Tasty Image

A Sweet Spot - Fox News Features Tasty Image on Valentine's Day

Tasty Image founder Derri Cerbone was invited to appear on Fox News “Small Business Spotlight” for Happening Now with Jon Scott and Jenna Lee on Valentine’s Day.  Chocolates, sweethearts and Tasty Image were the topic of the day for host Jenna Lee. 

“How is the chocolate business these days?”  asked Jenna.

“The chocolate industry is sweet!”  replied Derri.  “Chocolate is pretty forever .. and personalized chocolate makes it even better.   Our business is recession proof.”

Jenna complimented Tasty image on the chocolate portrait featuring a Fox News logo, and a heart-shaped portrait of herself and co-host Jon Scott.  “I think that is the best Valentine’s Day chocolate I’ve ever had,” she said in closing.

See the entire interview here:  http://video.foxnews.com/v/2165371978001/small-business-spotlight-21413/?playlist_id=930909745001

Host a Post-Holiday Party

by Tasty Image founder Derri Cerbone

The holiday season has passed and now we can all sit back and slow down. Calm and quiet fills the house now that family has returned to their homes, and the hustle and bustle in the shopping malls has all come to a screeching halt.  Now that we have regained our composure, it’s the perfect time to plan a post-holiday party!

More and more party planners and finding that, people are moving their home parties to January for a range of reasons. The most recurrent ones that I’ve heard have been based on the fact that holidays tend to be about family. This means that for people with extended, blended or large families, scheduling time with each of them takes up the entire holiday period. For people with families out of the city, or country, the holiday season generally means travel.

So what does this mean?

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:

 

Chocolate's Healthy Benefits

 
 
By Derri Cerbone, founder of Tasty Image

We’ve all heard the words and maybe we’ve even reiterated them, but what do they mean? Antioxidants? That sounds like something that we want the cleaning team to use in our showers to eliminate soap build up!

Our bodies allow a chemical reaction to take place within our cells and DNA. This chemical reaction occurs because we do not take the steps, through diet and exercise, to combat this process. Oxidation occurs in our bodies naturally, but is intensified by certain behaviors such as exposure to sun, smoking and poor diet.  Think of oxidation as being similar to the fading of your car paint or house paint - now think about that process happening to your cells!

By introducing ‘antioxidants’ to our body, we typically reduce destruction of our cells and DNA by oxidation and subsequently reverse or combat the process.

Our Chocolate Gets an A+

 

By Derri Cerbone, founder of Tasty Image

Once graduation took place, I never thought I'd find myself concerned about grades again! Yet, here I am, years later, still trying to get straight A's. The best part is:  we did it!

The average American consumes some 11 pounds of chocolate candy each year, and there are approximately 2,500 chocolate candy makers in the United States. Amazingly, with all this chocolate being prepared and consumed, there are only 14 companies that manufacture chocolate, starting with the raw cocoa beans and turning them into cocoa and solid chocolate. Which of those 14 make the best tasting chocolate?

Who were the judges and what did they say? The panel was comprised of seven judges, including both avowed chocoholics and those who merely like to indulge every now and then. In total, 47 dark, 28 milk and 15 white chocolates were tasted and rated. The tasting was held over several days and conducted "blind," that is, the judges didn't know the brand name they were tasting. The taste testers were checking for overall taste, followed by consistency or smoothness. A rating process, resulting in grades from A to F were the results.

Get Ready for Back to School Season

 

By Derri Cerbone, founder of Tasty Image

Looking forward to fall?  Crisp air, crunchy leaves and football games.  If you are a Tasty Image owner or enthusiast, here are some creative ideas for chocolate incentives, fundraising, and prom activities.  Visit decision makers at your local school now, while energy is high and everyone is planning events.  Call ahead and make an appointment with a school official, and then visit with some colorful school-themed chocolates to leave as samples. 

Suggest a "back to school" kick off.

Before meeting with a school official, print an image of the school mascot on chocolate lollipops and decorate your pops with ribbons in the school colors.  Suggest selling the lollipops for a profit to raise money for team uniforms, field trips, and other school activities.  Come prepared with quantity pricing and suggestions for selling the items at bake sales, in the school commissary, and as student neighborhood projects.  Also bring high-quality digital photos of your product so teachers and students have photos to use in student newspapers, sport schedules and posters.  Think your fundraising project through, and make it as easy to implement as possible.  Provide a written, step-by-step guide and include the profit that the school can make. 

Incentives and rewards

Many schools offer rewards to encourage good behavior and/or honor roll recognition.  Allow the school to purchase printed chocolate items at 25% off to give out to their star students.  Remember, every student and family that receives an edible image reward will remember your store when they have private celebrations! 

