Tasty Image

Tasty Image is the BUZZ at Miami Trade Expo

International development manager Alla Chernova checks the displays at the Tasty Image booth before the doors open to crowds at the Miami Trade Expo.

The Miami Trade Expo January 20-22 was a huge success, and Tasty Image was the “buzz”. 

We were the busiest booth on the floor,” reports founder Derri Cerbone.  “We had people standing five and six deep.”  The Tasty Image staff demonstrated edible imaging live by taking photos of the trade show attendees and printing them on lollipops.  “I walked down the hall to visit other booths,” said Derri, “and when they saw the Tasty Image logo on my shirt, they said ‘Hey, you’re that shop that prints on chocolate!’”

Over 150 franchises participated in the show, and 30% were new franchises.  “People are looking for franchises now,” said Derri.  “Franchises are popular as a business investment.  Another common theme we heard was that people want to diversify, and are looking at a unique franchise as a second business or a way to expand their current business.”

“People are looking for a business that will stand out and be easy to market.  The compliments we heard all weekend are that we are unique, fun, and different.  People kept coming back to our booth.”

Find out more about how you can own a Tasty Image franchise!

Belt on Your Jet Pack – A Tasty Image Franchise Takes You to Infinity and Beyond

 

• Chocolate is a renewable sale – here today, gone today!  As a food item, chocolate is a source of renewable sales and return customers. 
• Tasty Image chocolates are multi-unit sales!  Unlike fast food hamburgers, pizzas, and other food products, you can sell hundreds of chocolates to a single client.  Think corporations, business cards, fundraising events.
• Tasty Image chocolate is purchased from ethical companies like Blommers.  Our products support Fair Trade, organic and sustainable cacao producers world wide.
• Tasty Image edible image chocolates have no demographic limits!  Our products appeal to all ages, genders, nationalities and interests.  Pet lovers, musicians, students – the possibilities are endless.
• Chocolate is making news as a healthy treat – high in antioxidants, heart-healthy, high in minerals, and a natural source of happy endorphins.

Contact us today and we will introduce to you to our Sweet Road to Success – an exploration of Tasty Image franchise markets, opportunities, branding, technology and more.  You will receive your own personal code to a private tour of a Tasty Image enterprise.   On your tour, we’ll share even more ideas for potential markets.  We’ll tell you about our portable, sleek and easy-to-use printing technology, and introduce you to your support team, who are available by phone, email, Skype, and direct screen connection, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Chocolate is Always the Solution

Tasty Image chocolates make great party favors and gifts.  But did you know that chocolate – especially Tasty Image chocolates – can solve problems?

To expand your marketing in 2012, look for ways that your Tasty Image products can help others solve their problems. Whenever someone says, “gee I wish I could …” ask yourself, can Tasty Image help?  Send a few samples, get a test order, and enjoy residual sales and repeat traffic from happy customers.

Here are two real life ways we helped clients solve a problem.

Weyerhaeuser is the largest exporter of timber and wood products in the United States.  They operate an entire seaport in Longview, Washington and export wood to South America, Europe and China. Gary Cooke, the safety class instructor for Weyerhaeuser, was conducting live re-enactments in his safety classes and handing out chocolate as a fun way to reward employees for accurate responses.  “I was basically ‘borrowing’ handfuls of chocolate from the company dispatcher each week,” he said.    Tasty Image provided Weyerhaeuser with logo-printed chocolates.  “They’re a huge hit,” said Gary.  “Now we’re thinking about ordering logo-printed bars as Christmas gifts for our clients and loggers.”

The Boston Globe is the largest and most venerated newspaper in the United States.  The Globe has been active in reinvigorating downtown Boston by sponsoring a QR code treasure hunt through downtown stores and restaurants.  We helped the Globe promote their new website and online presence by printing thousands of QR code chocolates as giveaways. 

Order Before Jan. 31 and Get a FREE Chocolate Rose

Tasty Image is at the Miami Franchise ExpoJanuary 20 - 22!

