New branch by David

Ever since NEWTREE began growing in the US, we have been often asked how we’ve become increasingly known there.

Although there may be several factors that have determined this, getting on Oprah Winfrey’s O List is surely the factor that must have helped us get our foot in the door!

Last year, in April 2008, to be more precise, millions of Americans learned about NEWTREE because it appeared on the O! list of Oprah Winfrey, a well-known, and probably the richest, American TV celebrity.  The O List is a regular feature of Oprah Magazine, a publication that reaches about 2 million Americans every month.

The story goes that Oprah Winfrey came across NEWTREE chocolate in a Las Vegas hotel, and decided to include it in her O list.

So, in reality, there isn’t any “recipe” for getting on the O list, except for being simply liked by Oprah herself!

New Branch by David from NEWTREE

David from NEWTREE has enjoyed a jazz concert in Brussels last night, and is happy to share his impressions with you. Below is his story in English and French.

ENGLISH

The jazz festival supported by Skoda has just begun in the center of Brussels. On this occasion, Brussels is hosting a range of

Source: www.maceoparker.com

artists who perform jazz, funk and soul. Last night I went to the concert by Maceo Parker. I hadn’t really known this funky jazz performer before, and wanted to let myself discover his talent. It was an exceptional evening during which I discovered a talented artist performing to a sizable audience. The concert of Maceo Parker, who has previously performed together with James Brown, George Clinton, Ray Charles and Prince, lasted longer than two and a half hours.

The audience was charmed by the talented performer, whose saxophone triggered the feelings of authenticity and quality, and made everyone enjoy the music in an atmosphere of total relaxation. It was truly a funky great night. Something to discover!

FRANÇAIS

Le festival de jazz « Skoda Jazz Festival » vient d’ouvrir ses portes au cœur de Bruxelles. A l’occasion de ce festival, Bruxelles accueille une série d’artistes aux styles de musiques de tout horizon comme le jazz, le funk, les musiques du monde et la soul. Hier soir avait lieu en grand première le concert de Maceo Parker. Ne connaissant pas vraiment cet artiste et le funky jazz, je me suis laissé tenter par l’envie de découverte. Ce fut une soirée exceptionnelle où j’ai découvert un artiste talentueux dans une salle comble. Ce grand artiste, qui a joué avec les plus grands, de James Brown à  Georges Clinton en passant par Ray Charles et Prince, a joué hier pendant plus de 2h20. Tout le public était sous le charme de l’artiste qui au travers de son saxophone a fait sortir des notes d’authenticité et de qualité, le tout dans une grande décontraction et naturalité.  C’était tout simplement « a funky great night »… A découvrir.

Here is a compilation of summer stories submitted by fans of our Facebook page. They share their experiences of travels, friendly encounters, beautiful places and simply great summer feelings! Enjoy!

Olivier sent us a photo taken in Madagascar. Here is what he says:

Photo courtesy of our Facebook fan Olivier

This picture was taken from the terrace of our lodge at Lavonono which is located on the southern coast of Madagascar. This place is probably my best souvenir of a 3 weeks backpacking trip to Madagascar in 2007. I will always remember the two days we spent there, talking with the owner about social responsibility of the tourists, reading a book while watching the sunset, drinking an ice-cold THB (the local beer) and eating fresh fish, watching whales playing around at the horizon… Definitely need to go back there !

And here is the story of Bénédicte, who went to Morocco with her 2 friends:

Photo courtesy of our fan Bénédicte

There were 3 of us traveling: 2 girls, who had never before traveled by motorbike, and one guy. Backpacks, a guitar, safety helmets, and off we went to experience Adventure!

And Adventure it was… We often ran out of petrol, the motorbikes broke down, we were covered with dust and extremely tired. But along with that, there were also marvelous encounters, smiles given and received, help that came from strangers, lots of laughter and magnificent views.

For me personally, this is what the word “vacation” brings about.

And finally, Cindy posted a photo taken in Spain, near the Cadaques.

Photo courtesy of our Facebook fan Cindy

For me, this is a magic place where serenity and plenitude reign, and where nature exists in all its beauty and power. This mountainous region is perfect for taking long walks, and for swimming, surrounded by complete serenity. I sent this photo because it evokes so many amazing moments in my memories. Laughing and action go along with peace and calm.

I can hear only the crickets, the sound of waves, and the singing birds… All of this can make us forget the world of our daily lives, the routine, metro, work… The new scenery, new encounters, and other equally wonderful things that make us simply relax. What else can one want?

