Making Joy Meet Health through Chocolate

Vibrant Chocolate has closed

Im sad to announce that Vibrant Chocolate has closed operations. While we were able to create a delightful menu of chocolates with health benefits and get rave reviews from customers and writers, we did not establish recurring sales at the level needed to pay the bills and maintain the business.

Why didn’t a tasty product with category-unique health benefits work? Well, it became very clear that customers wanted to purchase Vibrant Chocolate they way that they purchased other high end chocolates, as gifts for loved ones and at holidays. People also nearly universally expected that a specialty chocolates business like ours would have a retail store, which was never part of our plan. Our vision of enthusiastic customers who chose to make Vibrant Chocolate part of their weekly diet as both a special treat and a nutrient boost just did not become a reality.

This Spring, we started to produce wholesale Long Life Chocholate Bars and 7-packs of Peanut Butter Sunshine, with the goal of securing shelf space at health-focused and high end retailers. Our pilot program covered 4 stores in the Seattle area, but customers at those stores did not buy out our chocolates. Feedback was that the price was too high for a health focused snack food, since Vibrant Chocolate was hand made and priced like other specialty chocolates, where as customers were more likely to buy a single Luna bar for their afternoon snack at a lower price point.

We also got very close to some major corporate sales this summer with progressive companies that like to treat their employees very well, but in the end these sales did not materialize quickly enough to keep the business going.

All in all, we started this company because we felt that delicious, premium chocolates with health benefits should exist, and they didn’t. We are very proud of the products we developed, the awards and contests we won, and our early customers. But we are sorry that we weren’t able to build a successful online advertising model or wholesale sales channel, and that we are now closing our doors.

- Mike Arcuri

Ballard area pick-ups for Bloomspot Deal

I’d like to apologize for a mis-print in our Bloomspot Deal that has led some people to believe there’s a Vibrant Chocolate retail store in Ballard.  The misleading information in the deal is our mistake.  While we do make all our chocolates in a commercial kitchen in Ballard, we don’t have a retail storefront.

To those customers who came looking for us and couldn’t find us, I’m truly sorry for your lost time.  

It is possible to pick up your chocolates with us in Ballard.  To do this, please call us at 567-280-0656 to arrange a time.

Priority mail shipping is very fast in the Seattle area, and about the cost of 1.5 gallons of gas (plus it’s more environmentally friendly).  You can order your chocolates with your coupon code at www.VibrantChocolate.com and we’ll ship them right to your door.

Again, my apologies.  We strive to treat you well, and we feel terrible about the misunderstaning.

- Mike

An incredible pre-Mother’s Day deal for Vibrant Chocolate is coming to Bloomspot tomorrow. 12 and 24 piece Vibrant Chocolate sampler boxes are available at a big discount through Bloomspot (for a limited time and in limited quantities).

If you need a great gift for Mother’s Day, or haven’t yet tried Vibrant Chocolate for yourself.  There’s no better time than now.

Treat yourself (and Mom!) well,

Mike.

Vibrant Chocolate Sponsoring the Seattle Theater Group

If you’re thinking about going to the “Opening Doors to the Arts” event at the Paramount Theater on April 28th, you now have one more reason to buy your ticket - Vibrant Chocolate!  Over 200 VIP guests will receive complimentary Caramel Snap Attack and Peanut Butter Sunshine confections. 

Enjoy the chocolate, and help the fine arts continue to thrive in Seattle next Saturday evening.

Treat yourself and the arts well!

Mike.

"Those who ate chocolate about five times a week had a body mass index one point lower than those who didn’t indulge…For someone who weighs 120 pounds and is 5 feet tall, one BMI point translates to about 5 pounds."

I recently came across an amazing new 1000-person study from the University of California.  It shows a correlation between chocolate consumption and lower weight.  It’s a single survey-based study in a new research area, so follow-up studies with diet and exercise controls would be needed to prove the connection.  But still, this is one more great possibility in an incredible stream of connections being found between dark chocolate and whole-body health. 

Here’s another great quote from the article (originally reported in the San Francisco Chronicle):

“Chocolate has already shown favorable associations to heart disease, all-cause mortality, blood pressure and even cavities,” she said “If you’re eating a couple of squares of chocolate a number of times a week, it’s probably just fine. Typically chocolate is consumed as a sweet and should have adverse applications for body mass index. In fact, it’s the converse.”

Treat yourself well,

Mike. 

(Source: sfgate.com)

A great new review of Vibrant Chocolate is now up on the popular blog, Super Healthy Kids. Thanks to writer and registered dietician, Natalie, for trying Vibrant Chocolate and sharing her thoughts:

Some of my favorites were the Caramel Snap Attack. This chocolate has 500mg of Omega-3 and flax in it! The Long Life Cocktail Bar was very different that any other chocolate I have tried. It is a dark chocolate bar with chopped cranberries, sea salt, cocoa nibs and flax seeds. It contains 1000mg of Omega-3 and has 64% pure cocoa. I love Hazelnuts and so of course I loved their Hazelnut Crunch. This chocolate is fortified with Calcium and Vitamin D3.

I felt good knowing that I was getting those extra nutrients as I was savoring these delicious chocolates. If you are planning on getting chocolates for someone for Valentines you should definitely checkout Vibrant Chocolate.

Treat yourself well,

Mike.

One day after the Superbowl, Vibrant Chocolate has scored its biggest gift recommendation yet - appearing as the only food product in ESPN’s 2012 Valentine’s Day Gift Guide.

A big thank you to the ESPN staff for trying Vibrant Chocolate and helping spread the word to fitness and sports-lovers everywhere.

Treat yourself and a loved one well this Valentine’s Day.

- Mike.

Story and giveaway on Another Mother Runner

Big thanks to Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea, Authors of Run Like a Mother for featuring Vibrant Chocolate on their popular Another Mother Runner blog. Some lucky readers will win sampler boxes of Vibrant Chocolate just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Here’s an excerpt:

“Vibrant Chocolate, hand-crafted truffles and other chocolate deliciousness that are fortified with vitamins and nutrients. Yes! Health by Chocolate!”

- Treat yourself well, running or eating. Mike.

Thanks to the staff at Seattle Magazine for selecting Vibrant Chocolate for its February Essentials Must List.

“Health nuts who dread getting a box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day can breathe a sigh of sweet relief. New Seattle company Vibrant Chocolate enriches its truffles and treats with vitamins and nutrients—such as calcium, vitamin D and omega-3s—which means gobbling them up is (mostly) guilt free.”

Treat a loved one well this Valentine’s Day.

Mike.

New Years Resolutions

I like to put thought into my New Years Resolutions each year, but this year I’m somewhat behind.  What I know for sure is I want to renew my efforts to get regular exercise and keep a healthy diet.  More vegetables, more healthy fats, fewer carbs…

The good news is that at less than 75 calories, I’ll easily be able to fit 1-2 pieces of Vibrant Chocolate into my adjusted diet.  I almost never drink soft drinks as it is and I limit juice, so a few adjustments to lunch and breakfast should remove most of the refined sugar and white flour carbs from my diet.  

I prefer to get my sugar in the most pleasurable form I can: an occasional ice cream sunday with home-made hot fudge, and my daily Peanut Butter Sunshine and Long Life Cocktail Bar.

What are your New Year’s resolutions for 2012?

Treat Yourself Well,

Mike