Leading Vegan Bakery Launches New Easter Chocolates
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Allison Rivers Samson
media at allisonsgourmet dot com
LEADING VEGAN BAKERY ADDS NEW EASTER CHOCOLATES
Fair-Trade and Organic Vegan Bunnies, Eggs, Bark and More Available Now.
March 8, 2012 Nevada City, CA — Allison’s Gourmet, the beloved online vegan organic bakery, confectionary and chocolaterie, has announced the company’s newest addition to its lineup: hand-crafted artisan Easter chocolates.
Just in time for the chocolate-themed holiday arriving on April 8th, customers can celebrate Easter with all the flavor and quality of Allison’s vegan, organic and fair-trade chocolate bunnies and eggs, Springtime salted almond bark and signature Easter gift basket. Made from Allison’s new, top-secret creation called “creamy dark chocolate,” ”Speckles,” the Chocolate Rice Crispy Bunny and accompanying Solid Vegan Eggs are vegan and gluten-free and just a touch softer than standard dark chocolate, closer to the look and texture of milk chocolate. “Speckles” boasts a hint of extra aromatic vanilla and crisped organic brown rice for texture, while the festively foil-wrapped eggs come in an assortment of creamy dark, raspberry and coconut flavors. All Easter goodies are available for pre-order now, online only at www.allisonsgourmet.com. Customers are welcome to choose a delayed delivery date closer to Easter. Allison’s Vegan Easter Bunnies and Eggs come in 4-ounce servings while the Springtime Salted Almond Bark comes in 3.5-ounce packages.
All goods from Allison’s Gourmet are made with organic ingredients and fair-trade chocolate and are always 100% vegan.
Inspired by her long commitment to the vegan lifestyle—eschewing animal products—founder Allison Rivers Samson says that the chocolates were a long time coming, “I have dreamed for many years about offering chocolates of my own creation with varied flavors and ingredients to match the preferences of my palate.”
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About Allison’s Gourmet In 1997, Allison Rivers Samson opened Allison’s Cookies as the premiere online vegan bakery. As the business grew she added other top-notch baked
goods and delectable confections to the boutique offerings, eventually changing the name to Allison’s Gourmet. An award winning company, Allison’s Gourmet has been featured
in Vegetarian Times, VegNews Magazine, The Wall Street Journal; additional national media; and is endorsed by numerous celebrities.
More New Easter Chocolates
Earlier this week I introduced you to “Speckles,”our new vegan Easter bunny which is so cute we just can’t get over it! But that’s not the only new product springing out of our kitchen this season. There’s another new member of our chocolate family that I’m excited to introduce to you: Springtime Salted Almond Bark.
Inspired by the almond trees that bloom early in this part of California and are one of the earliest signs of Spring, this dark chocolate bark is laden with toasted almonds and adorned with just the right amount of pink Himalayan salt. It’s so good, it just might change your life.
The reason I’m telling you about all these Easter items now, right on the heels of Valentine’s Day, is because Easter is arriving early this year, on April 8th, (that’s in just six weeks!)
which means that now is the time to start thinking about ordering your Easter chocolates. Our bunnies and flavored solid eggs are available individually or as a set, and you can get all of our new Easter treats together with a half-dozen gourmet cookies and green “grass” in our extra special Vegan Easter & Springtime Gift Basket.
Easter items will be available to ship starting in mid-March. Make this Spring delightfully decadent for all the people you love. Using our delayed delivery date option you can order your Easter goodies and vegan gift baskets now, while choosing a delivery date to fit your Springtime plans.
New Easter Bunnies are Hoppin’ In!
We’re serious about chocolate around here, and we’re always looking forward to and planning our next new flavor or product. We want to “wow” you and we want every bite, every moment, every sensation of eating our chocolate to be ecstatic.
For the past 6 months, we’ve been thinking about vegan chocolate bunnies. And let me tell you, we gave A LOT of thought to these cute little critters! 
