*New! Mylk Chocolate Truffles & Mother's Day Collection 2012

Dearest ChocoLovers, Mother's Day: an invitation to thank the givers of life even more than we may on a daily basis. No matter how close to - or far from - your mother you are (in any sense), a celebration of Mothers is a celebration of life, itself. Should you not be in the habit of observing holidays, this coming Mother's Day is a great time to create a new tradition that's sure to add joy and gratitude to your life and to the lives of those you love. Besides, traditions do not have to be traditional! In my own life, creating and keeping traditions is one of the most beautiful gifts Mamma Wonka has ever given me. I so much treasure her teaching me to not only celebrate wholeheartedly, but to consciously dedicate time to creating special moments.  All of us have life-givers close to us to thank and to celebrate, whether she be mother, partner, sister, grandmother, daughter, aunt, or friend. Let's take a selfless day to cherish their life's work and to nurture them as they have nurtured the entire human race!  And, since you have taken over the creation of your life from She who gave it to you - every day you birth a new life experience - make sure to nurture yourself as well with nutritious foods and healthy indulgences.     Motherly love is not limited to the human race. This edition of our  ChocoLetter is also dedicated to the orangutan mothers of Indonesia who are losing their homes, their babies, and their lives. Their impending extinction is a direct result of the palm oil industry's wanton destruction of their natural habitat. ABC News recently reported that "Hundreds of critically endangered orangutans in western Indonesia could be wiped out by the year's end if palm oil companies keep setting land-clearing fires in their peat swamp forests." "They are just barely hanging on," Ian Singleton, conservation director of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program, said of Sumatran orangutans. "It is no longer several years away, but just a few months or even weeks before this iconic creature disappears."     Deforestation not only threatens the flora and fauna of that forest, but is  one of the most  powerful forces driving  global climate change. I've asked a friend who works in rainforest and wildlife conservation to help me  identify the most effective, transparent organization working to preserve the orangutan and her home. I'll report back via our blog and Facebook.  But these organizations can only help balance supply and demand. The real work is in educating ourselves so that our purchasing dollars vote for life - not  for extinction. Just as much as our own lives lie in our hands, the very existence of all species lies in our  hands, as well. If we don't want to support the eradication of yet another species, let's not purchase products that contain palm oil. Besides, refined palm oil is extremely detrimental to your health - best to use olive or coconut oil. Important distinction: the culprit isn't cocos nucifera, grown in Indonesia for coconuts and the nectar of its flowers (coconut palm sugar). In fact, purchasing organic coconut and cacao products from Indonesia is a vote for the preservation of its wildlife. Our cacao and coconut palm sugar from Big Tree Farms grows in biodiverse rainforests alongside mangoes, passion fruit, guava, and vanilla orchids... an example of true sustainability. Let's outweigh the demand for palm oil with demand for high integrity food!  Let's bring on our celebration of all mothers, be they in Indonesia or closer to home. We've prepared several beautiful items that will  express all you wish to say in one bite. And, in the role you and all of us must play as life-giving mothers of the future, you too deserve some health-promoting, orangutan-saving, rainforest-protecting, superfood-infused raw organic chocolate! Warmly,  W       your chocolate girl vanessa          The perfect collection to delight, pamper, and nourish! Included in this complete Mother's Day Gift Package she will find:      * Mylk Truffles (select 3, 16, or 24 piece box)  * Mamma Choc Bar  * Fleur de Sel Bar  * Rose Creme du Jour   * Heaven's Alchemy Perfume Set                                  gift wrap included $91.95          Notes on Shipping Schedule: If you place an order now that you'd like us to hold for delivery right before Mother's Day, no problem! Just let us know in the notes section of your order. Last minute Mother's Day orders will still arrive in time if placed by 12pm on Tuesday, May 8th.. but you risk that we run out of our truffles or MammaChoc! Priority Mail orders ship within 1-4 business days and are delivered 1-3 days after, but it's best to allow 4 business days if you live far from the North East (we ship from zip 11101). USPS Express Mail orders are prioritized to ship within 1 business day, and arrive within 1-2 days. All domestic Express Mail orders are guaranteed by Gnosis Chocolate. You'll receive an email from USPS with a tracking number so you can follow its journey! If it's hot where you / the recipient live(s), please make sure someone is home to bring the delivery inside (away from heat) or ship the package to your office (especially for truffles!!!) Thank you in advance for your orders!  