sweetriot blog - cacao | culture | cool!

Grounded in the West Village

OK, so we were not really "grounded" per se....we were at Grounded.  ;)

If you are visiting or living in NYC and looking for a cozy coffee shop, look no further.  You must check out Grounded, a fair trade coffee shop, at 28 Jane Street.  It has a warm atmosphere and a great collection of fair trade and organic coffee and products.

sweetriot participated in a Designer's Market at Grounded last week where we spread cacao to coffee drinkers -- cacao and coffee are a great and yummy mix -- you must try it.  Thanks to Shlomi for inviting us to join her event.   

Have you seen the new Balducci's?

I used to go to Balducci's on 6th avenue in the Village when I was a little girl - I was very sad the day it closed.  The good news is that it's back downtown!   

Balducci's has renovated an old Bank building on 14th street and 8th avenue which was constructed in 1896 as the New York Savings Bank -- it's beautiful inside.   Balducci's reopened to the public on December 15, and sweetriot was standing by. 

sweetriot was one of the very first companies to host a live demo event in the store -- the rioters happily passed out cacao to curious shoppers.  sweetriot is honored to be one of the few specialty products selected for the store.   If you're on the Upper West Side, you may also want to visit their beautiful store on 66th St just west of Broadway.

The Holiday Bussle.

sweetriot just completed it's first holiday season ever!  We have now been in stores for almost 3 months -- the time has flown by.   

Here are a few pictures from our last week -- the Office Holiday Party, packing boxes in the office, our gift exchange with Matt and Nina, and Christmas Eve at the Market NYC.    Huge Sha-zam to Nina and Matt for their amazing work over the holidays.  We have been working non-stop, 7 days a week to keep up with the demand and all of the holiday activities.  It's hard to believe December is almost over.  2006 here we come!

Karim Rashid is inspiring...

sweetriot was honored last week to be the featured treat at world known designer Karim Rashid's private holiday party at his lovely store in Chelsea.

We are inspired by his creativity and his commitment to the world.   At the party alone, I met individuals from Brazil, The Netherlands, Venezuela, Canada and more!  This is a testament to his world view.   

If you haven't seen Karim's work, I highly encourage you to take a look.  He has a beautiful way with objects.   Special thank you to his fabulous sister, Soraya, who organized a great event and who is a definite rioter.

Latin filmmakers just know how to create emotion...

My artistic friend Chris is the executive producer of a Sundance Film Festival selectee, Solo Dios Sabe.  I'm so proud of him!  It is BEAUTIFUL film featuring Diego Luna from Y tu tama tambien.  It is an emotional and romantic story set in Mexico and Brazil.  It is so deep -- you'll have to see it in theaters and perhaps more than just once to take in the full story....

sweetriot was featured at the private screening at the Soho House (can you see us in the background?) and Carlos Bolado, the Director (pictured here), loves sweetriot.

I truly believe that Independent film and independent cacao go together....just as independent filmmakers are unconventional, education-focused, and mission oriented among the larger mass market -- so are we in the chocolate world!!  sweetriot IS the world's only independent cacao company dedicated to spreading peace(s) around the world. 

Green Drinks & Fair Tradin'

The holidays are so crazy I'm a bit behind on my blog.  I did want to recognize Margaret and the GREAT people at Green Drinks.  They have created an outstanding organization of green and socially minded thinkers who meet monthly.  sweetriot supported their holiday party with yummy cacao...wish you had all been their to sample the cacao peaces...maybe next time.  :)

sweetriot has also attended some great events in the past few months related to Fair Trade -- our last one was organized by Amanda at NYU. She put together a select group of companies who promote the ideals of Fair Trade for a 3 day fair on NYU's campus.  sweetriot was of course standing by with cacao peaces...thanks, Amanda, for organizing.

Whole Foods Live!

Many of us shop at Whole Foods but we don't necessarily go 'behind the scenes' with their organization.  sweetriot has been fortunate to work with their wonderful Columbus Circle team as we have spent the last 3 weeks 'live' in the store sharing cacao with everyone (Thank you, Martha, for setting this up and thank you to Cindy, Carolyn, Susy, Joe, Megan, and the many others who stopped by to say hi). 

The store is their largest in the country and it is quite an operation!  When you stop back in the office area, one of the first things you see are Whole Food's 'values' on the wall related to serving customers, the quality of food, etc.  As a mission based business, sweetriot is proud to affiliate with another values driven organization. 

The great team of Alfredo and Jimmy also set up a display highlighting cacao, and we had all sorts of curious customers learning more about the amazing properties of the cacao bean.   Alfredo and Jimmy have been there from the beginning helping with all sorts of things as we brought the brand new sweetriot product into the Whole Foods community for the very first time! They also recognized the beauty of cacao from the very beginning and realize that this is a new, natural, and exciting way to eat what is real. Thank you both!!

Business is truly about win-win partnerships, and our friends at Whole Foods understand this.  As a small NYC company, they have supported us with displays and shelf space and time to sample the product with their many customers.  Thank you, Whole Foods, you are a great partner!      

Stockings & shows abound

                                                                                                   

                  It was a busy weekend as the Stocking Stuffer season is now in full swing. 

sweetriot was lucky to be asked to join a very cool Trunk Show at the Double Knot Rug Gallery this past Sunday, which featured social entrepreneurs.  Our friends like Metta at Juara were nearby...as were Rafael from Interrupcion and Wendy from Media that Matters.

In honor of MIke Hammer's visit to NYC, we also hosted an art riot on Saturday evening at the Merc Bar.  New and old friends came by to meet Mike and Suzanne and to take a time out before the holiday party season begins...

Lastly, we supported the Comedy Igloo on Sunday evening in honor Mike's visit and Canadians everywhere! 

Today sweetriot introduced it's new 3 pack online - yay - check it out and send us feedback.

Being thankful

It's that's time of year again when we discuss being thankful.  Of course I am very thankful for my family, my friends, sweetriot, etc.  I am also thankful for my very lovely city, NYC.  Sometimes you forget to stop and experience what is in your own backyard as things are running by so fast in front of you.  Well, yesterday evening was an exception.  Mike Hammer was in town (sweetriot's Featured Artist #!) with his wife, Natasha, and we were offered the opportunity to go to Radio City and visit backstage....

After the classic show, we joined our dancing friend Hannah who took us on a wonderful late night tour with props and camels and more!  We topped off the night with a stop by the Rockefeller Christmas Tree and Sak's Windows.  Wow, NYC at this time of year is just so beautiful.  I felt so lucky to stop and take it all in.

Universal connectors: Cacao & Artwork

Oh goodness.  I know I've spoken about this before but the link between art and cacao is so important - art and cacao are both inspirational, universally loved, and connectors of the world, so it's natural to bring them together. 

This weekend sweetriot hosted our Featured Artist #1, Mike Hammer from Toronto.  Suzanne McCarthey, our lovely graphic designer from Boston, also joined us on Saturday.  The three of us spent the weekend at the MoMA Design Store where sweetriot was featured.  Mike is quite the sales guy - sometimes people wouldn't believe us that he was the artist.  ;)   

Here are some photos above including two which show the real art behind Flavor 50 and Flavor 65 -- yes, those are real paintings reproduced on the tins -- they are not just graphic designs.  :)  Soon we will be announcing our finalists for the next edition of the tins...