Tasty Image is coming to the Miami Franchise Expo South in Miami Beach January 20-22!

Veterans and others can learn about buying and running a franchise at Franchise Expo South, the 6th annual franchise show, Jan. 20-22 in Miami Beach. We will be one of the hot new franchise concepts featured at this amazing show.  Please come and meet our Tasty Image Team at Booth 405 in Hall C!

Tasty Image will be there with sweet confections and edible photo pops making this the sweetest opportunity on the show floor.  If you've been looking for a change, looking for opportunity and looking for a chance to become your own boss, this is the opportunity you've been waiting for.

And for the first time, the franchise show is free to veterans. With tens of thousands of military returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, the franchise industry is actively looking for self-motivated franchise owners.

Basic registration for the tradeshow is only $10 in advance and $15 on site. Pre-register here.  Seminars on buying and operating a franchise are available for an additional price.

Franchise Expo South, 1901 Convention Center Drive Miami Beach, FL 33139

• 11:00AM to 5:00PM, Friday (Jan 20th) and Saturday (Jan 21st)
• 11:00AM to 4:00PM Sunday (Jan 22nd)

For more information on travel and hotel accomodations, visit the exposition website, Franchise Expo South.

 

Become a 'Top Fan' on Facebook and WIN This $50 Valentine Gift

Every month, Tasty Image will give away a PRIZE to our Facebook fans!  All you have to do is like, share and comment on our posts.  Every time you participate, you'll earn points.  Check the Top Fans tab on the left of our Facebook Page to see all our Top Fans activity and points, including yours!

Our January Top Fan will receive this $50 gift basket.  It comes with a variety of premium chocolate truffles including chocolate, champagne, amaretto and raspberry truffles in milk and dark chocolate, all in a heart-shaped red glass vase. 

So get busy fans!  We love you!

Happy Thursday to You! All You Can Eat Truffles

Join us in our Jupiter, Florida store in Chasewood Plaza every Thursday from 5 pm to 6 pm EST for ALL YOU CAN EAT truffles!  Come on in, meet the Tasty Image Team, and sample all our truffle flavors FREE.

While you're here, we have great gift baskets and gift ideas for Valentine's Day.  Fill your tummy while we fill your orders, and leave with all your shopping done and an endorphin rush!

Tasty Image Community Campaign - Reaching Out to Charities

Tasty Image is launching a 2012 Tasty Image Community Campaign.  Each month we will be selecting a worthy charitable or community project and donating 100 edible image products printed with an appropriate message, to help each cause with fundraising and spreading the word about their needs.

We will consider charities, service organizations, community outreach, awareness programs and individual needs.  One thing we do look for are groups who are planning fundraising events, so that we can help and participate in a meaningful way.

Our first recipient, in December 2011, was little Enna Lohin of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 

Some of the efforts that have been nominated so far include:

• Jacks Helping Hand
• Hearts 4 Kids with Cancer
• Counseling4Kids
• Friends of the Children
• House of Heroes

If you know of a charitable organization that is planning a fundraiser and could use a little boost, please comment here or on our Facebook page! 

Happy New Year from Tasty Image!

Happy New Year everyone!  The Tasty Image Team wishes you all the best for a joyous and prosperous New Year! 

Planning for a Bright Future - in Chocolate!

Are you thinking of changing careers in 2012?  Are you dreaming of owning your own business?  Or maybe you are moving and looking for a new career opportunity?  A career in chocolate will give you a bright and bountiful future!

Edible image chocolates are the hot new trend!  Chocolate and photography are both traditional and popular gifts so there is a huge demand for customized chocolate images.  We need creative, dedicated people like you to satisfy this growing demand for customized chocolate gifts.  Our printing technology is already being used successfully by over 200 entrepreneurs in 53 countries—and there is still plenty of room for more!  You too can become a part of the Tasty Image family and enjoy wide open territories and unlimited demand for your products.

