Just in time to sweeten up springtime in a deliciously healthy way, the talented Not Your Sugar Mamas (NYSM) chocolatiers have come up with a new bar.
Appropriately wrapped in springy light green foil, Be Fresh packs in several immune-boosting superfoods along with pure raw cacao, coconut butter, agave nectar, and a subtle hint of organic lemon verbena.
“It’s one of our most different flavors,” said Kyleen Keenan, NYSM co-owner with partner Bennett Coffey. She listed camu camu (a Peruvian fruit with a huge vitamin C punch), mesquite with protein and calcium for bone health, and super-antioxidant rich African baobab as new, health-promoting additives. Along with a delicate flavor, the organic lemon verbena grown in Hanover and made into a tincture aids digestion and immunity.
Ms. Keenan, who said she runs the business and marketing aspects of the two-woman company, credited Ms. Coffey with creating the delectable handmade chocolates. A holistic nutrition counselor, Ms. Coffey studied at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City, and after discovering the delights of raw chocolate began experimenting with new recipes. Ms. Keenan had had business training and experience. Both longtime Island visitors and now year-round residents, the pair launched Not Your Sugar Mamas with their stated goal to “spread health, happiness, and love through powerful superfoods.” They began the company in March 2011, and started selling in stores three months later.
Be Original was the first offering that includes cinnamon, Madagascar vanilla bean, Himalayan sea salt, followed by the Be Cool bar with hints of lavender and mint. Be Sexy features extra maca and Skye Botanical’s love potion, and Be Jolly is a wintertime-only treat with immune-enhancing and mood-lifting ingredients. There are also healthful smoothie mixes and a warming, soothing Be Cozy cocoa mix.
After working out of borrowed commercial kitchen space since they began the business, Ms. Coffey and Ms. Keenan are thrilled to be moving into their own chocolate factory soon. The Vineyard Haven location will have both production and retail areas and is scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend.
Like all NYSM bars, Be Fresh is raw, organic, vegan, sugar-free, and most of all, delectable. Be Fresh bars are available along with other NYSM flavors at Healthy Additions, Cronig’s Market, Scottish Bakehouse, Tisbury Farm Market, Eden, Edgartown Meat and Fish, Soigne, as well as other shops on and off Island, and by mail.
For more information, visit notyoursugarmamas.com.
