Food blogs meetup - analytics and tracking talk

Just wanted to say thanks to Kevin Thomson for offering his skills and experience at the foodies blog meetup.

Kevin works in website measurement and tracking; his talk helped me to understand how to track my website better and what to track.

Anyway he reached out and asked if we could to link to his blog so here you go: http://kevthomson.net/

Head over there and you'll find lots of advice on what you should be tracking and how to do it!

Hotel Chocolat Launch New Website

Hotel chocolate have launched a new website which now includes: beauty products, travel, cafes, restaurants and chocolate tasting club. I'm a big fan of Hotel Chocolat so it's nice to see them expanding but I hope they don't don't lose sight of what made them famous - great chocolates!

A quote from marketing magazine:

Hotel Chocolat, the luxury chocolate retailer, has launched a global digital platform, which for the first time promotes its full portfolio of products and services in one place. 

The hotelchocolat.com showcases offerings such as its chocolate range, the boutique St. Lucian hotel, and Cocoa Juvenate beauty products, through six "zones". 

It also now enables consumers to use an "intelligent gifting service", allowing them to design their own bespoke gift bag for a recipient, with a personal message, delivered the next day.
Additionally, the site has an increased emphasis on reviews, with the aim of placing "customer feedback at the heart of the brand". 

Angus Thirlwell, the chief executive and co-founder of Hotel Chocolat, said the evolution of the site was "as significant to us as our launch in 1995".

Source: http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1171498/hotel-chocolat-unveils-global-website 

Hotel Chocolat Valentine's Range

While couples try more and more elaborate ways to show their love for each other on Valentine's Day, sometimes, the classic ways are the best. And chocolate is a sure way to a loved ones heart, proven by generations of lovers.

Hotel Chocolat's Valentine's Day chocolates are like taking a trip back in time to a golden age of romance where men weren't afraid to be chivalrous, and women weren't afraid to be swept off their feet. It harks back to a period in time when romance was not thought of as corny, but as an essential part of maintaining a wonderful relationship.

And Hotel Chocolat's Valentine's Day range is very vast and diverse. It covers all budgets, and there is always something that is perfect for whatever type of romantic gesture you wish to make. For the grand and glamorous romantic gesture there's the magnificent heart shaped Sealed With A Kiss box. This large and luxurious looking box contains 35 sumptuous chocolates that are sure to melt the heart of someone special this February the 14th. There are Dark Champagne Truffles that melt in the mouth, with an elegant splash of champagne. There's the Zesty Orange Mousse which is a whipped milk chocolate treat with a strong taste of Valencia Orange. Then there's the wonderful looking Amaretto Marzipan, with its heart shape and vibrantly colourful design, containing soft almond marzipan with a very light splash of Amaretto Liqueur.

This is the most glamorous collection on offer and is perfect for winning your sweetheart's affection in style.

But not all romantic gestures need to be grand and glamorous, sometimes a quiet statement of love renewed is the most powerful. This however, doesn't mean that they have to be any less delicious. If you wish to show your love for another without fanfares and trumpets, Hotel Chocolat's Valentine's Day range will cater for you and your sweetheart. Some of these smaller boxes make an excellent complement to a bottle of Champagne, or a bouquet of flowers. It's also much easier to quietly surprise a loved one when you're not carrying a large box.

Some of the best Chocolates on offer from the range, are the themed boxes of chocolate. There's the Love Notes collection, which is a collection of twelve heart shaped chocolates featuring mousses, soft truffles, lemon berry tart and caramel praline. And there's also the Lovebirds collection, which is a selection of chocolate Lovebirds, surrounded by caramel and strawberry hearts, which are bright pink in colour and wonderfully fruity. These themed collections add a touch of originality to an old tried and tested formula.

There is something for everyone in Hotel Chocolat's Valentine's Day range, sure to keep everyone happy. There is even a Goody Bag available for the real chocolate connoisseurs among you, who wish to try more than one type of collection. This Goody Bag contains; Caramel Liquid Chocolat, Caramel Buttons, Sweet Hearts, Praline Trio and a Milk Chocolate Slab. This collection is ideal for lovers who don't want to just celebrate Valentine's day itself, but have a delicious treat to eat for days after.

Whatever collection you choose, you will surely make a lasting statement of love by choosing Hotel Chocolat for your Valentine's Day gift.

