During a stroll down Bernal Heights’ Cortland Street in San Francisco during an evening the neighborhood called “Summer Solstice Stroll,” I wandered into a place I’ve been to before, Avedano’s Meats, mainly because the smell always draws me in – spices, meat and coffee all at the same time and it somehow just works. At the tail end of the market, I was drawn in by a man with a fabulous hat, a moustache that somehow seemed to work and a checked shirt who said TRY OUR CHOCOLATE — our “fearless chocolate” that is. He actually has the handle @beingfearless on Twitter. Yes, really. If you’re bold enough, ask him for the name of his email address and your smile may just be extended.
Are you kidding? I thought. I just lost my will power for the first time in over a month and had some chocolate earlier in the day (as I noted on Twitter) from our friends at @SharingAloha who left chocolate bars in our bags at Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX).
Their story combines unroasted chocolate bars with raw, vibrant, and extraordinarily nutritious interpretations of the most exciting food on the planet, so they say.
For those inspired by the rare nutritional wealth of raw cacao, their chocolate yields as much as 2-3x more antioxidants than conventional organic chocolate bars. Sweet! And, the calorie count is less than most bars while the protein amount is higher. Every woman loves to hear that…
These guys support a single origin source of Organic Cacao from Bahia Brazil featuring a fine balance of earthy and chocolaty base-notes accented with bright hints of cherry and apricot.
Their chocolate is certified Organic by Oregon Tilth; made with 100% Kosher Certified Ingredients in a Kosher Facility; Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, and they tout only mineral-rich unrefined whole sugars.
While they set up shop on Cortland Street and were definitely selling their chocolate on-site, they are based in Oakland, California (just across the bridge from San Francisco) and have been since 2006. The FEARLESS team was created in the midnight kitchen of artist/activist Jordan Michael Schuster.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.