This press release took me all day to write, but in the late afternoon it went out to over 60 local media outlets. I got two responses right off: an automated response from a reporter who's in Morocco for a month (sounds nice!) and a call from another who wondered if we might hire her nephew. I think we'll get some buzz out of it though.Press release:

June 16, 2009FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContacts: Tom Neuhaus tom@sweetearthchocolates.comJoanne Currie joanne@sweetearthchocolates.comEve Neuhaus eveneuhaus@gmail.com Sweet Earth Chocolate Shop Grand Opening July 11 Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates announces the Grand Opening of its first retail shop on July 11, 2009, 11 AM, at 1445 Monterey Street, San Luis Obispo, four doors down from its present home above Splash Caf-Artisan Bakery . The shop will carry an expanded assortment of their award-winning organic, fair trade chocolates as well as chocolate memorabilia, art, and cocoa-butter-based body-care products.Chocophiles of every taste will find something to love in Sweet Earths broad range of delicacies from the deepest of rich, aromatic dark chocolates paired with complex and exotic flavors (try the cinnamon ancho Aztec Truffle or the pineapple coconut Pia Colada), to the playful array of chocolates on sticks. New items also include creamy chocolate and peanut butter fudge, classic cherry cordials, and a line of vegan truffles.Visitors enter the shop through a magical glass door created by San Luis Obispo artist Frank Zika set into a fanciful jungle of painted cacao vines. Inside, beautifully displayed chocolate is offset by bright hand-painted furniture and an eclectic assortment of books, china, tins and tools, all related to chocolate, from a 1943 ad (U.S. Troops Fight on Chocolate Diet) to a two-faced Peruvian drinking vessel. On the walls, continent-shaped collages display photos of chocolate production around the world.As always, profits from sales directly benefit cacao farmers in Ghana and Cote DIvoire through Project Hope and Fairness ; and, as always, Sweet Earth Chocolates are made from carefully selected beans grown in Fair Trade certified co-ops in Peru and Dominican Republic and are certified organic by CCOF. Sweet Earth is a local, artisan business and its chocolates will continue to be produced by hand on the second floor of Splash Caf. Tours are available.Tom Neuhaus, chocolatier and founder, learned his craft in Switzerland and from Jacques Torres at Cornells Hotel School. A professor in the Food Science and Nutrition Department at Cal Poly, Neuhaus also runs the student enterprise project, Cal Poly Chocolates . He travels to Africa regularly to work directly with the people of the cacoa-growing villages Project Hope and Fairness sponsors.Contact numbers: Sweet Earth Chocolates (805) 782-9868Joanne Currie (805) 544-7759Tom Neuhaus (805) 441-6727Eve Neuhaus (805) 441- 6739