It’s time to order for Valentine’s Day!
Next Monday, many people will realize that Valentine’s Day is the very next day, Tuesday. 
We’re here to help you avoid the last-minute stress. Since the mail-order nature of our business necessitates a little advanced planning, we’re good at it. So, this is my gentle reminder to you that it’s time to order now.
Even though February 14th is still a whole week away from today, the weekend gets in the way of shipping, so this really is your last chance to order luscious fair-trade gifts for the people you love. After tomorrow (Wednesday, the 8th), delivery for February 14th won’t be impossible, but it will be more expensive.
We’re ready to uncomplicate your life; at least when it comes to the pleasures of chocolate. All of your Sweetheart’s chocolate needs can be easily gratified by our delectable collection of gifts for this celebration of love–vegan chocolates, fair-trade coffee and tea, and Gourmet Coffee Gift Baskets. See? You really can send gifts to all your loved ones and friends, wherever they live, from the comfort of your own computer.
Give Love: Give Chocolate.
Last Chance for Holiday Orders
I know that shopping for the holidays is not always easy. It’s hard to find time amidst all the other holiday business, plus, there are always those people who are especially difficult to buy for. 
But, if you’ve been holding off on your holiday shopping, maybe hoping for a time when you’re less busy, or waiting for inspiration on that perfect gift, the moment to stop procrastinating is now. It’s time to make those last-minute holiday purchases and then breathe a sigh of relief that your gift list is finished for one more year. And, here’s the good news: you don’t have to brave crowded stores and hoards of wild-eyed shoppers to complete your final purchases; in fact, you don’t even have to get up! Since you’re already here, all you have to do is click over to our vegan bakery and confectionary to find all the compassionate, decadent, fair-trade gifts you’re looking for in just a few clicks. With only a handful of days to spare, there’s no time like the present. 
Whether you choose one of our elegant chocolate gifts, a gourmet coffee gift basket, or a cookie of the month club, we guarantee that everyone on your list will love your gift.
Did you remember a sweet something for your Host or Hostess, Dog Sitter, Nanny, Driver, or Doorman? There are so many people in our lives who deserve our appreciation during the holidays and chocolate is a great way to show it. If you’re not sure which types of goodies a specific person prefers, choose one our instant gift certificates and allow them to enjoy their own dessert shopping. Whatever you decide, order now so you can get on with the rest of your festive plans like awesome vegan baking and giant family meals!
Happy Holidays from all of us at Allison’s Gourmet.
P.S. Join Allison (@AllisonsGourmet) tonight at 6pm PT for the @VegNews Twitter chat: http://veg.gy/3E5CM. She’ll be answering your vegan baking questions along with two other extraordinary women, Hannah Kaminsky @BitterSweet_ and Beverly Lynn Bennet (@veganchefbev)!
Happy Thanksgiving!
It’s Thanksgiving tomorrow, and with the holiday busyness paused until Monday, I’m finally taking some time to pause myself. It’s like the last deep breath before the long sprint that will be the next five weeks until New Year’s. 
In this rare moment of stillness, I’d like to express my gratitude to you, our readers, clients and loyal fans and followers. You are the reason we are here, making all these compassionately decadent desserts, and why I get to live my passion every single day. Thank you for seeking excellence beyond the mainstream, for demanding superb, cruelty-free sweets, and for savoring every exquisite bite. It is our pleasure to serve such discerning clientele.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, in case all the Black Friday hype has you thinking about buying all your holiday gifts online instead of braving the horrors of holiday mall shopping, consider the added bonus of being able to order all your compassionate fair-trade gifts right now from the comfort of your computer, and being able to decide exactly when you want them delivered! That is exactly the scenario we offer with our easy delayed delivery date option. You can even shop in your coziest bath robe and fuzzy slippers; we won’t mind!
I would also like to extend an extra-special thank you to all of our monthly clubs members. We love being able to share our unique and exciting brownie, fudge and cookie of the month flavors with you each month and we so appreciate those of you who give monthly clubs as gifts for your friends and loved ones. You live by the golden rule of gift-giving: Give to other what you would like others to give to you! If you are considering becoming a monthly club member or are new to the whole monthly club membership thing, remember that you can enjoy your 15% membership discount on ALL order, including gifts!
