The NEWTREE Blog

Current Mood: Cool

Written by Celia from NEWTREE

Who thought a chocolate could be flavoured with sun and freshness at once? NEWTREE has done it with lavender and bitter orange. Both these aromas have been traditionally used since long in the south of Europe for their relaxing fragrances.

Lavender smell is very commonly known from relaxing bath mixtures to aromatherapy. It is advised to vaporise this smell to create a warm & calm atmosphere. If applied to the temples, lavender oil is said to soothe headaches. Lavender is frequently used as an aid to sleep: seeds and flowers of the plant are added to pillows, and an infusion of three flower heads, added to a cup of boiling water is recommended as a soothing and relaxing bedtime drink.

Bitter Orange has a similar yet less famous history. The aroma is incorporated to food extracts for its appeasing effect.

With all that knowing, we used those ingredients to create our bars of a new kind. Additionally, we reinforced this relaxing side by adding to our chocolate a natural extract of lime blossom. Lime blossom has always been known for its relaxing properties.

That’s why we named our 2 bars TRANQUILITY.

So enjoy all your relaxing precious moments.

Current Mood: Flirtatious

Written by David from NEWTREE

Vendredi passé, j’ai découvert avec le plus grand plaisir le restaurant « Chez OKI ». Situé à Bruxelles, entre la place Flagey et l’avenue Louise, ce restaurant, au cadre sobre et moderne, offre une cuisine fine où se marient l’authenticité de la cuisine japonaise et la gastronomie de la cuisine française. Pour une première expérience en ces lieux, je vous suggère de vous laisser tenter par le menu découverte qui propose un voyage à travers les 2 cultures. Vous aurez le choix entre un menu de 3, 4 ou encore 5 services. Chaque plat est unique et vous emmène dans un univers de combinaisons surprenantes. Imaginez un instant des « sushis au foie gras poêlé à la sauce soja caramélisée » ou encore « un duo de mousse au chocolat blanc & au thé vert » ! Mais je ne vous en dirai pas plus… N’hésitez pas à l’essayer et partagez avec nous votre avis et autres expériences gastronomiques.

Last Friday, I discovered the restaurant « Chez OKI ». It’s located between “la Place Flagey” and “l’Avenue Louise” in Brussels. This sober and modern restaurant offers you a cuisine that combines Japanese and French gastronomy.
For your first visit, I suggest you try the “Menu Découverte” which offers you a journey through both cultures. You will have the choice between a menu of 3, 4 or 5 services.
Each dish is unique and will bring you in a universe of surprising combinations. Imagine just a minute “sushi with foie gras poêlé with caramelised soya sauce” or even “duo of white chocolate mousse with green thee” !
I won’t say any more … Don’t hesitate to go and check it out for yourself !
Please share with us your opinion and also some other gastronomic experiences.

Current Mood: Alarmed

Written by Benoit from NEWTREE

S’il y a un point qui m’exaspère, c’est la politique belge des voitures de sociétés. Employeurs et employés en usent et en abusent. Pour causes ; nos charges patronales excessives. Pour principale victime; l’environnement. Sans m’attarder sur ces polémiques, je voudrais partager deux expériences positives pour réduire cette flotte de bagnole inutile. L’une personnelle et l’autre étant le fruit d’entrepreneurs Anglo-saxons. Il y a 3 mois, nous avons décidé de vendre notre mono volume et de ne garder que notre voiture hybride. « Impossible nous a-t-on dit», « Et les enfants ? », « Mais comment allez-vous faire? », « Le statut de cette hybride est en marge de tes fonctions », etc. La réponse est simple. On s’organise, on marche, on prend les transports en commun, on apprend aux enfants à se respecter dans un espace réduit, on achète un stock de rustines et on prend beaucoup de plaisir au grand air. D’ailleurs, depuis que je viens au bureau en vélo, j’ai parcouru plus de 3.500km, soit une belle économie d’émissions de CO2 et autres polluants. La deuxième expérience relayée par The Economist de cette semaine concerne deux initiatives louables de start-up, RelayRides (Boston, Massachusetts) et WhipCar (Londres, créée ce 21 avril). Ces dernières poussent plus loin l’idée positive du car-sharing, un marché destiné à exploser dans les prochaines décennies, où les propriétaires de voitures forment des groupes qui s’échangent leur véhicule contre rémunération. Belles initiatives.

Pourvu que ces deux expériences soient contagieuses. Vive la Nature.

Current Mood: Flirtatious

With this post, we want to announce the winner of the January tree photo competition that we ran on our Facebook fan page. We decided to make this announcement in the form of a video, which, by the way, also marked the launch of the NEWTREE YouTube channel!

To stay tuned on more news about our cool company, and get a snapshot at the atmosphere in our office, simply subscribe to the channel!

For now, watch this video (in French), in which David, our Marketing Manager, announces the winner of the January tree photo competition.

The winner is Anne Brancart, the author of this beautiful photo. Congratulations, Anne!

Current Mood: Esctatic

Durbuy tree in November. Photo by schmoozy fox

As already pre-announced on this blog, NEWTREE’s love of nature has prompted us to come up with an idea to publish a calendar with beautiful trees.

Each month for the next 12 months, we will post a call for your images of trees to be shared on our Facebook fan page.

Today, we are announcing submissions of photos that portray the beauty of November trees. Catch a glimpse of the fragile forest, that has not yet succombed into its winter sleep, but is already preparing for the long winter.