After making many test bunnies and having many, many test-biting sessions, we’ve decided that, where Easter candy is concerned, less is more. Not less flavor or less lusciousness, but less gnawing on giant hard chunks of solid chocolate. We realized that dark chocolate is much harder than milk chocolate, making the act of biting into a big thick dark chocolate bunny feel barbarous and even painful, a far cry from the Easter joy we remember from childhood. So, after over a year of researching bunny molds and months of testing and biting countless vegan chocolate bunnies, we present to you “Speckles,” our better-than-ever vegan Easter bunny. Adorable, aren’t they?
With your pleasure in mind, we’ve created our bunnies as solid halves with flat backs (see photo at right) to save you from the barbaric, so-thick-it’s-impossible-to-bite-through ubiquitous solid 3D bunny shape. We’ve also embedded ‘em with rice crisps for a fun texture and added some extra fragrant vanilla. And finally, to really take these bunnies to the next level, we’re making both “Speckles” and our flavored solid eggs with Allison’s new top-secret creation we’re calling “milk-ish” chocolate that is creamier and lighter-colored than the solid dark chocolate you may be used to. This chocolate, while still made with our signature organic, fair-trade and dairy-free ingredients, is a touch softer and easier to bite through, creating a much more pleasurable chocolate-eating experience.
See how we’re always thinking of you? 
Order now with a delayed delivery date. Easter items will be available to ship starting in mid-March.
2011 in Review: Surprise Sellers
The holidays are by far our busiest time of year. And, as much as we’d like to say that we’ve been doing this for so long that we have everything completely figured out, each year is a little different. As our product lines and people’s tastes change, we’re always a little surprised by which items are our best-sellers each year, especially in the holiday season. 
In the lead-up to the holidays this year we introduced our new line of Artisan Chocolates, as well as re-formulated vegan peanut butter cups, peppermint bark and peppermint creme patties which we had been working on for most of 2011. And, as a bit of an afterthought, we also added a Salted Confections Gift Set to our offerings to showcase our newest salted caramels and salted chocolate brittle. While all of these new products did very well and received rave reviews from excited recipients all over the country, the surprise top seller in the latter part of 2011 was the Salted Confections Gift Set. We’re so glad to discover that there are legions of dessert lovers out there with palates as salty as ours!
Of course, after 15 years in business, not everything is a surprise. 
The other popular sweets over the holidays were vegan toffee, especially the chocolate-covered variety, and hot cocoa, both the classic and peppermint drinking chocolate varieties. Given their classic nature we weren’t at all shocked by their doing so well.
As I and my staff catch our collective breath before unveiling a new chocolate pleasure for Valentine’s Day in just a few short weeks, I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks for allowing us the privilege of providing your compassionately decadent gifts for the holidays and throughout the year. It is my pleasure to delight and serve you. And I know everyone at AG shares my gratitude for you. Here’s to a fabulous year-ahead!
2012 New Year’s Gifts
I hope everyone had a warm and happy holiday weekend. I know I feasted on some really wonderful savory dishes, and indulged in multiple desserts including organic cookies, peppermint creme patties, and some vegan toffee topping on coconut ice cream! 
Despite all that decadence, I always feel a bit of a let-down after big holidays; getting up the next morning and it’s just business as usual again. Lucky for us, however, just when we think the holidays are over, there’s another one on the horizon!
New Year’s 2012 this weekend, gives us a little wiggle room in the holiday gifts department. Did you forget someone on your list, or maybe just didn’t get around to those last few presents? Ring in the New Year with decadent compassionate sweets! Whether it’s a corporate holiday gift for your boss or a sweet treat for your significant other, help those important people in your life start the New Year right!
New Year’s resolutions are always full of eating better, getting fit and staying healthy. You can help with all those things and give your colleagues and loved ones decadent treats they can feel good about enjoying. 
Although sending sweets may not seem like the best way to help someone achieve their fitness goals, my experience has been that I gain greater enjoyment from and eat less of high-quality, pure and exquisitely delicious desserts, than I would from cheaper or “healthy” tasting alternatives. Those imitations spur me to eat more, trying in vain to attain the satisfaction I’m craving. Encourage conscious and compassionate indulgence with a personal or corporate food gift that will nourish the mind, body and taste buds while encouraging less devouring and more savoring.
