Sayonara

VegNews Awards Nomination! :Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss has been NOMINATED for the VegNews awards. We are very happy to have been considered and nominated for Favorite Vegan Ice Cream of the year.  Please go to the link below, vote for us, share this link and help us win it. Thank you. :^)  
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=oes_2f0tloz0fA1jHSyPxMyw_3d_3d

Goin' to Fair' : Yep, it's that season again--the team is going out to Veneta, Oregon to repreZENt at the prestigious, crunchy, fun and entertaining Oregon Country Fair. It will be our 5th year at the fair--we'll be selling our new 'Bliss Bars' : "Dark Chocolate" and "Naked Coconut" flavors. We'd love to see you, so look for us on Strawberry Lane...

Strawberry Lemon Love Sayonara: Speaking of strawberries...we'll be discontinuing Strawberry Lemon Love over the rest of 2009. Alas, we had to make room for other new flavors (i.e. Naked Almond Fudge, Pineapple Coconut, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Bliss bars!). Strawberry Lemon Love will take it's place among the rest of our 60-70 retired flavors...in that place of eternal bliss, where all ice creams reach Nirvana eventually. Nontheless, for those of you who want their Strawberry Lemon Love, there still are pints out there-- scattered hither and thither-- waiting to be purchased ...so get em' while they're still available in your local market's freezer section.

Summer blissings to you and yours...

-Vince

We Use Coconuts...

So, we have a new poster that you can download, and print up. It reads:

There are many ways to achieve bliss.

We use coconuts.  

Feel free to download it (first link on the page) and other related files at our "Media/Press Kit" webpage. Recently, many people have been blogging about us and reviewing us, so this is a handy link to have if you wish to grab some graphics of Luna, Larry and our Coconut Bliss ice cream.

Thank you!

-Vince 

WE HIT 1000 TWITTER "BLISSERS"! Thanking you with FREE ICE CREAM

We just passed 1000 Twitter followers overnight, last night! WooT WooT! Not too bad for a month or so of being on Twitter.

Ok, we can't just give away the "Bliss" to 2 Twitter peoples...we're going to give a whole bunch away this weekend!

So, all you have to do...is follow us on Twitter, and retweet the post that we posted just now:

Free Coconut Bliss giveway-5 winners selected randomly- RT this post, www.coconutbliss.com #bliss1000

So, we posted it at 12:34 PM PST... be sure to use the #bliss1000 hash tag, and we'll randomly pull 5 "blissers"and give them free pints of Coconut Bliss next week. Or potentially more than 5 ... let's wait and see. ;^)

There we go. There you go.

You people rock--you truly our are bliss. Have a good weekend. And, of course, follow your bliss...

-Vince

(Photo courtesy of Angel Caido)

Luna and Larry—Rumors of our demise are greatly exaggerated!

Last week we got an email from a customer in Portland who said that an employee in her local natural food store told her that we sold our company to Haagen Dasz. While Luna and I are a bit naive (we've only been in business for 4 1/2 years), we are still absolutely dumbfounded that an event of this magnitude could have escaped our notice! We can only surmise that it must have happened last week when we were on vacation.

All kidding aside, I want to say clearly and definitively that we have not sold our company to Haagen Dasz or anyone else (although we would be very happy if they decided to buy our old delivery truck). Luna and I are still the majority owners and managers of Bliss Unlimited, LLC, the company we founded back in February 2005 to make Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss. And while Luna has seriously cut back her hours over the last year and a half to parent our new little boy, Bija, I still come into the office every day to join our wonderful staff in doing all the things it takes to keep the supply of Bliss flowing to everyone across the U.S. who wants it.

Blissfully yours,

Larry

Naked Almond Fudge Controversy...Not

Well, when you get a bunch of head strong "Bliss"-ers in the same room, sooner or later (much sooner than expected actually), you'll hear their opinions.

Well, today the first rogue pints of: 

"NAKED ALMOND FUDGE"  

....got smuggled back by one of our operatives. And the pints are (at least as of 2:50pm PST) in the staff office freezer.

And we're tearing through them like wild dogs   (thanks mdove64 at FLICKR).

