Blissfull in Canada: Sales Road Trip to CHFA 2010

What can we say … the Bliss Crew gave their all to Canada, and she responded in kind. We traveled up there from Eugene, Oregon in our decked out Bio-diesel van. Crossing the border with minimal fuss--and after a bit of a headache trying to find suitable parking in the fair city of Vancouver--we settled in, ready to make an impact at our first Western Canadian Health Food Association show. 

On Friday, we set up our booth in record time and headed out to Lynn Canyon Park  for an afternoon hike along the river. After a quick dunk in the extremely cold ;-) river near the falls (and after getting to know the locals--some of them doing back-flips off the cliffs--yikes!), we went back to the hotel energized by nature, and ready for an awesome show.


The show was held in the beautiful new "eco friendly" Vancouver Convention Centre . In addition to it being run on green power, there was even a goose standing sentry on the corner of their "green roof"!

From the very beginning of the show we had more than a steady flow of people thrilled to have us participating. We heard such things as:

“ Wow!”,
"This is amazing!” ,
“How is this possible with just coconuts?”,
“Are you sure this is dairy free?”,
“We love Bliss!” ,
“Ah...THANK GOD you guys are in Canada now!”
...and so forth. We even had people mention that they had been ferrying our product over the border(!) for the last few years. We never get tired of hearing 'feedback' like this from our customers--and we feel gratitude and appreciation for it all.

To sum it up, CHFA was great! We felt so welcomed into the Canadian natural food's scene. We even won the "Most Creative Small Booth Award"! After making great connections with store buyers and Bliss fans, we feel real excitement about being in Canada. We are looking forward to going north again next year... and in case you live up that way, check out www.coconutbliss.com for the stores near you that carry Bliss.

~Much Love and Respect, 
“Bliss” Sales Team – Marc, Chris & Toby

The The Importance of Certified Fair Trade Ingredients: Larry's Interview

Here's a quick interview that Larry did at Expo West, explaining why we (at Luna  & Larry's Coconut Bliss) choose to include Certified Fair Trade ingredients in our coconut milk-based frozen-dessert.

Larry, take it away...

Spreading The Bliss: From Oregon to Minnesota to California...

I recently went touring with reknown kirtan singer Dave Stringer across my gorgeous home state of Oregon and also in Wisconsin and Minnesota, including the cities of Madison and Minneapolis.

The tour was sponsored by Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss, so each event was blessed with generous servings of Bliss for all in a nice assortment of flavors. All events were well attended (averaging 150-200).

For those of you not familiar with 'kirtan', this is a form of bhakti yoga, which is basically singing mantras in Sanskrit (the oldest language on the earth) together with the crowd - it's a great way to get everyone singing! Bhakti Yoga is the yoga of devotional practice, established in ancient times in India. Dave Stringer is particularly good at getting everyone singing passionately, and his musical compositions rock!

Being a kirtan singer/songwriter and student of yoga myself, and an integral part of the marketing team here at Coconut Bliss, I've been involved a lot this year connecting up with the growing yoga and kirtan communities across the country. There's so much networking going on! So many great people doing great things that really are improving the quality of life for all beings.

This photo was taken in the cafe after the kirtan at Old Arizona in Minneapolis, which is a beautifully restored building complex in downtown Minneapolis. Dave on the left, me on the right, and in the middle is our Minneapolis 'rep' Nicole Brenny, who is also a blogger.

Old Arizona co-owner Darcy Knight told me a bit of their story: they were aware of this inner-city street corner with dilapidated historic buildings where young girls involved in prostitution frequented, and they decided they would take action and transform the whole thing. They came in and built a community center complete with its own theater, cafe, chocolate bar and wine room, etc. and started a non-profit arts program to benefit the teen girls in the area: The Arizona Bridge Project. All net proceeds of the cafe and theater go to the non-profit.

Read more about their story here: http://www.oldarizona.com/about.php

We have so many exciting events going on, but the next big one that I will be attending is the Harmony Fest in Santa Rosa, CA. We are a sponsor of this great alternative festival, and Christina and Michael will be running the Bliss Cart, selling Coconut Bliss bars all weekend:

June 11,12,13
www.harmonyfestival.com

I'll be there performing Saturday night and also Sunday at the Goddess Grove stage at 3:30pm.

Grab a bar and come on by for a listen!

