Exciting New Improvements
Every spring I get this mental image of summer in my mind: the long, lazy days, swimming and tanning and backyard barbecues… Truth be told, I haven’t had one of those stereotypical summers since junior high, ah nostalgia. But, here at Allison’s, I’ve been enjoying my busier-than-planned summer none the less. The deadline for submissions to our Tee and Tote Design Contest is drawing near and it’s fascinating to watch all the wonderful designs rolling in! Meanwhile, in the kitchen, we’ve acquired some new equipment, we’re testing some new recipes, and, believe it or not, we’re already gearing up for the holidays!
In case you’re wondering where most of our vegan chocolates have disappeared to this summer, we took a break from some of our chocolate production (while it’s really too hot to ship chocolate gifts safely anyway) and we’ve been using the time to test a few new chocolate recipes. We recently acquired a new tempering machine for our chocolate production that has helped to stoke Allison’s creative fire. Last week we even did a test of something very special, which isn’t quite right yet so I can’t say much, but was pretty exhilarating anyway.
Our vegan fudge has been the “hot” seller for the last couple of weeks, especially in the form of Fudge of the Month Clubs. Our clubs keep your sweets pantry stocked, make gift-giving easy, plus they have the added bonus of giving you a discount on everything you order as long as your membership is active. With amazing flavors like Apple Pie and Peppermint Velvet, what’s not to love?
While doing some “summer cleaning” we also discovered that we had a backlog of your love letters that we’re finally getting around to publishing in the form of product reviews on our website. Have you tried our goodies recently? You, too, could be among our famous fans. Tell us what you think below, or on our Contact Us, Facebook or Twitter pages. We’d love to hear from you (and if you include a picture of yourself, we’ll be especially grateful)! 
Weekly Wrap-up: Decadently Delicious, VegNews Nominations and Your Designs!
What a way to kick-off August! Our decadently delicious flavors of the month shipped, which means our lucky club members this month are receiving gorgeous tropical Toasted Coconut Brownies, classically rich and decadent 
Original Fudge, and ultra-elegant Cinnamon Snickerdoodle organic cookies. Yumm.
We had great news from VegNews—Allison’s has been nominated for 3 VegNews awards!
Favorite Bakery (Online) – Allison’s Gourmet
Favorite Vegan Candy – Chocolate Almond Toffee
Favorite Column – Veganize It! Allison Rivers Samson
What a great treat that is! If you’d like to vote (and we hope you do!), click here. You’ll even be entered to win some fabulous prizes!
Speaking of prizes, submissions to our Tee and Tote design contest have started coming in,
and we’re enjoying seeing your creations! Make sure you spread the word. We’re sharing on Facebook and Twitter, and you can follow us there if you’re not already. Public voting on the contest designs begins after the last day for submissions, which is September 15—so there’s still plenty of time to get yours in. Good luck!
August’s Decadently Delicious Flavors Shipped
After expounding on the amazing perks of monthly club membership last week, I’m happy to announce that another delicious shipment of new monthly flavors went out on Monday. 
Our lucky club members this month are receiving gorgeous tropical Toasted Coconut Brownies, classically rich and decadent Original Fudge and ultra-elegant Cinnamon Snickerdoodle organic cookies. Hungry yet? You too can enjoy August’s distinctively delicious array of out-of-this-world compassionate baked goods. Order them individually or become a monthly club member today to receive a 15% discount along with your awesome sweet treats.
Already a monthly club member? Looking for ways to put that discount to work? Our gourmet Gift Samplers and Gift Sets make perfect presents for August birthdays and vacation treats. 
Since the warm weather this time of year makes shipping vegan chocolates risky, we recommend non-chocolate goodies for those summertime special occasions. Save yourself the time in the kitchen by serving our organic cookies and brownies for dessert at your next picnic or barbecue and wow both your family and guests by filling your candy bowl with all our outstanding assorted flavors of our individually wrapped caramels.
What are your favorite vegan hot dogs or other favorite vegan barbecue fare? We’re always looking for new and exciting grill items, and we love Allison’s All-American Potato Salad to round out a perfect summertime meal.
Weekly Wrap-up: Contests Make for a Sweet (and Nerve-Wracking!) Week
Our week has been somewhat single-focused on our first ever Tee and Tote Design contest—can you blame us? Not only are we super excited about seeing all of your great designs, but we’re a little nervous too! The anticipation (deadline is September 15) is enough to make us brew up a nice cup of fair-trade tea and nibble on our favorite vegan cookies to calm the nerves. That always works…
Tessa broke down the benefits of our monthly clubs on Wednesday (they’re also one of the prizes in our design contest!). 
It’s a good read to understand the programs and why your sweet tooth can have its cake (or vegan brownie, as it were) and eat it too—without the guilt. Organic and vegan treats are so much healthier than the conventional, GMO, high fructose corn syrup stuff out there, and it’s nice to have a steady supply to treat yourself, or others, throughout the month.
So hopefully you’ll tell all your artist-minded friends and co-workers about our design contest, and maybe if they win the $500 and monthly membership, they’ll share some of their sweet treats with you!
Monthly Clubs Offer Discounts and So Much More…
We often receive calls and emails asking about discounts on our products. Since we’re a gourmet company offering only the very best premium-quality products, we don’t normally offer discounts. But, there is one sure way to get a deal on our sweets: join one of our easy and delicious monthly clubs. As our most loyal customers, monthly club members automatically receive 15% off of everything they order from us, including their monthly club itself. This discount applies whether the club ordered is for personal enjoyment or a gift for someone else, and it continues to apply to all orders placed with us as long as the monthly club membership is active. So, whether it’s a brownie of the month for your boss, cookie of the month for your sister, fudge of the month for your best friend, or a combination of two or three for your office or team, our monthly clubs are a great value and provided easy and enjoyable gifts that arrive automatically each month. Eternal gratitude and a continued discount at Allison’s Gourmet, what could be better?
Want to try one of our monthly club memberships for free? Enter our Tee and Tote Design Contest by September 15th and you could win a 3- or 6-month club of your choice plus other awesome vegan and cash prizes.
