Problem with our Natural Coconut Milk

We’ve been producing our Natural Coconut Milk for the past several years.

During that time, we have specifically requested that our Natural Coconut Milk have only coconut and water.

It took us awhile to convince our canner that yes, we really, really wanted our coconut milk without Sodium Metabisulfate – a whitener, and without guar gum – a stabilizer that keeps the coconut milk “stable” – or in more of a liquid form.

On our last order from the canner, we received a totally different product. Our natural coconut milk now has guar gum in it, plus unspecified emulsifiers and stabilizers. We did not order it like that, and unfortunately, the canner not only changed the formula and the ingredients, they took the word “Natural” out of the “Natural Coconut Milk” description. They made some other changes to the ingredients and nutritional information as well – all without telling us in advance they were doing that. The Light Coconut Milk has been changed as well. If they had told us in advance, we would have said “No Thanks” and found a different canner.

We have stopped shipping this product to our distributors and are making arrangements to have it sent back.

We are going to be out of stock for awhile.

Natural Value has always strived for 100% consumer satisfaction. If you have purchased our coconut milk and want a refund, please let us know.

As a result of this situation, I am going to Thailand in a few weeks to meet with the canner, and find out what went wrong. Maybe they shipped us someone else’s product – those types of mistakes, unfortunately, do happen. But there has to be some sort of acceptable explanation.
I will post an update on our web page and my blog as soon as I know more.

I am sorry that this whole episode occurred.

We work closely with our exclusive producers, just to avoid situations like this. Unfortunately, this time, that didn’t work.


New and old coconut milk. Note label change. Product on right has no guar gum and very often solidifies, meaning you are getting coconut! To get back into liquid state, simply warm the can.


New and old labels - Coconut Milk cans


New and old labels - Lite Coconut Milk cans


New and old nutritional facts – notice how the fonts have changed




A can of our original coconut milk without guar gum. Notice the coconut clumps at the top of the can. The new coconut milk would splatter all over the counter or floor if you attempt this.

National Bagel Day

Did you know that Tuesday February 9th is National Bagel Day?

In honor of the occasion (no, not really), I have purchased a new Guillotine style Bagel Slicer.

Seriously...Jody and I have been enjoying bagels again...so I thought I would share the news about National Bagel Day.

Martinell Apple Juice, Dole Apple Juice

My experience with Martinelli apple juice goes back to the 70's when I first moved to California. It came in this cute round glass bottle, in 8 oz and 12oz bottles.

When I first became a natural food distributor in 1978, I became a distributor of Martinelli. They shipped all of their product from Watsonville, CA, and they didn't use pallets...so when their truck showed up, every case had to be unloaded by hand. But it was really good juice and a good seller.

When Jody went into the hospital in December 2008, the cafeteria at Sutter General sold Martinelli apple juice from a small cooler. I bought quite a bit of it.

However, when Jody went in for her back surgery in May 2009, the cafeteria had switched to stocking Dole Apple Juice.

To me, Dole was always known for their Pineapple juice, and maybe Dole Bananas, but not for apple juice.

Look at the ingredients of the Dole Apple juice. Does anyone believe that they NEED concentrates from all of those countries around the world in order to make a good tasting product?



By comparison, the Martinelli apple juice is "apple juice." No concentrates. Made in America. And, it tastes good. The Dole? well...who wants to get sued by Pepsi?

Natterz

We did have a new picture of Natterz, but she is partially hidden. Jody called this picture Natterz undercover :)

Upcoming Birthday

My birthday is coming up. I will be 60 on March 25th.

It's interesting - i can talk about how things were 40 years ago...I remember when bagels were a nickel...before there were color TVs....when we had to walk to school in the snow for miles, uphill both ways (ok, so 2 out of 3 are true) :)

Maybe someone will bring a camera to take pictures (hint, hint!)

Jody's hernia surgery

Jody's hernia surgery went well.

The doctor explained that often times, the incision made for a feeding tube does not heal properly - and in Jody's case, that definitely happened.

When Jody was in the hospital last year, she definitely lost weight. How much weight, we will never know for sure. The hospital beds that she was in fluctuated a lot in what they showed, but we came up with a figure of about 25 lbs from the time she got sick in October, 2008 until after her spinal surgery in May, 2009.

She is supposed to rest for 2-4 weeks but you can't keep Jody in bed...and she kept her hairdresser appointment this week. The straight hair in a ponytail look is gone and curls are in...for now!

More cat pictures

Some cat pictures from the past week. Sunshine seems to be a camera hog - I've asked Jody to try and come up with some pictures of Natterz a/k/a Natasha.