Introducing Chocolate by Genevie

This weekend I had the pleasure of trying some chocolates from a new UK artisan chocolatier: Chocolate by Genevie. I discovered them while doing research for the Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate I posted a couple of months back.

Chocolate by Genevie supply carefully selected continental chocolates from various European chocolatiers to create chocolate collections that are the best of the best. Their chocolates are typically less sweet than most and because each box is comprised of numerous chocolatiers work the chocolates are definitely varied and interesting.

The guys behind Chocolate by Genevie started the service because they were disappointed with the quality of chocolates generally found in the UK and wanted to create a collection made up of Europe’s finest artisan chocolates.

With handmade boxes decorated with ribbon, silk and had pressed foil stamps they certainly look the part if you’re looking for an artisan chocolate gift that is off the beat and track.

They are based in Scotland and delivery free post to the UK.

For more information check out their luxury chocolates by mail service.

Chocolate by Genevie Twitter

Chocolate by Genevie Pinterest

Chocolate Mission Blog Review

For the past years, there has been an overwhelming growth in the assortment of chocolate products available to the average consumers and chocolate lovers all over the world. This is one of the reasons why Chocolate Mission was created. The website itself offers reviews on all types of chocolate bars and other related products. This website is considered a choco lover's treasure map in finding the right information about various choices of chocolates. If you are a lover of this particular dessert, the site can provide you the knowledge to have satisfying options whenever you eat your favorite dessert. 

chocolatemission.net is For Every Chocolate Lover

You may come across various choices of chocolate brands and flavors. With this, you might find it pretty challenging to choose which one suits your taste. The website is a great source of reviews about chocolate in all its delicious forms. The best thing about this particular website is the fact that you get real and honest reviews on various chocolate bars and products. There have been thousands of chocolates which have passed through the site's rating procedure. Every product or brand is rated based on 5 different criteria: aroma, taste, sustenance, texture, and presentation. 

The creation of the site started just because of a debate among friends about what is considered to be the best chocolate bar all across the world. Today, the site has thousands of reviews about the best and sometimes the worst chocolate bars or products worldwide. The reviews are created by a man from Surrey, England in the person of James Edwards (also known as Jim). They were written based on his personal experience with every chocolate product you can see on the site itself. 

The Different Site Features

Apart from the different chocolate reviews you can find on the site, you will also find various reviews according to a specific country or shop. As you click on each country or shop, you'll find the different reviews about the chocolate products of that country or shop. You will also find reviews of the different chocolate products based on their specific type of fillings. 

Another great thing about this site is the fact that sometimes it offers discount coupon codes on certain brands or shops. On the other hand, the site also features a particular blog section wherein you can read various posts that are still related to chocolates. 

Ease of Use

As you click on the site, you'll see that the colors, design, and color scheme match to the site's theme. The intent of the site is clear, which is to provide reviews about the different chocolate bars and desserts. The site does not promote any brand or shop, it is all about various and honest chocolate bar reviews. The website itself contains hyperlinks that work. The site's navigation is easily understandable as well. If you are looking for an insight about a certain chocolate bar or dessert, you can choose from various reviews that are found on the site. Every review contains photos to help you become more aware of every product review.

Luxury Xmas Ideas 2012

Christmas is the time of year when we fight off the dark and cold of winter by allowing ourselves the little luxuries that we try (successfully or not) to avoid through the rest of the year. Of course, what we do for ourselves during the holiday season goes double for others. There's nothing better than treating a friend or loved one to life's more sophisticated pleasures. And what pleasure is more sophisticated -- or more welcome during the holidays -- than chocolate?

If you're looking to give a luxury chocolate gift this Christmas, the first place to turn is Hotel Chocolat. They have a wide range of great luxury Christmas gifts, ranging from the merely decadent to the completely outrageous.

To begin at the outrageous end of the spectrum, consider the Hotel Chocolat Christmas Gift Hamper. This stylish traditional wicker hamper contains everything you need to create a memorable Christmas for a couple or family, from alternative mince pies to white chocolate penguins, mulled wine spices, ice cream treats, lots of different kinds of chocolates, Christmas decorations, red wine and even port. There's even a hefty slab of delicious milk chocolate to top it all off. If this isn't luxurious enough for you, consider the Ultimate Christmas Hamper, which contains all of these plus Prosecco, sparkling rose, a festive wreath, lots more goodies including penguins in several different flavours, and even a box of Christmas crackers. It's a complete holiday celebration in a single present.