Prom night

Meet with the prom committee.  Prom is usually funded by the junior class, who raise money all year long.  You can offer edible image items with a ‘heart’ theme.  It’s also an amazing opportunity to bring your edible imaging equipment to the dance!  “Take a picture with your prom date and get it on chocolate while you wait!”  (Tip:  Bring your own white backdrop.  A white backdrop is clean and uses less ink than a dark backdrop - it will dry faster and stay neat while handling.)

“Two truffles, please … but hold the sugar!”

  

By Derri Cerbone, founder of Tasty Image

When you read a food label, do you know what you’re reading and what it really means?  What about the difference between Sugar Free (SF) and No Sugar Added (NSA)?  Is there a difference? 

There certainly is!  Some think that SF and NSA are the same thing, just written differently depending on the manufacturer.  Let’s clear up that misconception right now!  

Sugar Free products contain just that, NO SUGAR. 

There must be less than 0.5 grams of sugar per serving to qualify as a Sugar Free food item.  What they might have, however, is some sort of artificial sweetener such as Nutra-Sweet, Splenda, saccharine or some other carbohydrate-free product.  Carbohydrates are the key element here.  Because diabetics must watch their carbohydrate intake, they look at the product labels to be certain that the label reveals no form of sugar content in the product.  In turn, this item will have a very low carbohydrate count.  A diabetic would be searching for labels that indicate less than a half-gram of carbs per serving.

No Sugar Added products do not use sugar as an ingredient, but there may be other natural sugars found in that food item.  Eggs and milk, for example, contain natural sugars (lactose) and vanilla contains natural sugar, as well. This term may be used if no sugar or sugar-containing ingredient was added during processing.  Other natural sweeteners would include honey, corn syrup, fructose and dextrose.  These ingredients aren’t sugar but they will raise your blood glucose level.  No Sugar Added foods will have a higher carb count, so if you’re looking for a healthier choice for a sweetener and are not attempting to limit the amount of carbohydrates that you take in, then NSA foods make the perfect choice for you.

Many decadent dessert items are made with sugar substitutes which enhance the flavors of the surrounding ingredients.  Maltitol, for example, is a sugar substitute that is utilized in the making of chocolate truffles.  This product bonds efficiently with chocolate, providing a sugar substitute that is both tasty and low in carbs. 

At Tasty Image, we offer a full line of delicious truffles in both Sugar Free and No Sugar Added.   If you’re looking for a cool, refreshing ice cream, try the Breyers NSA ‘smooth and creamy’ ice cream which is available in butter pecan, chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. 

Take a mid-summer break  and indulge.  It’s not only guilt free … at Tasty Image it’s “Buy 2, get one FREE”! 

Thinking Outside the Box - of Chocolate!

 
 
By Derri Cerbone, founder of Tasty Image

Thinking outside the box . . .  of chocolate!

What a wonderful world it would be if we could always think outside of the ordinary.  There's a saying that "necessity is the mother of invention" . . . and during these economic challenging times, the necessity in business is to do something, offer something, or create anything that makes YOU stand out amongst your peers.   It’s that creative twist and flair for originality that keeps an advertisement or an offer stuck in our mind.  The other day I saw an ad for an automobile . . . only $370, 000 . . .It came with all wheel drive, new tires, and a 4 bedroom, 3 bath ranch house on 1.2 acres!

Clever?  I thought so! 

It reminds me of the things we do at Tasty Image which create a smile and silent chuckle for our customers.  Tasty Image is offering a homemade box of chocolate truffles, edible, hand dipped ice cream cups and photo pop with your edible picture . . . and all you do is come into the store during a candy class and make each of those with your very own hands.  Talk about homemade!    

Looking for a healthy snack and fun way to enjoy it?  We have something creative for you, as well--select your favorite fruit from our selection of fresh fruits of the day and watch as it is dipped into fresh milk or dark chocolate, drizzled with even more chocolate and decorated with colorful sprinkles.  What have you got?  A rainbow of healthy, fun and fresh treats.  It was the “pick-it and dip-it” that lead to an even more creative and fun activity at Tasty Image.  Can you think of a more fun and delicious way to enjoy a Friday night than a two hour chocolate taste tasting coupled with a sip of your favorite wine???  We can’t!   That’s why we have added chocolate tastings for small groups of 2 or more to the  entertaining and tasty events on our in-store event calendar!   You simply bring your favorite bottle of wine and let us pair it with some of the most mouth watering chocolate delights that the senses can imagine.