Happy Vegan Thanksgiving!
New Categories Make Shopping Even Easier!
We just past the second anniversary of the launch of our gorgeous new website. Although, at two years old, it’s not really “new” anymore, 
we’re always updating and improving our look as well as our premium selection of products, so there’s usually something new to see and drool over. Recently, we’ve added a few new categories including Gluten-Free, Business Gifts, Gifts By Price and Seasonal Gifts (including Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Halloween and Holiday gifts). We hope that the added categories will make our website easier to navigate and make finding and ordering your favorite treats simple and quick.
Halloween is just around the corner, so there’s not time to loose if you want a taste of the four limited edition flavors of our new Hard Caramels Halloween Candy including Mocha made with our own premium, fair-trade coffee. Order before this Monday the 24th to ensure delivery in time for all those trick-or-treaters on the 31st. 
Other warming Autumnal favorites to match the change in the season include our Spice Lover’s Gift Set and Mexican Chocolate Brownies.
I know it seems early, but malls are already starting to play “Jingle Bells” and we’re already gearing up for the winter holidays. If you want to plan ahead and make shopping easy and stress-free this year, let us take care of all your holiday gifts online. 
We offer a delectable selection of classic and unique confections and baked goods as well as fair-trade tea, coffee, and chocolate gifts. Our elegant gourmet coffee gift baskets make excellent corporate holiday gifts that will create smiles all around at any office party and are sure to impress your co-workers. Shop around now so you know what you want to order later, or, if you really want to be ahead of the game, order your fair-trade gifts now using our delayed delivery date option to choose exactly when you want them delivered.
Providing the “How” in Living Vegan
You may have noticed that we stay mostly on the positive side of veganism around here. You don’t hear much from us about the torture and abuse of farm animals or the horrors of the dairy, leather and fur industries. 
We’re not, however, trying to gloss-over or ignore these issues. We care very deeply about animal welfare and a compassionate lifestyle, which is why we put most of our time and energy into providing the “how” to being vegan.
There are many amazing resources out there providing the “why” of vegan living from VegNews and Mercy for Animals, to PETA, The Humane Society of the United States and Farm Animal Sanctuaries around the country. They give you the reasons and facts behind veganism, from ending factory farming to the health benefits of animal-free eating. Then, when you’ve decided that you want to live an animal-free lifestyle but don’t feel like baking, or think that veganism means complete deprivation from all the foods you love, that’s where we come in. 
We’re here to offer you solutions, the answers to all your cravings from vegan toffee and gourmet cookies to veganized comfort food recipes. We’re also a great gift-giving resource for vegans and non-vegans alike. Families and friends of vegan enjoy giving delicious, high-quality desserts to their plant-eating loved ones and vegans themselves give Allison’s Gourmet treats when they want delectable, compassionate and fair-trade gifts that even a carnivore will love.
We love providing vegan lifestyle answers to everyday dilemmas, and, although we’re all about the food, we’re happy to be able to connect our customers to other vegan choices too, like donating and volunteering at animal shelters, purchasing animal-friendly attire, and reading the latest vegan books and blogs. We’re here to help. Have a vegan lifestyle question? Looking for vegan inspiration in some area of your life? Ask your questions here and we’ll see if we can dig up the answers.
Eco-Friendly Gifts for Grads
It’s spring again, and all over the country students of many academic levels are taking finals, matriculating and making plans for next year. It’s a time of celebration, and it’s especially exciting for me to note that more and more of today’s young people are seeing the benefits of a healthy, green, and compassionate lifestyle. 
As you celebrate the accomplishments of the eco-conscious, animal-loving young people in your life, consider giving them vegan, fair-trade gifts they will love that will also align with their values as responsible global citizens. Get your soon-to-be graduate a hot cocoa sampler to keep him or her going through the final weeks of school, or give cookie of the month clubs to graduates going off to college in the fall to sustain them through late nights and all those college exams. 