5 Ways to Increase Your Income in 2012

1. Distribute chocolate business cards

The reaction to chocolate business cards is priceless!  Each business card comes in its own plastic case so you can easily insert a paper card in the case as well.  You can also use the cards to print a QR code that will take people directly to your website or online specials.  But the main reason to hand out chocolate business cards is so that people can actually see, feel and taste your product.  Once they do, they won’t forget you and they’ll soon be wanting to please and impress their own customers with your edible image chocolate cards and products.

2.  Start a blog

Blogs are more interactive and personal than an ecommerce website—you can explain a little bit more about what you do, feature clients, and promote your business.  The big upside is that every blog post you write is chronicled as a separate article by search engines, exponentially increasing your exposure on the internet! 

Mr. Jawad Opens a Second Location in Saudi Arabia

Mr. Ayman Abdul Jawad and family purchased their first imaging system in 2009 and opened their first store in Jeddah.   One year later they purchased two more systems, opened a bigger store in Medina and are planning an aggressive growth campaign with an expanded product line and more cool ideas!

A number of Jeddah’s prominent and elite businessmen attended the inaugural opening of the first store, one of the “Young Businessmen Projects” in Jeddah.  The concept of edible imagery was highly admired by the attendees, particularly when Mr. Ayman Abdul Jawad surprised the audience by putting a memorial picture of H.E. Sheikh Saleh Al-Turkey, former chairman of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry, on a chocolate along with a picture of the inauguration showing the owner of the Young Businessmen Project, and Sheikh Saleh Al-Turkey.

Our warmest wishes and congratulations to Mr. Jawad and his family on their successful and creative ventures!

Check out these photos for more creative ideas from the Jawad family!

How do YOU celebrate the New Year?

by Derri Cerbone, founder of Tasty Image

Traditions – where do they come from? 

The tradition of the New Year’s Resolution goes all the way back to 153 B.C. when Janus, a mythical king of early Rome was placed at the head of the calendar.

With two faces, Janus could look back on past events and forward to the future. Janus became an ancient symbol for resolutions, and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year.

The New Year has not always begun on January 1, and it doesn't begin on that date everywhere today. It begins on that date only for cultures that use a 365-day solar calendar. January 1 became the beginning of the New Year in 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons than previous calendars had.

The Romans named the first month of the year after Janus, the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances. He was always depicted with two faces, one on the front of his head and one on the back. Thus he could look backward and forward at the same time. At midnight on December 31, the Romans imagined Janus looking back at the old year and forward to the new.

In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the New Year. But tampering continued until Julius Caesar, in 46 BC, established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar. It again established January 1 as the New Year. But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days.

Traditions, around the world, today are observed in a variety of  rituals.  How did you bring in 2012? 

I have always celebrated the New Year with loved ones with whom we exchange a kiss at the stroke of midnight and make a silent wish for the coming year. Others, I’m told eat a sliver of herring at midnight to symbolize food being plentiful, a sip of champagne to represent happiness and silver in the hand to indicate wealth.

Let’s take a look at customs from other countries:

 

Merry Christmas from All of Us at Tasty Image!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all our customers, campers, fans and guests!  We hope your holidays are warm, melting with happiness, and rich with love.

Hope for Enna

  

This Christmas season Tasty Image is launching a Chocolate Community Campaign.  Each month we will be selecting a worthy charitable or community project and donating 100 edible image products printed with an appropriate message, to help each cause with fundraising and spreading the word about their needs.

Our first recipient is little Enna Lohin in Edmonton, Canada.  Enna has Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type I, the number one genetic killer in infants. Enna needs special care and equipment in order to stay at home, surrounded by her loving parents, brothers and sisters.  You can see the equipment needed for her care in the video below.

You can help Enna too by contributing to her care.  Contact Lisa Lohin at llohin@live.ca to find out how you can help this holiday season.

 

 

Great Last Minute Christmas Gift Ideas

'Tis nine days before Christmas, let wrapping ensue; yet you'll always find you've missed one or two!