Branch by David from NEWTREE

Here is a recipe of a deliciously relaxing dessert that you can make this weekend. It uses NEWTREE Lavender chocolate, and it’s totally decadent. We publish it in English, French and Dutch (scroll down for the French and Dutch versions).

ENGLISH

This chocolate mousse will make you feel like you are in the Provence region of France… It’s a great dessert to savour and enjoy in a relaxing way. This recipe uses NEWTREE’s milk chocolate with lavender, which has relaxing and calming effect (in fact, one chocolate bar of NEWTREE lavender chocolate also contains linden blossom extract: an equivalent of 3 cups of linden blossom tea!).

Here is a list of ingredients for 4 people:

250 g of whole milk
25 g of fine sugar
2 eggs
3 NEWTREE lavender chocolate bars (80 g each)
several fresh apricots

Preparation

First, you need to prepare base cream. Bring milk to boil in a small pot. Separate egg yolks from whites (keep the whites). Beat the egg yolks with sugar. Then, add milk in a slow stream to the egg yolks mixture while continuing to mix slowly.

Put the mixture into a saucepan over moderately low heat in a top of a double-boiler while stirring frequently until smooth. Attention: don’t let the mixture boil! When the mixture becomes thick, remove the saucepan from the stove and set it aside.

After the base cream is ready, melt the chocolat bars, add them to the base cream and stir everything gently together.

Whip the egg whites in a bowl until they turn into white foamy «snow » and add them very carefully to the chocolate and cream mixture.

Put the mousse into individual bowl or cups and store in a cool place.

At the moment of serving, add previously caramelized apricots. Serve everything cool.

Enjoy!

FRANÇAIS

La mousse au chocolat au lait à la lavande et aux abricots

La Provence et l’évasion sont à vos portes…
Découvrez cette mousse au chocolat aux saveurs délicieusement parfumées.

C’est le dessert idéal pour vous détendre. En effet, notre recette utilise le chocolat au lait à la lavande NEWTREE, qui a des propriétés relaxantes et apaisantes (une tablette de chocolat au lait à la lavande NEWTREE contient l’équivalent de trois tasses de tisane de tilleul).

Ingrédients pour 4 couverts

250g de lait entier
25 g de sucre semoule fin
2 œufs
3 tablettes de chocolat au lait à la lavande NEWTREE (3 x 80g)
quelques abricots frais

Préparation

La crème de base :

Faites bouillir le lait dans une petite casserole. Séparez les jaunes d’œufs des blancs (à conserver). Battez ensemble les jaunes et le sucre semoule. Ensuite, versez le lait sur ce mélange en remuant constamment. Reversez dans la casserole et faites épaissir à feu doux au bain-marie sans cesser de mélanger. Attention, ne laissez pas cette crème bouillir!
Lorsque la crème nappe la cuillère, retirez la casserole du feu.

La suite de la recette :

Faites légèrement fondre les tablettes de chocolat et versez-y 150g de la crème chaude. Mélangez soigneusement.
Battez les blancs d’œufs en neige très ferme et incorporez en aérant jusqu’à obtenir une mousse homogène.
Versez la mousse dans des ramequins ou coupes et mettez au frais.

Au moment de servir, agrémentez de petits dés d’abricots préalablement caramélisés. Servir le tout frais.

Bonne dégustation !

NEEDERLANDS
Melkchocolademousse met lavendel en abrikozen

De Provence en de vakantie sfeer op uw tafel… Ontdek deze heerlijk geurende chocolademousse.

Het ideale dessert om U te ontspannen. In onze recept gebruiken wij immers NEWTREE melkchocolade met lavendel, die rustgevende en kalmerende eigenschappen heeft (één reep NEWTREE melkchocolade met lavendel stemt overeen met drie kopjes lindebloesemthee).

Ingrediënten voor 4 personen

250g volle melk
25g fijne kristalsuiker
2 eieren
3 repen NEWTREE melkchocolade met lavendel (3 x 80g)
abrikozen

Bereiding

Basispudding :

Breng de melk in een kleine kookpan aan het koken.
Bewaar de eiwiten voor het vervolg van het recept en klop de eierdooiers samen met de kristalsuiker. Giet dan de melk op dit mengsel al roerend.
Giet weer in de pan en kook alles op zachte vuur in een bain-marie tot de pudding dikker wordt. Blijf voortdurend roeren en laat niet tot het koken komen !
Als de pudding de lepel bedekt, neem uit het vuur.

