So what does the Internet & high tech have to do with cacao? In sweetriot's case, many things. In the past weeks, I have attended numerous technology and design events...one in NYC, one in Napa Valley and a few in Silicon Valley. I met friends from Apple, Lonely Planet, MTV, Yahoo, Google, Meet-up, and more.
Having worked at Yahoo! before sweetriot, the Internet was always a centerpoint of my life. Thus, when working on sweetriot, I tried to think about how to prioritize Internet thinking for the company. In fact, I believe sweetriot will set an example of how to create wonderful products for a new generation of individuals.
Mobility:
I used to work in the wireless group at Yahoo! and I must admit I am a bit of a gadget girl, so the idea of a mobile lifestyle was in the forefront of my mind. The compact nature of sweetriot's packaging was based on research with consumers who are wired and constantly on the go - let's face it - we live in an ipod/cellphone society.
Clean design:
I learned a lot from the Yahoo! Google wars, and the most important thing was related to clear and clean design. sweetriot has been very focused on clear and beautiful packaging. We use simple naming Flavor 50, 65, and 70 to directly correlate with the cacao dark chocolate percentage, and we are using white as a base to highlight the colorful art in a clean and refreshing way.
Transparency
Last put not least there is something pure and transparent about the Internet world. Information is free flowing and consumers are more informed than ever before. Thus, when I learned about the beauty of the cacao bean, I had to share it with others. I had to let them taste the pure flavor rather than a heavily processed bar or truffle. Additionally, we have an amazing mechanism for 1:1 communication. For sweetriot this means an open feedback loop with 'feedback' postcards on the front-page of our website, and the ability to collect art or any other ideas for the company online.
In addition, through an organization called Creative Good and individuals like Mark Hurst and Phil Terry, there is a growing number of people who believe in creating a wonderful and transparent customer experience online and offline, and we have so much more control today to do that with the Internet.
So there you have it - the Internet and cacao do go together!
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