As part of our continuing effort to help get the word out about SLF Member Taza Chocolate‘s attempt to recover from flood damage, we are going to run a contest over the next week. After all, people love free stuff, people love chocolate…this all seems to make sense to us.
So here’s the deal: Anyone who comments on this blog post by Saturday, July 31st @ noon will be entered to win the following prize:
-$20 in Taza Dollars, to be redeemed at their soon-to-open retail location in their Factory.
- A choice of SLF Lim. Edition T-Shirts (must pick from avail inventory)
-2 SLF Water BPA-Free Water Bottles
-4 Smencils (Scented Pencils…yup, really)
Taza Dollars + SLF Swag + Local Love = WIN!
And what KIND of comment should it be? Well, since this is all about our friends at the Chocolate Factory, we want you to either:
-Send our friends some thoughts or love
-Share a story about Taza Chocolate
And there you have it. We do reserve the right to curate comments, but enter one and you’re entered in the contest. The winner will be announced on Monday, August 2nd via our Blog, Facebook & Twitter.
Two of my best friends live in Union Square, and when they got married out of state, they wanted to give wedding favors that shared a little taste of their home. So, the night before the wedding, the bride, maid of honor, and I sat at a table stuffing wafers of Taza chocolate into little cellophane envelopes and labeling them as “COOL” (vanilla) or “SPICY” (chili). They were placed at each setting at the wedding reception and were a hit!
Comment by Christina — July 24, 2010 @ 1:41 pm
I saw the terrible news re. flooding via SLF Facebook posts, and immediately ordered a gift for my new neighbor who was a HUGE help to me when I opened my 2nd shop in June. I placed the order and it arrived the NEXT DAY which was a complete shock. Anyway, the amount of joy that this gift brought to my neighbor was just incredible - she was familiar with Taza and was so thrilled. I got a thank you call immediately. It’s just amazing what an effect the gift of chocolate can have on people!
Send Taza chocolate, everyone!
Comment by Leslie — July 24, 2010 @ 1:51 pm
Sweet! So glad to see you guys at the Union Square market today. I love telling friends who are visiting about the chocolate factory in the neighborhood — and am looking forward to bringing them to your store when it opens.
Comment by Dan T. — July 24, 2010 @ 2:03 pm
Love Taza! I got addicted to it from the chocolate squares served after dinner at Garden at the Cellar in Cambridge….they don’t offer dessert, but do give you free Taza chocolate after the meal. There’s no better ending to a great meal.
Comment by Maddie — July 24, 2010 @ 2:25 pm
Whenever we have friends visit from out of town, the first thing we do is give them some Taza chocolate. Our friends stay in touch much better now! Thanks, Taza! But, seriously…Taza is a symbol of community-both locally and globally. They represent the best of Somerville, but also the best of what a company can be-the choices it can make, the obstacles it can face and conquer, and the community it can help create. Aside from producing unique and amazing chocolate, Taza helps remind me just how lucky I am to live in a place where people care enough to invest in community infrastructure. Go Union Square! Go Somerville! And GO TAZA!!
Comment by Rebecca M — July 24, 2010 @ 2:47 pm
This is an awesome local product that made my day. I had to run to the store to pick something up for my wife and didn’t want to go. However, the Taza chocolate I picked up at the counter display smoothed over and marital turbulence that may have transpired.
Comment by Nik C — July 24, 2010 @ 4:10 pm
I met Alex and Kathleen at a Somerville Local First member gathering last year and talked with them both about Taza, the local business community and Somerville in general. I could tell that their vision for Taza, respect for their coworkers, vendors and customers, and love for our community had the makings for greatness, and it’s still clear that that’s the case.
Taza supported Second Chances with a delicious donation for a fundraising event in 2009 and we purchased lots of goodies to thank our volunteers and major donors. This year I was happy to personally support Taza’s post-flood rebuilding efforts by purchasing Taza dollars and publicizing Taza’s needs after the flood. They make a high-quality, delicious, unique product, not to mention socially conscious, sustainable and all the rest. I am grateful for having Taza in our community.
Comment by Andrea S. — July 24, 2010 @ 4:49 pm
I sent my friend from Atlanta a sampling of Chocolate Mexicano for her birthday. She used to stock up on Champlain Chocolates every time she visited Vermont, but now she’s satisfying her chocolove by ordering online direct from Somerville!
Taza has become my go-to gift for all occasions! And at present, I am addicted to the chocolate-covered nibs.
Comment by kelle shugrue — July 24, 2010 @ 7:26 pm
I just found out some good friends of mine are going to have a baby. At about the same time I had been reading about the flooding at Taza chocolate. I wanted to help out the local business so I purchased the Dar A Luz - New mom’s gift set for them. They got it this week and loved it! I hope the happiness I was able to give my friends will do it’s small part of helping keep the chocolate eaters (me included) happy by allowing Taza to rebuild and produce more yummy chocolate!
Comment by Leigh — July 25, 2010 @ 11:46 am
I lived in Honduras for a year working for a non-profit organization. While their is a lot of cacao and resources to make chocolate it is nearly impossible to find dark chocolate in Honduras. I received numerous Taza chocolate bars for Christmas while home in Boston and brought them back with me. My other volunteers, many of them European, were hounding me for my chocolate so much so that I had to ration out my generosity while saving some for myself. The Taza chocolate, especially the Mexican one, was just what the doctor ordered after a long day of teaching and coordinating. The students were also blown away by the flavors as all of them had never tasted dark chocolate before. Thanks for the memories and the amazing chocolate!!
Comment by Marcus Sabini — July 25, 2010 @ 2:51 pm
When my sister was married in Berlin, Germany last year, she wanted to give her guests wedding favors that were unmistakably un-European. I suggested Taza chocolate and brought in my suitcase enough Mexicano disks to provide one for each guest - about 75 in all. When the guests finally did break into the bars at the end of the party, many began to swoon in an remarkably un-European fashion. Chocolate was shared and passed around, and many simply packed up their unopened chocolate to eat later, including my sister who had squirreled away about a dozen disks. Six months later, when her German in-laws came to visit the family in Massachusetts, they recognized the Mexicanos in the shops immediately. “We had these at the wedding!” they exclaimed, followed by, “mmmmm”.
Comment by Linsey — July 25, 2010 @ 4:48 pm
I was at a wine tasting class at BCAE and we were talking about food pairings with the wine we were tasting. I said, “oh my god this would be so good with Taza chocolate!” One of my classmates said, “I love those guys, the owners are great.” I asked how he knew them and he explained that they had sent care packages to his military group when they were overseas. When they returned to the States, they were hosted for a tour of the factory. Love that Taza is a local Somerville company, supporting our national troops, and helping international farmers.
Comment by Heather — July 25, 2010 @ 9:32 pm
Taza chocolate covered cacao nibs rock my world!!!
Comment by Josh — July 26, 2010 @ 11:11 pm
This morning I was snacking on some chocolate mexicano and the little indentation between two of the little triangle-shaped wedges hadn’t molded in properly, making it hard to break that quarter into two smaller wedges. oh no! I had to eat them both. Poor me. =)
Comment by Abbe — July 27, 2010 @ 1:16 pm
A former GWS employee recently moved home from living in Nicaragua for about 8 months. While working on urban agriculture in another country, who does she run into??? The TAZA FOLKS scouting around for new farms to purchase their cocoa beans from! How’s that for a small world? We love you Taza!
Comment by Groundwork Somerville — July 27, 2010 @ 3:33 pm