Not every Christmas gift exchange calls for a hamper of chocolate the size of a small bear, however. Smaller Christmas gifts include the Christmas Bliss or Festive Feast baskets. The Festive Feast basket contains a delicious ginger and hazelnut yule log, together with a range of other winter treats such as caramel drops, orange chocolate puddles and milk chocolate reindeer. The Christmas Bliss basket is a little more decadent, with ruby port chosen especially for combining with milk chocolate, as well as a little bottle of sparkling rose, pleasantly spicy chilli chocolate penguins, a mini festive chocolate wreath, and much more.

Other festive gifts include chocolate wreaths, available in either milk or dark chocolate and filled with nuts, caramel, biscuit and raisins. The Hotel Chocolat christmas stocking includes a selection of holiday delicacies in a cool blue-and-white stocking. And the Rather Large Cracker is big enough for a whole table. Over a foot and a half long, this mighty cracker contains 40 delicious Hotel Chocolat confections, as well as enough paper hats and bad jokes for 12 people.

Gift-givers who need to give something a little smaller, whether as a stocking filler or for a regulated gift exchange such as an office Secret Santa, can still find lots of options among Hotel Chocolat's offerings. Icicle decorations are both sleek Christmas-tree ornaments and little boxes of delicious chocolates, while small festive wreaths are the perfect size for sharing. Advent calendars are a great gift for children and adults alike, and the Truffles for Two advent calendar is the perfect romantic Christmas gift for a couple.

No matter who you're shopping for this Christmas, the gift of chocolate never goes unappreciated. The gift of luxurious Hotel Chocolate chocolate turns an ordinary Christmas gift into a moment of self-indulgent luxury.

Does Dark Chocolate Lower Blood Pressure?

Dark chocolate has been found to have beneficial effects in reducing blood pressure. High blood pressure, also referred to as hypertension, is very common condition in today's society. In fact, about 76.4 million American adults have been diagnosed with hypertension.

Dark chocolate is believed to help lower blood pressure by a natural ingredient it contains called flavonoids. These are naturally occurring substances that are a type of antioxidant and have various health benefits that have a positive effect on vascular health. These include helping to reduce blood pressure, increase blood flow to the heart and the brain, as well as reducing cholesterol levels in the body.

The main type of flavonoids found in cocoa and chocolate is known as flavenol. These flavonoids are naturally found in the skin of a cocoa bean. Chocolate is classified as 'dark' due to the higher amount of cocoa it contains in the final product. The more cocoa there is in the product, the greater the flavonoid content is. It is in fact the flavonoids that are responsible for giving cocoa and dark chocolate its strong flavor.

On the other hand, when cocoa beans are processed and ingredients are added to chocolate, the calorie and fat content rises, and the level of flavonoids drops. This is because this processing of the chocolate destroys most of the flavonoid content as a result of chemical changes and temperature. That is why milk chocolate, white chocolate and other chocolate varieties do not offer the same health benefits that can be obtained from consuming dark chocolate. Additionally, dark chocolate that has undergone Dutch processing, which involves the cocoa being treated with an alkali that neutralizes the natural acidity of the chocolate, also eliminates some of the beneficial antioxidant content of cocoa.

Flavonoids found in dark chocolate work in two main ways to help lower blood pressure. Firstly, they inhibit platelets from sticking together, which prevents them from forming clots in vessels. Clots have the propensity to block blood vessels and impair the flow of blood through vessels. This contributes to an increase in the pressure inside the vessels. Flavonoids also have the effect of helping to keep the arteries dilated by helping to relax the smooth muscles of the artery walls. Dilated arteries assist with smooth and unobstructed flow of blood through the blood vessels. On the other hand, when arteries are constricted, they tend to block flow, raising the amount of pressure in the arteries.

There have been studies that have shown the effects of dark chocolate in lowering blood pressure. A 2010 study that was undertaken at Adelaide University in Australia revealed that dark chocolate can reduce blood pressure in people who have hypertension, but not in people who have normal blood pressure.

So it can be seen that some people with hypertension can lower their blood pressure by consuming dark chocolate. This is because of the flavonoid content that is retained in dark chocolate. This natural ingredient has antioxidant effects and acts on blood vessels to help reduce blood pressure.