Questions? Prefer to order on the phone?  Call us 646.688.5549 or email info@gnosischocolate.com    We know Gnosis has the potential to be the model for how an unfunded company's operations and business model can be self-sustainable, can educate a large group of people without advertising, and can give back starting on day one. Our bars are the vehicle for a larger message of empowerment - so we have the honor and responsibility to make products that are healthy and delicious not only for your body and taste buds but for the planet as well.  We strive to raise the bar (yes, pun intended!) for other companies like us. Sure, it's more expensive to package our goodies and source ingredients the way we do... but only in the short run. In the long run, we save much more by operating with the big picture in mind.  By voting with our dollars, we are literally shifting the marketplace to make sustainable supply chain and packaging options more affordable and available in greater variety.    Possibilities are endless when we decide to stand up for integrity! Won't you stand with us?   Do you own or work at a company and would like an Employee Rewards Program? Click here!
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Celebrate Earth Day by saving the rainforest and 10% off, too!

ChocoLovers, What is a holiday? Mother's Day isn't the only day we should pamper mothers, our Birthday isn't the only day we should celebrate life, and Earth Day certainly isn't the only day we should bring our attention to environmental sustainability! Earth Day is an opportunity to educate those who haven't experienced the integrity of living in harmony with our home. This week, I had the honor of presenting our chocolate at the 2012 Sustainable Operations Summit in NYC to a host of distinguished speakers. The summit was a "meeting of the minds" of the Directors and Presidents of Sustainability from the country's leading educational institutions and some of the world's largest companies. Those in attendance represent organizations that can influence monumental change in our sustainability efforts. I am so grateful to have the chance to share our chocolate and message with them. And I am ignited by their response - a warm reception and sincere interest in our products, mission, and our new Chocolate Sustainability Employee Rewards Program. I ask you to reach within and step into the future with all your integrity and inner strength. I believe you know exactly what you're here to do if you quiet your mind and listen to your gut. That's what I did - all this was created without funding, partners, training or sales /marketing/ PR teams.  What are you waiting for? If you are passionate and dedicated, you already have everything you need.    We are the leaders. We pave the way. We create the future - let's stand up and vote with our voices and our dollars. Let's step our game up. It's time.   With Love and Respect, Did you know that by eating chocolate, you can support the rainforest?   Yes, I'm serious. No, this isn't just a marketing spiel. The best cacao in a diverse natural rainforest, inter-cropped with other tropical plants like bananas, mangoes, and guava. Because theobroma cacao trees producing fine beans are are considered a very valuable "cash crop," your purchase of fine organic chocolate increases the value of naturally biodiverse rainforests. By supporting companies that are truly committed to sustainable, ethical sourcing and packaging (see what walking the talk looks like below), you cast a vote for the preservation of  natural rainforest, and helps protect it against deforestation for logging and cattle.   Our intention in promoting and working directly with REACH Grenada and The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation is to not only rehabilitate cacao farms and plant more trees, but also to strengthen society's connection to the forest.   Since it is the rainforest that creates most of the oxygen we breathe, no rainforest = no us. So, what to do? Be a discerning ChocoLover, and Eat More Chocolate! Now that's a (delicious) way to celebrate and honor the Earth!  