What are the rules of the game? Check them out here:

* First, you need to explore and enjoy the beautiful nature around you! Catch that dim November light during the weekend, and capture the amazing color shades and tones of November foliage on your camera.

* Go to our Facebook fan page, and post your favorite photo on our wall, accompanied with text “November tree”

* It’s important that you share only a photo that YOU took, as we will need to be sure that you are the author !

* NEWTREE will select ONE photo that we like best of all out of at least first 20 submissions on Facebook.

* You can contribute photos with November trees any moment between now and November 30, 2009.

* We will reward an author of the best November photo by a nice NEWTREE chocolate gift!

* The photos that do not make it to the 2011 calendar will be kept on our Facebook fan page, as well as placed on our blog on a separate page, for everybody to enjoy!

Finally, we hope that this initiative will enable you to  enjoy the beauty of nature in November, get lots of fresh air in your lungs, and above all, have lots of fun!

For photo submissions, become our fan on Facebook, and post your favorite November tree photo on our wall!

Current Mood: Cool

Branch by Charlotte , our fan on NEWTREE’s Facebook fan page

In this post, Charlotte is sharing her memories of the Corfu island brought about by the photo of this beautiful palm tree.

Photo courtesy of Charlotte Beauchot

I took this photo in September 2008. At that time, I was spending a nice vacation with my boyfriend on a small wonderful island Corfu in Greece.

The most memorable thing about our trip to Corfu is that it was our first vacation just for the two of us. So, it’s a nice souvenir that we both share !
Corfu was such a beautiful place! The first things that come to mind when I think about it are the sun, a warm breeze from the sea, and a lot of differents kinds of palm trees growing all over the place. It was really a beautiful exotic paradise!

The kind of palm tree you see on the photo is my favourite, because in real life it looked like a baby-palm compared to the rest of its tall and think “brothers” and “sisters”.

But seriously, before our trip to Corfu I hadn’t realized that there were so many kinds of palm trees out there. I thought that all palm trees were tall and thin, just like the kind you would see on any postcard.

I am happy to share the photo of this rare tree on the NEWTREE blog. For me, it brings back the memories of the island, my discovery of the “baby” palm tree, and the beautiful time that recharged my batteries and filled me with positive emotions for a long time to come!

Current Mood: Esctatic

Branch by Benoît from NEWTREE

Photo "En Thiérache" courtesy of Cécile Bolly

ENGLISH

While going through the Foret de Soignes on my way to the office this morning, I enjoyed looking at the amazing beauty of trees around me.  Forget your cars and instead, get your bikes out, or find back those walking shoes! The forest is where you can grasp the beauty of the day,  full of magnificent light and beautiful auburn color shades.

I also want to bring your attention to this month’s extraordinary article The Tallest Trees – Redwoods in National Geographic. Here you will find a complete story behind these magical trees, some of which are more than 1500 years old, wider than 5 meters in diameter, and taller than 120 meters! It’s incredible that nature can be so beautiful and full of resources! Take some time to read this article, or even better, experience these trees first-hand by going to the Red Woods State or National Park in California, USA.

I also invite you to look at the photo on top of this blog post, which displays a tree from our country side. Doesn’t it bring about the marvel of the present economic crisis? One trunk is torn down, lying dead on the ground, whereas another one, although not that much more alive, is still looking up to the sky. Will it fall or continue to grow? The future might hold some surprises!

All of this beauty has inspired me for the following idea. How about organizing a competition for the most beautiful photos of trees? Every month, we will invite you to send us photos of trees corresponding to the current month. Each time, we’ll select the most beautiful photo, offering you a great gift for sharing it with us! By the end of 2010, we’ll publish a NEWTREE 2011 calendar featuring the best photos of trees.

And now, get your cameras out, and enjoy making those snapshots!

FRANÇAIS

Epoustouflants de beauté les arbres que j’ai pu contempler ce matin en traversant la forêt de Soignes pour me rendre au bureau. Larguez vos voitures et prenez le temps de prendre votre vélo ou de chausser vos bottines, la forêt nous offre ces plus beaux jours, de magnifiques lumières et des couleurs orangées et brunes de toutes beautés.

Tout aussi extraordinaire, l’exceptionnel article du National Geographic de ce mois The Tallest Trees – REDWOODS. Nous pouvons découvrir l’histoire complète d’arbres majestueux de plus de 1.500 ans, de 5 mètres de diamètre et de plus de 120 mètres de haut. Incroyable comme la nature est belle et pleine de ressources ! A lire impérativement ou à aller découvrir sur place au sein des RedWoods (State or National) Park en Californie.

Dans un registre tout autant arboricole, je vous propose d’admirer la photo ci-jointe de nos campagnes. N’illustre-t-elle pas à merveille la crise économique actuelle ? Un tronc est arraché, mort et gît à terre, l’autre n‘est pas plus sain mais s’élève toujours vers le ciel. Va-t-il vaciller ou continuer sa croissance ? L’avenir nous réservera la surprise.

Toutes ses beautés m’inspirent une idée forte. Qui mieux que NEWTREE peut organiser un concours des plus belles photos d’arbres. Chaque mois, nous allons vous relancer pour que vous nous envoyé vos photos d’arbres illustrant le mois en cours. Nous élirons chaque mois la plus belle photo (qui sera récompensée d’un magnifique cadeau) et fin 2010 nous éditerons un calendrier NEWTREE 2011 de nos plus beaux arbres. Alors, à vos appareils photos et au plaisir d’admirer vos clichés.

Current Mood: Happy

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!

Current Mood: Esctatic

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 !

Current Mood: Happy

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!