Hooray for the Internet!

Wow. Blogging, networking... I have been 'following' so many people in the wee hours of the night that I'm surprised I don't have a restraining order! Ha ha... Twitter is proving to be very fruitful and full of amazingly inspirational healthy eaters, positive thinkers, and motivating entrepreneurs. Focusing on our mission like an eagle, we are making and shipping Rox Chox to new people every day! Last night with my love and business partner River, we listened to Mozart for Wind instruments while we joyfully packed Internet orders, infusing each shipment with refined happiness!

We are thrilled with each new wholesale account as well, because that means it's much easier for a craving to be immediately and healthfully satisfied. Now the people of the lovely seaside hamlet of Manzanita will experience the sweet and salty crunch of a Rox Chox bar.

We are waiting with baited breath to hear back from the Park Slope Coop in NYC, Rainbow grocery in SF, and more Co-ops in: Moscow, Idaho, Sno-Isle in Everett WA(cool name!) Corvallis, Berkeley, Boise, Arcata, Olympia, and the independent stores Other Avenues in SF and Zerbo's in MI. Taste buds crossed!

If you have a favorite local co-op or independent grocery or chain with awesome business ethics you'd like to find your Rox Chox fix at, send us a recommendation. Last night River and I agreed that our new goal is to be available to chocolate lovers in at least one location per major city in each state before the magical year of 2012 is out. Help us help you be your healthiest self!

Lots of love from a miraculously sunny spot in Portland.

Rox Chox in Manzanita, Oregon

One of my favorite towns on the Oregon coast is Manzanita. And now our Chox will be available there, in a great boutique called Unfurl. Can't wait to visit! Thanks, Suzy. Enjoy!. Find them here: http://unfurlclothing.com/

Great Surprise review from Chef Tina at Haute Health!

We just found this great review of Rox Chox on the blog Haute Health, written by Chef Tina Leigh, who had this to say: "The makers brilliantly blend coarse sea salt and shredded coconut right into the cacao so each and every bit is rich in salty goodness.  But you know what’s even more amazing?  They are completely dairy and SUGAR FREE!!!" Thank you, Tina. We also think our Chox is brilliant and amazing, but we are a little partial. Nice to hear back from chocolate lovers-at-large in the health profession.
Read the whole post here: http://hautehealth.co/rox-chox-rocks-my-sox-off/

Also, I Just tried taking a picture of the screen with the apple shift-apple-4-space-bar option, and it works like a charm!  Here is a picture of the blog post from Tina Leigh at Haute Health.  The Rox Chox 4 oz jar in the picture is our special holiday packaging that we did for People's, which will make an appearance for Valentine's day at People's as well. 

Rox Chox are not for Dogs!

Please folks, don't throw this Chox to the dogs.  Xylitol is not safe for dogs.

Really.  It can be fatal.  We all know that chocolate is bad for dogs, but while our sweetener Xylitol is totally safe for human bodies, in any amount it poses a fatal risk to our canine friends.  Please exercise extra caution around dogs, and lock up your stocks of Rox Chox so they can't access it!  

If you are ordering Rox Chox through the mail, let us know if we need to use extra-dog-proof packaging.  


We are working on a warning label for our new package design, and for now we're going to improvise with an added sticker.  Here is the link to the website of Dr. Jason Nicholas, The Preventive Vet, whose letter prompted our swift preventive measures, where you can find more information on keeping innocuous-seeming foods (grapes!?) out of reach of animals they could harm:


http://thepreventivevet.tumblr.com/post/8174699090/lesser-known-pet-poisons

December 21, 2011

Solstice and Chanukah and Christmas and Kwanzaa greetings to everyone! 

We are happy to welcome the light back into our lives, and so happy you Rox Chox lovers are here to share it with us.

It’s been a while since we last gave a Rox Chox update, since we had big life changes and transition to take care of, so this post is both about business and life, as they are intertwined.  We are back in Portland and are committed to bringing Rox Chox to the people. We made a limited edition holiday special of Rox Chox in jars with ribbons, and they have proved very popular. 

