DAS Foods Review & Giveaway!

CEO and Founder of DAS Foods, Katie Das, started her company with the vision of sharing foods containing gourmet salts found all around the world with other people.  DAS Foods started by selling Gourmet Finishing Salts but quickly introduced it's line of artisan caramels (Fleur des Sel Caramels) after being invited to the World of Chocolate philanthropic event organized by the AIDS Foundation of Chicago back in November, 2006.  The line of caramels started with 4 flavors and since then an additional 4 flavors have been added to the pack.  In addition to finishing salts and caramels, DAS Foods now creates and sells Lolipops, gift packages and packages specifically for weddings and other special events.

Prior to starting DAS Foods, Katie Das gathered a variety of experience by working as a food scientist in the Kraft Foods Research and Development division for 5 years, and as a marketing manager for Wm. Wrigley Jr Company.

One thing that impressed me about this company was their strong beliefs and values.  DAS Foods donates 10% of their profits to the AIDS foundation of Chicago.  Here is what Katie had to say on the DAS Foods Philanthropy page: 

“I grew up in an environment where universal values, such as helping those in need, collecting intellectual wealth and nurturing love within the family were most important. We do our best to live by these values and project them onto our company as well."

"Whether it is helping low income women to become self sufficient, funding efforts to fight AIDS in the US and abroad, or helping to develop sustainable local agriculture – we’re helping people who are in need.  We’re a small company but we too can make the difference. There is so much still for us to do, and we will get there- step by step.”

If you'd like to read more about how DAS Foods came to be and their values, be sure to check out their About Us Page.

As you browse through DAS foods' website, you will notice a page filled with recipes that use DAS foods products: Recipes.  Since Halloween is quickly approaching, I figured I would include one of their fun recipes with my post for all of you looking for treats to make for the upcoming weekend!

Review
Katie was kind enough to send me some DAS Foods' products to review on Everything Up Close.  In my review package, I received a variety of Fleur des Sel Caramels and Lollipops.  When I opened my review package, I noticed the cute little packages that contain the caramels.  Instead of being in a plastic bag like many candies, these caramels come in a paper box, which is completely recyclable.  I also found out that DAS foods tries to use as many local ingredients as possible when making their caramels.  They all use 100% Natural ingredients - that means no preservatives or artificial flavors.  I love the fact that DAS foods is doing something to reduce the effect they have on the environment.  As for the actual caramels, I immediately noticed the unique flavors that DAS foods offers.  Their caramels come in 8 different flavors that I doubt I would be able to find in any brand of caramels.  My favorite caramel was the Chili Pecan caramel.  Here is what the DAS website had to say about it: "Our newest creation will leave you breathless: literally!  Smoky, spicy chili pepper, fresh pecans from small farm in Texas all wrapped in indulgent all natural caramel base.  Our new Chili Pecan caramel is innocently sweet and at first, and then just as you thought you really tasted it all, three pepper spice will hit you all over.  The tantalizing spice will linger long after the caramel has disappeared reminding you of how delicious it really was."  I love this flavor caramel because the it is unexpected and unique.  This caramel starts off sweet and has an after spice. I can honestly say that I've never tried a caramel like this.  My boyfriend also had an opportunity to try out these caramels.  His taste was a bit more conservative and he chose the Dark Chocolate – Toasted Walnut Caramelas his favorite.

Next I had a chance to try DAS foods' lollipops.  Like all of DAS Foods' products, these lollipops are all natural, plus they do not contain corn syrup.  After looking at their interesting names, I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  For this taste test, my opinion was a bit different than my boyfriend's taste.  In terms of favorites, I went for the more ordinary flavours, whereas my boyfriend was more than willing to consume the Maple Bacon lollipops (yes you heard me right...maple bacon).  I tried them and they weren't bad but I guess I just couldn't get past the bacon name.  Although, these lollipops are fun and a great conversation piece.  They are perfect for leaving in your coffee table's candy bowl or including with gifts or cards.

Overall, I was happy with both the values and the products supplied by DAS foods.  I especially liked their caramels and would purchase them in the future.  Also, I will certainly give them credit to bringing a number of innovative product flavors into the market place!  If you are looking for stocking-stuffers for Christmas, DAS Foods caramels are a great choice because of the perfect size of the box they come in and their unique flavors!

How many winners will there be? Two (2).

What can you win?  Each winner will win an assortment box of caramels (shown in the picture to the left) from DAS Foods.  ARV $20.99USD.

To enter, Look through DAS Foods' website, then come back here and tell me the name of one other product you'd like to try, other than the products mentioned in my article. This question must be answered to gain an entry in the giveaway.

Each of the following will give you one extra entry in the giveaway. Please make sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:
-Writing a haiku about salted caramels.
-Following DAS Foods on Twitter (@dascandy).

-Friending DAS Foods on Facebook.  Please leave your name that is shown on Facebook for verification.

-Telling me the name of one retail store than sells DAS Foods' products.  Click here to find out.

- Subscribing to my blog via email or RSS feed (Maximum of 1 entry - please tell me how you subscribe in your comment).

- Adding my button to your blog sidebar.

- Following me on Twitter (@ihchicky). Please leave your Twitter name.

- Following me on Blogger / Google Friends Connect (publicly).

- Tweeting about this giveaway (with a link to this page) on Twitter. Please leave a link to your tweet or your twitter name. You can do this once a day.

- Blogging about this giveaway on your blog. Please leave a link to your blog post in your comment.
- Talking about and linking to this giveaway in any public forum or on Facebook. If you do this, please leave your user-name and a link to the post.
-Donate a minimum of $1 to my BlogHer 2010 Fund using the ChipIn widget on the right hand side of my blog. 3 ENTRIES! Please leave me your PayPal email address so I can verify your entry.

Important Entry Details: The above entries (main and bonus) can only be submitted once per person (except for the tweet entry, which can be done daily). Please do not use more than one blogger account or add additional anonymous comments to gain extra entries. This is not fair to everyone else and this practice is strictly prohibited. If a person is found to be using more than one account to enter the same giveaway, they will be disqualified from that particular giveaway, as well as all future giveaways.

This giveaway will end on Monday, November 9th at 11:59pm (Central Standard Time). After the giveaway has ended, the winner will be picked randomly using random.org. EMAIL RULES: In order to win, you must provide a valid email. I will be notifying the winner by email only. Please make sure your blog profile includes your email address and make sure that it is visible. If you do not have a blogger account, please make sure you have included your email address in your post. If there is no email address provided, to contact the winner, another person will be chosen. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification with their complete mailing address (I will be forwarding all this information to the sponsor), If this information is not received within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to the Continental US only (no Hawaii or Alaska)!

Good Luck!