Monthly clubs can be ordered now to begin shipping in August, September or any other month you specify.
Gentle on the earth, and kind to animals and people alike, our organic, vegan and fair-trade treats will be enjoyed immensely by students of any age. Conscientious young people are sure to appreciate a deliciously decadent fair-trade gift that they can feel great about enjoying and won’t take up closet space.
Springtime Scavenger Hunt!
Last spring, I told you about our vegan Easter egg hunts with our daughter Olivia. This year, I thought it’d be fun to create an Easter hunt for you, right here on our website! To enter, find the Allison’s Gourmet products that match the five visual clues below, write down their names, and send us an email with your answers! If more than one person finds all five products, a winner will be picked at random from among all the correct answers. The winner will receive a tray of our decadent Java Crunch Fudge. Let the games begin!
UPDATE: This contest is now closed. (Congratulations to Jennifer!) Stay tuned for our next giveaway. 
Find the product names that correspond to the following pictures:
#1 Something from our vegan bakery…
#2 Foil-wrapped…
#3 An elegant collection of fair-trade gifts…
#4 Sweet, salty and oh so delicious…
#5 An eye toward sweetness…
We’ll announce the winner next Monday. Happy (vegan) Hunting!
Flex Your Spending Power!
As the holiday shopping season gets going, I’d like to take this moment to remind everyone (including myself) of the impact that our spending habits have on the global economy, human rights, animal rights and the health of the environment. Each purchase we make supports whatever system or company is behind it. For example, by purchasing fair-trade gifts like our vegan chocolates, fair-trade teas, and fair-trade coffees, you will be directly supporting eco-conscious agriculture, healthy working conditions and a decent wage for farmers around the world. 
It seems like an obvious choice, when the alternative – buying non-fair-trade items – supports child labor, hazardous working conditions, impossibly low wages and the destruction of the environment world wide. What’s really wonderful about buying fair-trade gifts is that you get higher quality products as well as the knowledge that your purchasing power is making a positive impact on the world. And, the same goes for buying vegan and organic!
Gift Sets: Perfect Treats, All Wrapped Up
Our gourmet gift sets have been gaining popularity recently, I couldn’t be more thrilled. Deliciously decadent without being junk food, and elegant but not overwhelming, these Gift Sets make excellent fair-trade gifts to express your love and appreciation for friends, loved ones and colleagues. 
Besides the obvious Chocolate Lover’s Gift Set, we also offer a Classic Vanilla Lover’s Gift Set for those with more traditional tastes. For the more adventurous types, try the exciting Spice Lover’s Gift Set.
Other luscious fair-trade gifts for you to choose from include Organic Tea, Coffee and Drinking Chocolate Samplers.
Fair-Trade Refreshment, All Day Long
We all know that it’s important to stay hydrated in the summer. One of the best ways I’ve found to do this is to drink hot and iced teas and tisane (herbal teas). They’re more interesting than water, delicious and flavorful, without being too sweet. 
Our Organic Tea Samplers are a great way to have a variety of teas and tisanes on hand for all day tea sipping.
8am: Wake up gently with a warm cup of Organic Rooibos Earl Grey Tisane. This refreshing herbal tea offers sweet citrus notes and is caffeine-free.
10am: In India, people drink chai all day long, and you can too! Our Organic Rooibos Chai Tisane is a delicious caffeine-free treat hot or iced, any time of day.
1pm: Although we call it After Dinner Mint, this refreshing herbal tea is the perfect finish to any meal. End your lunch and start your afternoon with a tall, cold glass of our refreshing organic mint tisane.
3pm: Beat the afternoon yawns with a caffeinated wake-up. Organic Mango Ceylon Tea will do just that with it’s combination of earthy and delightfully fruity notes.
Fair-trade teas and tisanes, whether in tins or sampler pouches, also make perfect fair-trade gifts. So, whether it’s for yourself or someone else, give a fair-trade gift of delicious all day refreshment to someone you love this summer.