I had so much fun working with Rox Chox today.  The annual People’s Holiday Craft and Farmer’s Market was a lively whirlwind of beautiful faces, voices, and names from all over the world and a landscape of bountiful local splendor.  My booth was outdoors and my breath created successive moments of light fog around my bundled head and layers of wool sweaters kept my teeth from chattering.  I kept a wooden bowl and spoon continuously filled with over two pounds of bite-sized Rox Chox and offered samples to the passers-by. For five hours I expounded upon the benefits of xylitol, raw cacao, and coconut and shook hands with and recorded the names* of over sixty-five people as they bought or traded in Rox Chox. I had the chance to try out a few catch phrases in French, Russian, and Finnish, to my delight and possibly others’ chagrin. I personally witnessed the delightful result of our work as many eyes widened in surprised appreciation of the deliciousness.  I lit the menorah for the second night of Chanukah and learned a new saying in Hebrew from a just-met friend.  I saw and hugged many friends, shook many hands, shared many smiles and much chocolate.  On top of it all, I made the rent for the Rox Lab.  Now that’s a great day. 

Yes, our little Rox Chox family now lives happily in Portland again.  We had a pretty smooth transition once the decision was made to return home – River and I (Rochelle) both got our other jobs back (River is a chef and I’m a grocer and studio co-manager) and we found a great apartment that has nice-smelling bushes out front under which our baby Mr. Kitty hides and spies on the world outside.  We are all feeling much better.  We did have an adventurous three-months exploring San Francisco and SFAI’s MFA program but we didn’t like the taste of that debt or the lack of trees, and we are much happier to be investing directly in our future with Rox Chox and riding bikes through piles and under boughs of many colorful leaves.  This is where we belong, and it feels amazing to all of a sudden own a business that has the potential to support us.  We get to decide how quickly we grow, and we are taking it one carefully-planned step at a time.  We are getting used to our new Rox Lab and this month will be building a dividing wall, as per the Health Inspector’s request.  Pretty soon we will be able to invest in new flavors and packages, and soon after that Rox Chox will hopefully be our full time job.  They say it takes two years to begin to make a profit on your own business?  We’re aiming for at least that.  Our business is almost nine months old, so it makes sense that around the time it’s walking it would be on its own two feet.

Here are some of our latest steps:
Rox Chox are newly available as bars on the shelf in addition to the bulk at the Alberta co-op, and are new as bars at Proper Eats in St. Johns.  A lovely locale featuring local organic produce, a café, and live music. www.propereats.org. (Let them know if you want Chox in bulk!)  We also now offer our Chox through a local organic buying club organized by a great guy named Brion Oliver: http://ourcommunitypantry.com   He gave us a great quip about Rox Chox: “This local, artisanal chocolate currently comes in just one flavor, but it’s some of the best I’ve ever had and possibly the best local chocolate in town.  The coconut oil gives it a mild coconut taste and the xylitol makes it crispy, like a Nestle Crunch bar.  It’s really good stuff.”  Thanks, Brion! 

Here's a special limited offer for those of you who have read this far: If any of you would like to tell us what you love about Rox Chox for our 'Rave Reviews' section, we will send you a square of Rox Chox in return (if it's a good review, that is).  Just write up a few sentences and email us your address or get your Chox from us in person.  (roxchoxpdx@gmail.com)

It is so beyond-words wonderful to be back in Portland and at home amongst our community.  Thanks for welcoming us back.  I feel so thankful to those of you who love to treat yourself to Rox Chox and who truly enjoy the work that we do. It is a greatly rewarding job to be of service to your chocolate needs and to see happy written all over your face.  Thanks for loving our chocolate creations!  To life!