Peace and Blessings,
~Jaya Lakshmi

Upcoming (FREE) Coconut Bliss Tastings in May

Currently you will find Coconut Bliss on sale at all Whole Foods nationwide until May 11th, so be sure to stop into your nearest Whole Foods and stock up on the goodness! You’ll also notice that we are doing plenty of tastings this coming weekend before the sale is over. There will be more tasting posted later, so stay tuned and look for your city… 

~ Christina, Bliss Cart Ambassador and Demo Coordinator

Thursday May 6th

Kris @ Whole Foods Venice, CA 11-2

Christine @ Whole Foods Union Square, NYC 11-2

Gail @ Martindale’s Natural Market in Springfield, PA 12-3

Aandi @ Whole Foods Sauganash, IL Ladies Night 5-8

Friday May 7th

Aandi @ Whole Foods Gold Coast Chicago, IL 11-2

Keenan @ Whole Foods Saint Francis, Santa Fe, NM 11-3

Ciera @ Whole Foods Fourth South, Salt Lake City, UT 11-6

Aandi @ Whole Foods Lincoln Park Chicago, IL 3-6

Sarah @ Whole Foods Cranbrook Ann Arbor, MI 3-6

Taryn @ Whole Foods Tempe, AZ 3-6

Layla @ Whole Foods Westlake, Seattle, WA 3-6

Saturday May 8th

Keenan @ Whole Foods Academy Albuquerque, NM 10-2

Megan @ Whole Foods Broadway Boulder, CO 11-2

Chris @ Whole Foods Green Hills, Nashville, TN 11-2

Larry @ Whole Foods Plano, TX 11-2

Ciera @ Whole Foods Sugar House, Salt Lake City, UT 11-2

Kris @ Whole Foods Torrance, CA 11-2

Steve @ Whole Foods Bridgeport Portland, OR 11-2

Aandi @ Whole Foods Halstead & Waveland, IL 11-2

Ernie @ Whole Foods Briarcliff Atlanta, GA 11-2:30

David @ Whole Foods Gateway Austin, TX 11-3

Nicole @ Grassroots Co-Op, Anoka, MN (Grand Opening!) 11-3

Rachel @ Whole Foods Roosevelt Seattle, WA 11-6

Shelly @ Whole Foods Novato, CA (New Store!) 11-6

Josh @ Whole Foods Omaha, NE 12-2

Gail @ Whole Foods North Wales, PA 12-3

Larry @ Whole Foods Park Lane Dallax, TX 2:30-6:30

Kris @ Whole Foods Redondo Beach, CA 3-6

Priya @ Whole Foods Santa Cruz, CA 3-6

Steve @ Whole Foods Fremont Portland, OR 3-6

Aandi @ Whole Foods Lakeview Chicago, IL 3-6

Ernie @ Whole Foods Johns Creek Atlanta, GA 3-6:30

Keenan @ Whole Foods Indian School Plaza Albuquerque, NM 3-7

Nicole @ Whole Foods Minneapolis, MN 4-7

Sunday May 9th

Sarah @ Whole Foods Ann Arbor 12-5

Tuesday May 11th

Marie @ Whole Foods Greenwich, CT 11-2

Friday May 14th

Marie @ Mrs. Greens in Mt. Kisco, NY 11-2

Saturday May 15th

Kris @ The Celiac Expo in Los Angles, CA

Christina @ The Life Source Food Fair in Salem, OR w/ the Bliss Cart 8-4

Gail @ Kimberton Whole Foods in Downington, PA 12-3

Sunday May 16th

Kris @ World Fest in Los Angeles, Woodley Park 10:30-7

Are your recipes 'Blissful'?

If you've been seeing any of the smoothie recipes or videos by Diana Stobo, you may have noticed she often uses Coconut Bliss as an ingredient. It's a great choice for all kinds of delicious situations. The organic coconut milk in Coconut Bliss imparts a creamy texture to your food-- and it has no fillers, or artificial anything.

Our resident chef Chris Garrison uses our 'Naked Coconut' flavor as a base for his "Asian fusion" creations. Instead of coconut milk, he adds in a scoop to his veggie stir-fries, noodle dishes and more. It's easier than can openers and messy, metallic cans of coconut milk...

Saying all this, if you ever see cool recipes on the web that mention Coconut Bliss, feel free to let us know about them. Or make up your own and share them with us. You can send us the links to them via Kiley@coconutbliss.com

Bon apetit!  

~Vince