Vervolg van het recept :

Giet 150g van de warme pudding op de licht gesmoltene choladerepen. Goed mengen.
Klop de eiwitten heel stijf en vermeng luchtig tot een lichte mousse.

Giet de chocolademousse in vuurvaste schoteltjes of bekers en leg in de koelkast.
Voeg voor het opdienen gekarameliseerde stukjes abrikoos aan toe.
Koel opdienen.

Goede degustatie !

Branch by Amélie from NEWTREE

Our today’s post was written by NEWTREE’s employee Amélie who has recently returned from her trip from Tuscany. It’s written in French, and it’s Amélie’s account about the rare beauty of Tuscany, its scents that awaken senses, and its beautiful trees. Enjoy!

Voici un extrait de mon journal de bord lors d’un récent voyage non loin du paradis…

Cet été, j’ai eu l’occasion de découvrir le sud de la Toscane. Je vous entends déjà dire « ah oui, la Toscane ! Florence, Sienne, Pérouse, la vallée du Chianti, … ». Et bien non, détrompez-vous. La Toscane est riche de bien d’autres trésors…

Mes vacances avaient pour destination la Maremme, dans le sud de la Toscane. Cette région est particulièrement connue pour ses vaches, ses sangliers et sa douceur de vivre. J’appellerai l’endroit où j’ai séjourné « mon maquis toscan » . « Maquis » on peut le dire car la terre est sèche, aride et de cette belle couleur rouge chaleureuse qui donne envie de la toucher, de la caresser.

Mais ce qui m’a le plus plu, c’est cette odeur qui flotte dans l’air. Une odeur suave et ronde de figue ! Qui n’a jamais chapardé une figue au détour d’un chemin ? Et bien moi, ce n’est pas tant de la saveur du fruit dont je raffole mais de l’odeur qui émane de l’entièreté de cet arbre aux feuilles gigantesques même si les fruits ne sont pas encore mûrs.

De nombreux autres arbres jalonnaient également les environs : pommiers, poiriers, pruniers, oliviers t ce beau chêne à la grande envergure qui nous protégeait de son ombre.

De beaux souvenirs en tête…

Tags: scent of Tuscany, trees in Tuscany, Tuscany
]]> http://www.newtree.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=70 http://www.newtree.com/blog/?p=59 http://www.newtree.com/blog/?p=59#comments Wed, 05 Aug 2009 08:56:38 +0000 NEWTREE http://www.newtree.com/blog/?p=59 Current Mood: Playful

Branch by Benoît from NEWTREE

I guess every entrepreneur sometimes goes through breakthrough moments when, after a long period of very hard work, your team’s creativity, aspirations and passions come together and result in something great.

For a small and growing business such moments can occur quite frequently, and I guess I could write a whole series of blog posts about them. However, one particular moment comes to my mind, not only because it was great fun and resulted in a very popular product, but also because many people are curious to know more about it.

So this is the story of Sexy, one of our most popular chocolate bar flavors.

Some time ago, NEWTREE had the inspiration to combine two kinds of natural plant essences – guarana (read more about guarana here) and ginger – into a new chocolate bar. The whole team as well as those of our friends who had a chance to taste the new chocolate in “avant-première”, loved its zesty taste. The combination of guarana and ginger was very special and very innovative, and we wanted to find a good name for this product.

Both guarana and ginger are considered to be aphrodisiacs, substances that are believed to heighten sexual desire. So, it was obvious that we needed to come up with a very “aphrodisiac” name which was nonetheless simple and understandable to all.

On one rainy Brussels day, our whole team gathered in a meeting room, surrounded by flipcharts and pots of freshly brewed coffee. Needless to say, our new chocolate was in abundance, for everyone to sample and get inspired.

The brainstorming turned out to be a fun event, since everyone seemed to be quite passionate about the product. Many interesting ideas of how to name our new product ended up on the flipchart, but I had a feeling that the best name was still to come. Finally, somebody (and I can’t even remember who that was!), shouted out, “Sexy!”.

Many people laughed, others raised their eyebrows. I liked the name, but needed to be convinced that it was for sure the one!
And there was a lot of convincing to be done.

Our creative agency at the time was against the name. Our partners in the US thought that Sexy chocolate would surely not be a hit there. Even one of my uncles told me, “Just think about your grandmother who’ ll turn in her grave if you call your chocolate Sexy.”
Even though there was so much resistance to go ahead with the name Sexy, my intuition told me it would be the right choice. I was not alone, there was also a group of other employees who thought that Sexy was a good idea.