* Thank you to all of the new and old-friend people I met tonight whose contribution this holiday season is very directly keeping Rox Chox in business: Esther Yan for the ride to the fair, Karen and Beck for the ride fro, Amira Mednick for the last-minute tent loan, Kim Card for bringing me a tamale,  Maureen for bringing me licorice tea,  Anastasia for the coffee and rice milk, and to Chris of Lovejoy coffee, Marty of the knitted mitts, and Gee Creek Farms for trading, and to those of you who dropped hard-earned cash on our Chox: Brian Heck, Sara Powell, Karen, Brian, Corbin Dallas, Eliot, Jeremy & Shelly, Brian, LaBrae, Kate, Raji & Arbin, Eric, Brian, Amy, Joanna, Ed, Mary Ann & Catha, Alex, Mina, Hazel, Juli, Josie, Dylan, Barbara, Maureen O’Brien, Judith, Beth, Jody, Joanne, Naomi, Nicholas, Brian, Clio, Reen, Peggy, Guillaume & Christiana, Judith for Ashley, Lara for Maureen, Meerka for Ivan in Slovakia, Joe, Mary & Reed, Ivy, Judith, Christine, Anna, Fiona, Julie, Tasha, Julie for her sister, Phil, Bill, Patty, Eve, Bert, Melissa, Elisabet, Max, Zane, Lam,  and the two ladies who were the first to buy two squares promptly at 2pm before I got the great idea to record everyone’s names. 

Chocolate and Cameras

 

Chox Photo Shoot

99% to the People, 1% Reinvestment in the People.

Howdy to the great anonymous unknown energetic ether of the internet from a sunny blustery hilltop in San Francisco!

Occupy Wall Street is going so strong, and this is just the beginning.  I'd like to share with you, world out there, chocolate fans and fellow 99%, that here at Rox Chox we are part of the 99%, and our mission is to use any profits we may generate from this business to support the 99% through barter, trade, employment, fair trade sourcing practices, and once we are 'in the black', a flexible pricing structure aimed at providing Rox Chox on a sliding scale to lower-income markets.

I took huge loans to go to school and to begin this business and will be in debt for quite some time.  When I am no longer a student, I will once again be without health insurance.  At one point I dreamed of becoming a teacher, and I would be a really great one, but the education system has been corrupted and there are hardly any teaching jobs.  Good thing I happen to be pretty good at managing and organizing a business, because Rox Chox is our basket, and almost all of our golden eggs are stuck like glue to its sides.

Good thing the 99% are loving the chocolate we make.  River brought home nine cases of bars from his chocolate-making trip to Portland last week, and we already sold out!  The Ashland Coop will soon be host to Rox, and Eugene is LOVING Rox Chox.  Sundance Grocery has been selling bars like hotcakes, and they just ordered SIX CASES!  Then we got some internet orders (surprise!) and now we are sold out... and I'm like, "Hey, what am I supposed to eat?"

Time to high-tail it back to Portland again...  where the Police are proving to be Peaceful with the protesters.  Maybe they are smart enough to realize that they are the 99% too! I just saw a chart yesterday that showed that around the world, C.E.O.'s make approx 20 times what the average worker makes. Here in the good ol' Democratic U.S. of A., however, if you are a C.E.O. you can make up to FOUR HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN dollars for every $1 made by the 99%.  And, you can create an economic crisis, steal the homes of the People, steal their Pensions, and then get bailed out by their tax dollars!  Wow.  What a land of opportunity it is for the 1% who are born into the elite class!

I am working towards the eradication of the entire system of oppression.  I envision a NEW way of building and sharing resources, reestablishing the collective consciousness, and caring for each other.  This business, and this blogging project of sharing our experiences of the struggles and triumphs of the entrepreneurial journey are my attempt at expanding the concept of what a business really is and of what we are each capable of.  This is the People's New Deal.  We can do this, 99%.  Are you with me?

Approved!

Well, Happy Birthday to me!  Yesterday we were approved for food production in the new Raw Lab.

The Plumbing Inspector arrived just in time so that our friendly Heath Inspector Lisa could meet him and see his approval, and here is a picture of the two of them as Lisa signs our license! 

Good job River on putting the final touches to the Lab and charming the pants off of the officials. 

Rox makes an Ashland connection

Whooo hoo!  Rox Chox will be available soon to the fine folks in Ashland, Oregon at the Ashland Food Coop!  The thrill of hearing another grocery buyer say, 'Yes, please' to our delicious chocolate just doesn't get old.


