What else can you say when a product can dramatically impact your health--I personally have lost about 15 pounds, gotten my blood pressure to its lowest point in years, about 99 over 70, and been told by my very traditional doctor to lower my Warfarin prescription three times now, based on results from my monthly blood tests. And a product that is recession proof and increased its sales 45% in the first quarter of 2009 over 2008. And a business opportunity where, for less than $300, someone can have his or her own chocolate business, with a lot less work and much more profit potential than if they bought into a chocolate shop franchise for $200,000.
And now add snob appeal. Just look at what the New York Times said on May 9, 2009:
The little wrapped chocolates were passed around the upper West Side living room on a silver tray, plucked one at a time by the manicured hands of the guests perched on sofas and kitchen chairs.
"Probiotic," the hostess of the tasting, Patricia Watt, a theatre producer, told a group seemingly culled from the front page, gossip sheets and back copies of Playbill. They chewed and nodded with approval, among them a prominent 9/11 widow, a bankruptcy lawyer, an Argentinian investor and avid polo player, a Pace University student, and a former sister-in-law of the last president.
Xocai has found a foothold among the ladies who lunch--and the men who love them.
Of course, this coverage has both positive and negative aspects to it. One friend of mine and ardent fan of Xocai who has gotten her blood pressure to its lowest level in five years with her three-time-a-day dark chocolate regimen, said she might never have tried Xocai if she had read that article first--too snobbish by far. And others who aspire to the penthouse life, can't wait to get their hands on the healthy dark stuff to stimulate their dreams and upwardly mobile aspirations.
And because of the Times article, other media in New York City has been wooing Xocai distributors to attend these chocolate tasting parties, one even held at Trump Towers, where people turn up their noses at the mere mention of an apartment costing only a million dollars. Talk about your niche marketing!
But the great thing is that anyone can not only afford Xocai, but for many who are struggling financially, it offers a tremendous means to start a business with immediate appeal, and an immediate customer base. After all, a billion people ate chocolate today and some people can't live without it, including yours truly. And can the rest of the nation be very far behind this New York City phenomenon? Last night, WNBC News (where I worked at 30 Rock for their sister radio station and
first fell in love with dark chocolate from Lilac Chocolates in the Village in
the early 1970s), had this piece:
And it appeals to the whimsical in me that around the newsroom, when other staffers referred to this story, they might call it, "Xocai by Pei Sze"
Pei Sze Chang is obviously one of the up-and-coming reporters at the local NBC station, and try saying "Xocai (show-sigh) by Pei Sze (pay-zay)" five times fast.
I must admit that living here on the West Coast, I do feel a bit left out. Since being paroled from Folsom State Prison, not a single soul has invited me to a penthouse chocolate tasting party.
Jerry
And by the way, if you would like to taste this same delicious healthy dark chocolate enjoyed by the hoi polloi of Manhatten, just send me your mailing address to jerrygillies@gmail.com
And if you think you're ready to work and play with me directly in building a multimillion dollar healthy dark chocolate business, just let me know.
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