And Lakshmi (who is the most elder of employees here) really loves this flavor. It's her favorite. But she's in love with almond flavors...and thinks it needs more almond extract ("like in the 'prototype' " she says).

But Marc and I (and, everybody else present in the office today) think it rocks just as it is. It can be a drag to be the one minority voice in a group so small as ours. However, we honor them  for their unique perspective.

(just now, a wrestling match has broken out between and Lak and Marc next to my desk...get back to work, argh!)

So, anyway, look for it in your local stores and Coops over the coming weeks. And thanks for your "almondy" support. :)

-V

Get Better Soon, N

We got a heart wrenching email yesterday from a mother who's daughter has thyroid cancer. They live in the heartland of America. This mom basically explained that her daughter, while waiting for her first Radiation Treatment, wanted some ice cream. Several families there at the hospital --whose sons and daughters had thyroid cancer--suggested our Coconut Bliss as a great alternative. Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss is organic coconut milk based ice cream, so it's easier on their stomachs (and when you're going through cancer treatments, you need life to be as easy as possible). 

Anyway, there were no stores close by that sold our "Bliss". The mom asked us to find some...so we got on the phone/computer, contacted some stores, and three stores close to her hospital jumped up and ordered our Coconut Bliss ice cream! On behalf of the little girl and her mom, our team here wanted to say thanks to all you cool stores for responding so quickly. We all hope she gets better soon...and that this little bit of "Bliss" helps.

Here are the stores and the people who made the decisions to bring it in: if you live in Kansas, please patronize these guys/gals--they rock!

• Becky at Prairie Harvest (Newton, Kansas 601 N Main St , 316-283-6623) ,  brought in some Dark Chocolate bars and Vanilla Island. Thank you!
• Melinda at Food for Thought (2929 E Central, Wichita, KS, 316-683-6078), brought in a bunch of flavors (arriving this Thursday I believe). Thank you!
• Matt at Green Acres (316-634-1088, 8141 E 21st St, Wichita, Kansas) also brought in a sample case of Naked Coconut flavor...Matt should have it in a week or so. Thank you!

 -Vince

Little Update To Homepage :)

Yes, we just updated our homepage.  That's our new branding. We like the color green. Tell us what you think

-Vince

Intro To Bliss (Part 2)

Here's a continuation of our intro post, revealing a little about ourselves, and our hopes for the customers we touch with our 'Bliss' (and click here to see the full portrait of the staff).

What I asked our staff:

• who you are?
  
• why you're here at bliss?
  
• and a wish/tip/desire for our customers?
  

Marc, National Sales Manager

I am a snowboarding, high energy, mellow guy. The "nice" guy, flow seeker and Papa to two amazing kids.

Piggy-backing "Bliss" deliveries onto my route for an organic coffee company, I soon began to resonate with being the Bliss delivery guy. I just couldn't get enough so I asked for a job ....

Share your Bliss!!! (whatever it may be)

Vince, Regional Sales Guy, Tribal Marketing Dude:

I'm a permaculturist-funkster-TechReFugee, finding my inner (coconut) bliss.

I'm at Bliss cuz I admired it from afar, then fate and choice landed me here. And I've known Larry and Luna for years.

May all our customers find their...dark chocolate bliss bars in June! They really are great...

Sue, accountess of numbers and analysis magical-sis:

I’m a life traveler who loves cultures, ideas and challenges

I’m at Bliss because its a community of passionate people who are there to create something amazing

May all of you find your state of Bliss... mine just happens to be in Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge.

Chris G, demostrator, educator, magic event creator:

I'm a lover of high vibe music & lushious foods (making & eating it).

People call me MR. Bliss (Head of Live Demonstrations). I get the bliss in your mouth.

My wish is for people to be the love they wish to feel!!!

And last but not least...

Luna, co-founder, Goddess of Flavor and Design:

I am a lover of sweetness, beauty, kindness, being outdoors, and fresh organic fruits and vegetables. I am a singer, a mama, a visionary, a rebel, and I Iove to cook and serve beautiful meals.

While falling in love with Larry, we were bursting with creative energy, which led to the creation of Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss.

I wish that you can feel the love and playfulness that we have in creating Coconut Bliss. I suggest you savor each taste and feed one another often.