Celebrate Earth Day and Save the Rainforest... and 10% off all orders over $50, too! Use coupon code: EARTHDAY12  (valid for all regularly priced items through 11:59p 4/23)  The eruption of volcanoes, and flowering and expiring of exotic vegetation in Bali, Grenada, and Madagascar have, over countless millennia, created soils of primal potency and fertility. Gnosis has preserved the essence of the noble, distinctive cacao that emerged from those soils in the OrigiNib Collection. In creating these bars, we saw no reason to disturb the exquisite balance of time and nature by "civilizing" the kaleidoscopic flavor range out of these cacaos. The result is a taste excursion to the ancient flavor-soul of these storied chocolate islands. With a search for truly raw, unadulterated cacao as my guiding light, I went on a mission to understand theobroma cacao. I traveled to France to work with Francois Pralus, Grenada to work with Mott Green, and Bali with Big Tree Farms. I worked on the farm, processed beans from the pod, developed raw production techniques, and studied flavor development. Going to the root of the tree was the only way I could truly assure Raw Integrity.  The result of this research, travel, study, and work is the OrigiNib Collection, which we present to you with joy! This is the world's ONLY raw chocolate from Grenada and Madagascar - processed from the bean with Love and Integrity. To this cacao, we've added spices indigenous to the beans' origin for a dynamic representation of the land's rich agriculture.   The Grenada Bar: Grenadian Cacao Beans & Nibs*, Agave Nectar*, Coconut Palm Sugar*, Nutmeg*, Vanilla Bean*, Love. $6  ($5.40 w/coupon)       The Madagascar Bar: Madagascan Cacao Beans & Nibs*, Coconut Palm Sugar*, Wild Madagascan Peppercorn, Madagascan Vanilla Bean*, Love. $6  ($5.40 w/coupon)       The Bali Bar: Balinese Cacao Beans & Nibs*, Coconut Palm Sugar*, Tumeric*, Balinese Sea Salt, Vanilla Bean*, Love.   $6  ($5.40 w/coupon)   *organic   Shop Now @ 10% off for all orders over $50 with coupon code!      We walk our talk. I always choose the most sustainable option in every single step of our sourcing process. Here are a few ways Gnosis shows Love for our Home, Earth:  Our chocolate bar boxes are 100% recycled, 80% post-consumer recycled, & FSC Certified*. We only use them for store orders to protect bars. ("Recyclable" often still means virgin material was used - please demand higher integrity in labeling!)  Our truffle boxes & the bottom of our chocolate bar boxes are printed with veggie inks  Our chocolate bar bags are made of NatureFlex and are biodegradable  Our Jams & Spreads are packaged in glass - not plastic!  Our Labels are FSC, made of EarthFirst PLA, and certified as compostable.  Our shipping materials are reused wherever possible. We even use the backs of our labels for padding instead of buying packing peanuts and bubble wrap.  Our printing paper is always 100% post-consumer recycled.  We minimize printed promotions and send out online newsletters instead   During the summer, we never use styrofoam! We use reusable ice packs       We ship the majority of our packages with the US Postal Service  And last but not least, we support Organic Farming and Superfoods.    We know Gnosis has the potential to be the model for how a company can be run sustainably and educate a large group of people. Our bars are the vehicle for a larger message of empowerment - so we have the honor and responsibility to make products that are healthy and delicious not only for your body and taste buds - but for the planet as well.   We strive to raise the bar (yes, pun intended!) for other companies like us. Sure, it's more expensive to package our goodies and source ingredients the way we do... but only in the short run. In the long run, we save much more by operating with the big picture in mind.  By voting with our dollars, we are literally shifting the marketplace to make sustainable supply chain and packaging options more affordable and available in greater variety.    Possibilities are endless when we decide to stand up for integrity! Won't you stand with us?   Do you own or work at a company and would like an Employee Rewards Program?   Questions? Prefer to order on the phone? Call us 646.688.5549 or email earthday@gnosischocolate.com      Domestic USPS Express orders are prioritized to ship first and are guaranteed by Gnosis Chocolate. Over 95% of Priority orders arrive within 3 business days. You'll receive an automatic email from USPS with your tracking number so you can follow its journey! If it's hot where you live, please make sure you're home to receive the delivery, or ship to your office! Enjoy, and thank you in advance for your orders!
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