In other news, Rox and Chox are really grateful for student loans.  They are essentially paying for the creation of a small-scale raw food preparation space: tools of one arm of my social art practice.  Today I said to River, "by January, we'll be in the black!" and he said, "No, no, honey.  When you've paid yourself back all that you've invested, then you'll be in the black."  Finances are not my strong suit, but I sure don't have a problem letting go of them when it is a very good investment.  With our Raw Lab almost finished, our last big investments are coming up: a mold and labels.  And then a short little tiny bit later Rox Chox will be solidly in the black.  And all the happier for it.

The graduate seminar talk about Rox Chox went well, by the way.  People asked some clarifying questions, used the word 'delicious' more than a few times, and were impressed with the Fair Trade aspect especially.  One insightful question posed was, "how do you see your labor and the labor of those who are farming the cacao to be related?"  That is a great question, and at the time I talked about raising awareness for fair trade practices.  But really, although I haven't (yet) met the farmers of our cacao, coconut, vanilla, xylitol, and salt,  we are all collaborating.  I suppose I see this as a giant collaborative art project, synthesized in a tasty treat.  The project is finished when the smile is on the mouth that is savoring the result of all of our combined work. 

Our own Chocolate Lab in Southeast Portland

Hooray! We have signed a lease and had a meeting with our health inspector today, and we're well on our way to fitting out our own little Chocolate Lab.

Turns out, the city permitting and plumbing costs we've just found out about are much more than we had planned...  some of the perils of starting a new business are exactly these kinds of unforseen costs, apparently.  However, we have decided to take the plunge, believe in our chocolate, our fans, our business and ourselves, and go further into debt for Rox Chox.  A leap of faith for the love of chocolate!

BIG THANKS TO ALL YOU ROX CHOX LOVERS OUT THERE FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT.  We love making chocolate for you.

It's always so exciting to hear of people who love our chocolate.  Today my co-worker's animated impression of a Rox enthusiast exclaiming "OH, I just LOVE this stuff!" put a huge smile on my face.  Rox Chox are now a regular feature at the three Portland Co-ops, and with our second delivery to Skagit Valley Coop already on its way, are looking to be settling into Washington pretty nicely as well.  Our new ROX squared 3/4 OZ size made its debut at the Skagit Coop, and then found a place on the cafe counter.  Rox Chox naturally go quite well with coffee or tea and you may now conveniently make that pairing at both Open Space Cafe and Spoke Cafe, a lovely little bike-up or walk-in cafe in the ActivSpace on SE Main and 8th in Portland.

We will also soon be expanding our reach to the totally amazing Sundance Natural Foods in Eugene, OR and (a tiny independent non-corporate) Whole Foods on Mission St in San Francisco.   The more chocolate we make, the better.  The more places you can find us, the better.  Please request Rox Chox at your local independent or cooperatively-owned cafe or store and send them our way!

Thanks everybody.

Rochelle & River

Rox Chox welcomes wholesale and custom orders.

Contact us at: roxchoxpdx@gmail.com or (503) 523 7538

Rox Chox changes- but not to the recipe!

Here's a pic of the Rox Chox crew heading to the kitchen to hook you up!

We are personally leaving for San Francisco on Monday so that Rochelle can start grad school, but first we made over 20 pounds of Rox Chox to stock Portland up on its favorite new treat!

Portland fans of our delicious nutritious chocolate can find it at People's Co-op on SE 21st, the Alberta Co-op on NE Alberta,  Food Front Co-op on NW Thurman, and Open Space Cafe on SE Holgate.
In Washington, you can find us at the Skagit Valley Coop!

River will be commuting to our Portland kitchen as needed over the next year to make Rox Chox while Rochelle is in school.  As always, if you want to buy Rox Chox at your local Co-op, send them our way!

Thanks for eating, Ro & Riv

Skagit Valley Food Coop in Mt Vernon, Washington

And the lucky winners of the first shipment of Rox Chox bars and squares? Mount Vernon! We haven't been doing much recruiting yet since we're still getting into our new routine of making and delivering Rox Chox locally, but one of the Skagit Valley Food Co-op's staff had visited People's and that led to an order of three cases.  River has been noting that I, Rochelle, am quite the perfectionista, and it took us most of the day Monday to ready all of the printed material and labels and cooler and box and ice packs to my specific requirements, then i handtrucked it to the post office yesterday!