Bliss you all...

-Vince

Free Ice Cream Alert, University Of Oregon (and other demos)

We'll be at the University of Oregon (upper amphitheater, near the EMU) Friday (5-29-09) giving away -- as in "free"-- Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss. We got 2 tubs ya'll. 

We'll be Twittering it (yep, we're on Twitter, Flickr).

Also, here are just a few of the other demos, etc. ...

• 5/29 -- Coconut Bliss @ 2410 in Portland OR tonight, check out Eoto & Ozric Tentacles Pick up a Coconut Bliss sample while you enjoy the show. Free music for the people http://www.lightworkernonprofit.org/ Come meet Lakshmi and Chris
• 5/30 -- Tacoma & Federal Way Wa, Coconut Bliss coming your way, Demos @ Metropolitan Market Dash Point & Proctor http://ow.ly/9GN8
• (5/30) Snellville Ga! Coconut Bliss on sample in two stores! Peachtree & Mother Nature'shttp://ow.ly/9GNU http://ow.ly/9GO8
  
• 5/31 -- St. Paul, MN We are sampling Coconut Bliss at Hamden Park Co-op, stop by and say hi to Becky! http://www.hampdenparkcoop.com/

How To Find Bliss...Near Your Home

If you ever wonder how to get Coconut Bliss into your local grocery store, coop or market, wonder no more! For the last couple of months we've had a page on our website which allows you to very quickly search (by state or zip code) to see if Bliss is already carried in a neighborhood store near you. And if it isn't being carried close by, we provide a printable PETITION form that you can quickly print up to hand to the Frozen Foods Buyer or Store Manager of your particular favorite loacl market. 

This has an amazing effect on store buyers--and they usually bring Coconut Bliss after being handed on of these. So, are you wanting to see our new dark chocolate bars at your local market? Here's the link to store locator.

Bliss Alert, Tuesday March 5 : Reviews & Free Bliss

Here's what's  coming up:

Coconut.gal is reviewing all our flavors! And she's giving away some pints: 

(please, if you try this at home, significantly pause in between bites to avoid ice cream headaches)

Chris G is doing a demo tomorrow in Eugene, OR 

29th & Willamette at the Market of Choice. 

Meet Chris G and  sample some Coconut Bliss for free,  3:30-6:30pm . 

And compliment G on how he dresses...cuz he knows how (and he might

give you an extra big scoop). 

Actually, , if you visit Chris G or Coconut.Gal (online), let them know if you read about this. Later skaters...

Introducing Our Staff: Part 1

So, with Coconut Bliss comes... community and communication. Yeah!

And with communication comes the opportunity for authenticity, and the obligation to share in as transparent a fashion as possible. So, let's share a little with you about who we are. I posed 3 questions to our staff. I'll post half today on our blog, and the other half in a few days. Our Flickr link has our  names linked to our faces:

What I asked:

Who you are?

Why are you here (at Bliss)?

Have a wish/tip/desire for our customers?

The answers: 

Larry, our leader, follower, co-founder and fellow blisser:

I am an artist, teacher, tinkerer, father, and explorer of consciousness, and have always had a fascination with food and how it affects our consciousness and our planet.

Luna and I were drawn together while both doing a cleansing fast in the spring of 2003, and within a year we were making ice cream from coconuts. The rest is history.

May all who place Coconut Bliss between their lips experience stillness, joy, glowing health, and uncontrollable shivers of rapture.

Kiley, Digital Goddess and Twitter Empress:

I'm a soy allergic, bike riding, Etsy loving, bookbinder, crafty chic, & foodie.  

I'm at bliss by a fortunate twist of fate.  I am so happy here and enjoy working with such a wonderful group of people and getting to eat such delicious ice cream! 

To all of our friends and followers we hope you have as much bliss in your life as we are blessed to have.

Doug, Production Master:

I'm the tribal elder/scientist/sorcerer in the Bliss tribe.  

I'm here because there is no better place to be....after too many years of wandering the corporate desert, this place feels like home.  

Always read the label and keep asking questions, like:

Are there really four servings in every pint?  

How 'bout when there's only one?  