Here are some ideas for those last minute gifts you forgot to get, hostess gifts for holiday parties, and seasonal thank you gifts for associates and assistants.

For Nana, send a party platter that's sure to please her bridge group!

Greet cousins and houseguests with a gift boxed set of two Belgian chocolate truffles.  At just $4.99, stock up on several to have gifts on hand for unexpected guests.

Edible image ornaments make great gifts for teachers, babysitters, dog walkers, even the postman!  Order several with our funny Christmas drawings, or print your own photo and message on chocolate holiday ornaments.

For clients, deliver a party platter, gift basket or chocolate party tower - that way there's something for everyone!

Kids - Join our Christmas Cocoa Camp!

     

If you live in the Palm Beach, Florida area, come on in to Tasty Image in Jupiter's Chasewood Plaza for entire days of fun playing with chocolate.  Dates for this year's Christmas Cocoa Camp are December 26-30 and January 2-6. 

Camp rates are available by the day or by the week, so parents ... if you're looking for something to keep the kids entertained over the school holiday, Cocoa Camp is the perfect solution.  Kids will learn all about the history and production of chocolate, practice food handling skills and hygiene, and make chocolate creations to share with the whole family.

For more information, call our toll free number, 877-742-2626 or visit our Cocoa Camp event page!

Boston Globe Hands Out Tasty Image Chocolate QR Codes

The Boston Globe is one of the oldest and most venerated newspapers in America.  It was founded in 1872 - each issue originally cost 4 cents.   Today the Boston Globe is an innovative powerhouse with a global readership, and also one of the millenial-friendly corporations using Quick Response codes which can be scanned into a mobile device, providing instant access to websites and special offers.

Recently, the Boston Globe ordered custom chocolate business cards from Tasty Image, featuring a QR code that connects users to their new, updated website. 

Boston Globe's marketing manager Erin Maghran said the chocolate business cards enjoyed "a great reception."

The Globe's chocolate QR cards were featured at all 200 place settings during the Ad Club of Boston dinner on Media Innovation Day, which was sponsored by the Boston Globe, Yahoo, and the Wall Street Journal, among others.  The chocolate QR codes were also presented in baskets for people to help themselves; and included in gift baskets sent to national ad agencies.

For tips on how to use QR codes to boost small business sales, see this Boston Globe article.

Become a Chocolatier Elf - Learn Candy Making in December!

Visit our Tasty Image stores in December and receive a discount on our fabulously fun candymaking classes!  Check out our Facebook photo album Candymaking Classes for candid shots of previous classes.

Classes are a one-time occurrence, about 2 hours each, so there's no major weekly time commitment, although you can certainly attend more than once!  Bring friends and have fun learning how to temper and mold chocolate for the holidays.  Make Santas, snowmen, Christmas trees, ornaments and truffles.

Learn more about our classes.

We also have a 15% off special on candy molds if you decide you'd like to continue practicing your new chocolatier skills at home.

Festive Decorating with Chocolate

One of my favorite things to do each holiday season is decorating the house.  I love our box of familiar and festive treasures, and I'm sure you do too.  But do you ever get the urge to add something new, maybe do something a little different?

And yet there's this little voice that protests (maybe your husband's) and it says, "No!  Please no more Christmas doodahs!"

Well if you decorate with one of our molded chocolate treasures, you won't have to worry about storing it after Christmas - it will get eaten!  Meanwhile, your rooms will be filled with the enticing odor of chocolate. And our chocolate masterpieces won't dry out and drop fir needles all over your table!