Our first box baby is in the mail, and Rox Chox are soon available in the state of Washington.

Sunday Adventures in Chocolate-making

River and I spent all day in the kitchen today and made over twenty pounds of Rox Chox.  We figured out our new Revolation chocolate tempering machine, and the Chox came out better than ever.  Maybe I say this every time, but this batch, #104, is the most delicious chocolate ever!!!  So far we have the bar, the bulk, the PHENOMENON (you'll see it soon), and today we came up with the R Square. You'll taste and see.

In giving a brief overview of my life in conversation with a bestie today, I realized that I am actually living the life I have been dreaming of and so many of my dreams are real!  This August River and I will move to San Francisco and I will enter the New Media MFA program at SFAI.  My statement of intent when I applied for this program almost two years ago focused on my desire to use my privilege to empower others, combining art and activism in the act of 'Tikkun Olam', making this world a better place.  Positivity, pleasure, food justice issues, environmentalism, feminism, queer visibility and identity politics have always been central to my practice, but never more than now.

Rox Chox is bringing it all together.  I'll celebrate that.

Why Rox Chox are so AWESOME

Rox Chox Chocolates

Vegan

Mostly Raw                                

Gourmet treats 

Free of Sugar, Soy, Gluten, Dairy, Corn, and Nuts
Made with Love and five simple nutritious ingredients

Handcrafted in Portland by Rochelle and River out of 5 simple ingredients:

Raw Organic Heirloom-strain Ecuadorian Arriba Cacao

                  Raw Cacao is known to aid in creating a general feeling of love and well being due to its high levels of seratonin, tryptophan, theobromine, and phenethylamine (PEA).

 It is extremely beneficial to humans because of its especially high levels of antioxidants (oligomeric procynanidins, resveratrol and the polyphenols: catechin and epicatechin), magnesium, and healthy Omega 6 fatty acids.

 It is known to aid in weight loss (because of its high chromium and coumarin content), prevention of cavities (theobromine actually kills streptococci mutans, one of the strains of bacteria that cause tooth decay) and regulation of blood sugar which is beneficial for diabetes (chromium can naturally regulate blood sugar).

Xylitol sweetener extracted from Birch trees in Indiana

           Xylitol is a low-calorie natural sweetener, made from Birch.  Some people say Xylitol tastes sweeter than cane sugar. Doctors say it can prevent cavities and is good for the gums as well. Xylitol has a low glycemic index of 13 and is metabolized without insulin, making it safe for diabetics, individuals with hyperglycemia or metabolic syndrome and those on the Candida diet.  It does not contribute to high blood sugar levels or the resulting hyperglycemia caused by insufficient insulin response.   Xylitol is anti-bacterial so prevents tooth decay and infections of the ears and upper respiratory tract. Xylitol has also been shown to actually improve bone density and so is helpful in the treatment of osteoporosis. Xylitol contains no artificial colors or flavors and no additives or preservatives. Xylitol is free of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) and contains no gelatin or animal source materials.

Raw Organic Coconut oil and flakes from the Phillippines

                  Coconut oil is rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and medium-chain triglycerides that give the body an energy boost, help regulate blood sugar level, are anti-viral, anti-parasitic, anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial. Coconut oil improves digestion and absorption of other nutrients, improves insulin secretion and utilization of blood glucose, relieves stress on the pancreas and enzyme systems of the body, improves calcium and magnesium absorption, supports the development of strong bones and teeth, and helps protect against osteoporosis.

Organic Non-alcohol Vanilla extract (vanilla, vegetable glycerin, water)

                  Vanilla is simply delicious.  

Celtic Sea Salt

                  Celtic Sea Salt is harvested from the Atlantic seawater off the coast of Brittany, France.  It is naturally air and sun-dried in clay ponds and gathered with wooden tools to preserve its living enzymes.  Because it is unrefined, it contains all of the 84 beneficial live mineral elements found in sea water, with no chemical and preservatives nor any other additives.