Lakshmi, Goddess of Fortune and Events, first hired employee :

I am a singer and musician, that is my greatest passion in life, and I'm also the mother of two amazing girls.

I'm at Bliss because the good lord blessed me to meet Luna & Larry 4 years ago and I ended up with a super awesome, yummy job that I love.

A wish for our customers: that you will be able to obtain and maintain perfect health.

(2nd part to follow in a few days...)

New Flavors and Bliss on a Stick

This has been a very busy time here in Bliss HQ (this is my excuse for the very long gap since the last entry). It's true, though! In the last few months we have expanded our distribution to include the entire U.S., and Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss can now be purchased in nearly 1400 stores in 46 states. For some perplexing reason we have not yet penetrated into West Virginia, Delaware, North Dakota, or Mississippi (we will withhold judgment about these states—perhaps they are just a little slow).

We have also been developing some new products, which will be hitting the stores before summer. Luna and I have dreamed about Coconut Bliss Bars for a long time. There's something especially sensual and primitive about being able to lick the Bliss without interference of spoon or bowl that is extremely satisfying, and much more handy for eating in motion. Here's what these will look like. They should be in the stores before the end of May.

We spent last fall and winter feverishly concocting new flavors and have come up with three that we're very excited about and will be introducing in pints sometime in June. These are: Chocolate Peanut Butter—the classic combo, elevated to art; Pineapple Coconut—a creamy, luscious piña colada; and Naked Almond Fudge—coconut amaretto Bliss with toasted almonds and fudge. Here's what these will look like:

You may also notice that we've changed our package design. We have been working with a wonderful new designer, Greg Scot Hunt, who has taken our design to the next level.

We'll also be at a lot of events and festivals throughout the year, and we've added a page to our website with a complete list.

A parting thought: There are many ways to achieve bliss. We use coconuts.

Blissfully yours,

Larry & Luna

Inaugural Blog

Greetings Blisslovers.

If you're reading this, you probably suspect that there's more to Coconut Bliss than just a fleeting experience of cool, sweet yumminess. Yes, it's only a dessert, and in the grand scheme of things, dessert just isn't all that important. But there's something different about Coconut Bliss--something special that's hard to put a finger on. And it's that intangible, unnameable something that has compelled you to read this page, and compelled me to write it.

When we first started making Coconut Bliss, here's a vision that Luna and I had of how people would eat it:

It is mid-afternoon. You have stepped away from the busy-ness of your day to refresh your mind and your spirit, to allow yourself to relax and feel nourished. You have recognized how important this is--not just important, but essential--and you have taken a bold action of self-love. You take a few deep breaths and feel the stillness. You feel your body beginning to relax, your tensions dissolving. Your mind quiets. You feel small ripples of gratitude rising to the surface of your consciousness. In this stillness, you notice excitement arising in you, like the feeling you get when, after a long hike, you get your first glimpse of an alpine lake, and you feel the pure, simple desire to immerse yourself in that cold, clear water.

But you're in your house and there is no lake. So with that same childlike anticipation you walk into your kitchen, open the freezer, and gently, reverentially, take out a pint of Coconut Bliss. You feel your lips spreading into a smile. Without urgency, savoring the moment, you set it down on the counter to temper to perfect, scoopable softness. You go to the cupboard and select your favorite handmade bowl and the perfect spoon. You take out your ice cream scoop from the drawer, enjoying it's heft in your hand. You have all the time in the world. You take a pee, turn off your cell phone, pet the cat, water the plants.

Now you return to the kitchen, gently remove the lid from the container, and scoop out two round, sensual blobs of Coconut Bliss, enjoying the feel of the soft Bliss giving way to the metal. You replace the lid, put the container back in the freezer, rinse off the scooper, and bring the bowl of Bliss to your favorite spot--perhaps under a cherry tree in your yard. Your feelings of gratitude swell, filling you. You lift your spoon, dip it into the Bliss, raise it to your mouth and feel filled with the rush of sensation--liking slipping into that cool lake...

You get the idea?

This is not the addictive act of a person using dessert in a futile attempt to soothe their pain or fill their emptiness. It is a celebration of life, a focusing of consciousness through an act of intentional sensual enjoyment. This is why we make Coconut Bliss.

-Larry