Try these ideas for fun and edible decorating displays:

• Chocolate nutcracker surrounded by assorted nuts
• Snowman and trees surrounded by a snowscape of white and silver sprinkles
• Chocolate Santas surrounded by aromatic mints (you can crush peppermints to make snow) and toy presents

Increase Sales with Creative Christmas Cross-Promotions

Christmas is fast approaching and it’s time to start getting your holiday cross-promotions out there!  Here are 5 ways to increase your holiday sales and your brand exposure:

1. Bookstores and Gift Shops –Approach local bookstores and gift shops with some beautiful gift baskets and offer to make some at wholesale pricing for their store.  People who are browsing for gifts will see your business card and learn about you, even if they don’t buy the basket!
2. Tree Displays—You know those gigantic tree displays in shopping malls and commercial buildings?  Offer to supply some free Christmas ornaments with the center’s logo printed on them.  Make sure your business name is included on the ornament wrapper!
3. Fundraising with Ornaments—Don’t wait for fundraisers to come to you.  This time of year is popular for fundraising events.  Look at last year’s city calendar and approach event planners with creative ideas for using your edible image products in this year’s events and campaigns.
4. Local Businesses with Clients—Make sure businesses in your area know that you can provide custom printed gifts.  Take in some samples, pricing and creative suggestions.  Realtors, attorneys, accountants and insurance agents are always looking for creative and promotional Christmas gifts for their clients.
5. Find those Personal Shoppers—This time of year the personal shopping services are insanely busy, and it isn’t always easy to find the “perfect” gift.  Introduce yourself, provide some samples and pricing and let them know that customized chocolate gifts are your specialty!

Don’t miss out on these exciting opportunities to gain new clients and get your name out there.  This is a great time of the year to help people find solutions for their gift-giving needs.  And when you walk in the door with a basket of chocolate samples, you’ll always be welcome!

10 Ways to Create Powerful Franchise Connections with Chocolate

“Everyone speaks chocolate.”   Unlike other franchises, a Tasty Image franchisee can partner with other businesses like gift stores, bookstores, caterers, and photographers and create multiple streams of income!

Chocolate opens doors, and chocolate plus edible imaging creates a powerful message that people are eager to absorb.  Here are ten reasons why Tasty Image is the best franchise choice on the market!

1.  Look for stores geographically near you.  With chocolate, you can offer attractive cross-promotional ideas to neighboring businesses.  Offer to print chocolate business cards or customer gifts at a discount, and make sure the name of your store is stamped on every candy.

2.  Expand your offerings.  Our business models are completely flexible and they allow you to add any service or auxiliary products that you would like to offer.

3.  Look for businesses that can use your services.  Caterers, wedding planners, event planners and trade shows are just a few of the businesses you can approach.

Chocolate Printing Arrives in Arkansas

Rafael and Iris Marrero of Roger, Arkansas joined our chocolate printing family in October and visited our New York facility for some hands-on training.   Iris is learning how to craft digital images on our chocolate printing software.  Please welcome our newest team members and visit their website at Chocopictures.com.

 

"Everyone speaks chocolate!"Cup of JOE Morning Show, Seaview Radio

  

Tasty Image founder Derri Cerbone is featured this week on Seaview Radio's "Cup of Joe Morning Show" with Joe Raineri.  Listen to this short, three-minute clip.

As Joe says, "Everyone speaks chocolate!"

 

Stuff Your Thanksgiving Turkey - with Candy!

FREE SHIPPING through November 15th on all chocolate turkey orders! 
Call 877-742-2626 to order.

Want to really surprise your family on Thanksgiving?  Bring (or send) a chocolate turkey stuffed with surprises.  Our Tasty Image stores can fill your turkey with any delight you choose - chocolate truffles, chocolate bark, peanut brittle, jelly beans - you name it!

You can also ask to have your turkey "drizzled" with another chocolate.  A white chocolate drizzle on a dark chocolate turkey is particularly handsome.  Or ask for a hand-painted turkey, like a dark chocolate turkey with milk chocolate wings and tail.  The Tasty Image staff can even get wildly creative and dye white chocolate in your favorite NFL team colors and paint your turkey to match your team!

All our chocolate turkeys also come with a chocolate coin emblazoned with your personal message hanging around their neck on a ribbon.  Chocolate turkeys make a fabulous hostess gift and surprise for the family.

So indulge.  Call now and find out how much fun a turkey can be!  877-742-2626

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Code GOBBLE is good only until November 22, 2012.