And look at Sexy cholocate now! It’s definitely one of the most popular chocolate bars that we sell around the world! Knowing that Sexy makes so many people happy not only because of its delicious taste but also its name, makes me happy. And by the way, knowing my grandmother, I thought she’d definitely support me in this choice of the product name.

This is the story of Sexy.

Guarana berries

Branch by Séverine, friend of NEWTREE

I have to admit this: I am a huge health food junkie. I am into raw food, organic food, vegan food, and superfoods. Not that they are likely to turn you into a superhuman, but still, their consumption is beneficial for our wellbeing, that’s for sure.

One of the things I’ve noticed for sure is that berries are often referred to as superfoods. Often, berry extracts are added to different foods, chocolate, for example. So, what’s so “super” about them and why do we like them? Some of the reasons are:

• Many berries are packed with vitamines and minerals, in the quantities you’d probably not find elsewhere. For instance, guarana berries, that I discovered on one of my trips to Brazil, has wonderful nutritional qualities, and is a great energy booster.  Goji berries, that I’ve discovered at one dinner party dedicated to superfoods, are apparently also packed with good stuff, even Madonna is said to be eating them. No wonder these berries are so much en vogue. This is mostly due to the health benefits of their consumption. I am not sure whether all of the health related claims of goji have been scientifically proven, but goji is said to protect the liver, act as an aphrodisiacs, boost the immune system and reduce blood pressure and lower levels of cholesterol.

• Many of them taste good – just think about wild strawberries and blueberries and how much taste is packed in these small things!

• Most berries are truly beautiful and they smell so nice!

I am sure there are some other reasons out there why we like berries. Got a reason? Or ever tasted any great chocolate with berries in it? Leave a leaf on our blog, share it with us.

Check out our new site on http://www.newtree.com

Written by Benoît from NEWTREE

I am often asked to tell the story of how I came up with the company name NEWTREE. With this first blog post I am very happy to share it with all those who know me personally, or those who have had a chance to taste our chocolate.

The thing is, I love forest. I also love gastronomy in general, and chocolate, in particular. Back in 2001, these two passions materialized into a business project which then became a very important part of my life, and which is now known by the name of NEWTREE.

Eight years ago, though, the company name that we registered with the public notary in Brussels was different. Its name was TreeLife, and we had already taken all the necessary administrative steps to register this name.

One day (or rather, night – I remember it was about 1 am and I was getting ready to go to sleep) I was leafing through a copy of the Belgian newspaper De Tijd. Suddenly, I saw the following, “Wessanen is acquiring Tree of Life in the USA”. Well, even though it wasn’t exactly TreeLife, I still had this funny feeling as if it was my company that was being acquired. “ Here we go,” I laughed to myself, “we’re not fully set up yet, and are already being bought!”

Clearly, that night I wasn’t going to sleep very much. Sitting in front of the computer, I searched the web to establish whether the products of TreeLife would have anything remotely in common with those of Tree of Life. Needless to say, before registering TreeLife, I had done similar research to identify any registered trademarks resembling this name, but didn’t come across Tree of Life. The result was similar this time, too – my search queries didn’t produce any results that night. Finally, the following morning, we found out that Tree of Life was a natural food wholesaler. So, both TreeLife and Tree of Life had one thing in common – food. This was enough to know in order to decide that we needed to change the name, urgently.

And here is what we did.

We launched a contest on the Internet, mostly targeted at our friends. Having set our criteria for a new name, we asked them to submit their ideas. We promised to give away a trip for two to Venice in exchange for the best chosen company name.

The next day, we were looking at a lengthy list of fun names – EpiCure, TreeO and others – submitted by contest participants from around the world. They were all quite good, but there was nothing overly inspiring either. On top of that, some of them already existed as registered trademarks, anyway.

Eventually, it was my father-in-law who helped us choose the company name. This, however, almost cost him a life! He was almost run over by a truck, and, while he managed to jump away from the fast approaching vehicle, he vaguely saw the word New painted on it. He didn’t notice the rest of the phrase, but that was enough for him to have THE name – NEWTREE.

Everybody liked this name. It was very simple, but at the same time, it pinpointed the main things which were important for our company. We thought that the sound of the word combination NEWTREE had some resemblance to the word nutrition, at least in French. We also thought that New captured our spirit of innovation, and Tree – the fact that we would give an important place to fruits, berries and natural plant essences in our products. And, yes, I can’t deny this – it also felt close to my forest-loving heart!