 

Got Clients? Start Planning for Christmas Now

Too early to think about Christmas?  "It's still seven weeks away!" you protest.  "I always wait until the week before to do my Christmas shopping."

Ah, that may work for your personal shopping, but if you want to let your clients and customers know that you appreciate their business with a Christmas gift, take a tip from other businesses.  Many firms begin planning their gift campaign as early as August.  "We always choose something that can be imprinted with our logo as a gift for our winemakers," says Ryan Render of Seguin Moreau, which produces French oak barrels for the wine industry.  "We have to make sure our supplier can get enough items, have them all embroidered or printed with our logo, and get them back to our sales reps by Thanksgiving.  Not much happens in December, and we like to deliver the gifts in person so it's important that our sales reps have them in their hands when they make their last calls of the year." 

Would you like to hand deliver a fine gift with your business logo on it?  Tasty Image can make your ordering easy.  Everyone loves chocolate!  And we have a wide selection of customizable chocolates in every price range - chocolates that can be edibly imaged with YOUR logo.

Order now and look forward to seeing your clients smile when you thank them in chocolate.

For orders over 200 units, call 877-742-2626 toll free and inquire about quantity discounts.

Visit our website for more photos and information on our Gift Towers!

Celebrating Chocolate All Year Long

Who needs an excuse to indulge in chocolate?  But just in case you are looking for a little extra encouragement, here is a list of national chocolate celebrations that occur every year.  There's a reason to celebrate chocolate in almost every month of the year - sometimes more than one!

So here you go - post this list on your fridge, in the teacher's lounge, or in the breakroom.  Enjoy!

National Chocolate Mint Day--February 19

American Chocolate Week--March 14-20

National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day--March 24

National Chocolate Custard Month--May 1-31

National Chocolate Chip Day--May 15

National Chocolate Ice Cream Day--June 7

National Chocolate Eclair Day--June 22

National Chocolate Pudding Day--June 26

National Milk Chocolate Day--July 28

National Chocolate Milkshake Day--September 12

National Chocolate Day--October 28

National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day--November 7

National Chocolate Covered Anything Day--December 16

Tasty Image Owners - Get Ready for Thanksgiving and Holiday Shopping!

As the holidays approach, you can lure more customers to your store by offering completely customized chocolate decorations, centerpieces, and party favors.

Chocolate molded turkeys can be stuffed with jelly beans, truffles, or any confection that a customer would like to order.  Turkeys, which are always a popular item in early November, can also be drizzled and painted.  Try painting tail feathers in alternating colors for an attractive centerpiece display.  Custom filled and painted turkeys are a huge hit with children on this holiday, so whenever your displays attract a new order you are likely to have won a turkey customer for life.

The Christmas shopping season begins on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.  Customers blitz shopping malls and stores looking for Christmas novelties so plan your Christmas displays and specials now.   When taking photos for your website, be sure to set up some elegant vignettes as well as photos of customized products.  For instance, lay out a graceful table setting with customized party favors in the center of each plate.  Take photos of hanging ornaments surrounded by tree branches.  In other words, put your creative ideas in context so people will be inspired to use them at home.

New! The Tasty Image Discovery Experience Takes You On a Complete Tour

Dive into our colorful, informative tour and learn how easy it can be to own a Tasty Image Franchise.  We walk you through the whole process of becoming a Tasty Image business owner – from start to finish.

When you sign up to learn more about our franchise and chocolate printing opportunities, we will be sending you a personal invitation shortly.  Your invitation will include a customized link that can only be accessed by YOU.  Any information you enter during the process will be saved for you.  You can start and stop the Discovery Process any time.

If you haven’t signed up yet to learn more about our Tasty Image stores and chocolate printing choices, sign up now.  It’s free!

A New Tasty Image Franchise in Dubai

Just a few months ago we featured Stephanie Kassab’s visit to our Florida store for chocolate printing training.  This week Stephanie sent us a photo of her new shop’s location, which will be opening soon in Dubai.  Congratulations, Stephanie!