Happy Holidays from all of us at FruitFast.

We are fortunate to live in a place that is not only ideal for growing fruits like Montmorency tart cherries, but is also blessed with great people, beautiful scenery and vibrant communities. With the holiday season upon us, we thought we would share a little bit of northern Michigan with all of you.

Our 10 Holiday Activities – in no particular order – are below. If you live nearby, we hope you’ll enjoy these suggestions with friends and family. If you’re across the country (or even further), give us your impressions of our northern home in the comments. Happy Holidays!

The Christmas tree in downtown Traverse City.

10. Christmas Eve “Light-Seeing” Tour
From our headquarters here in Eastport, Michigan to downtown Traverse City, there are plenty of beautiful displays of Christmas spirit adorning the homes and businesses along the way. If you’re visiting northwest Michigan this holiday season, join us in a favorite tradition: Christmas Eve “light-seeing.”

Gather everyone in your family/group together and hop in the car – or two vehicles if necessary. Put some Christmas music on the stereo and drive slowly through the neighborhood admiring the Christmas lights. If you know of a house that does a little extra (or a LOT extra), which can be found in most communities, pull over and allow for a little extra viewing time. If you’re close to downtown Traverse City, don’t miss the traditional Christmas tree at the intersection of Front and Cass streets.

9. Cross-country skiing on the VASA Trail
Home to the internationally-known North American VASA cross-country ski race each winter, the VASA Trail winds its way through the hills and valleys east of Traverse City, offering cross-country skiers over 20 miles of groomed trail and beautiful scenery.

8. Movies at the Historic State Theater
If you grew up in northwest Michigan, there’s a good chance you went to the State Theater in downtown Traverse City to see a movie or two during your Christmas break from school. Re-live fond memories and create new ones at this completely renovated, classic movie house. Christmas Eve screenings of It’s a Wonderful Life and White Christmas are sure to inspire the Christmas spirit in even the biggest Scrooge. Read the holiday schedule at the State.

7. Shopping in Local Shops & Boutiques
Whether you’re picking up a few last-minute gifts on Christmas Eve or browsing the windows with a peppermint mocha, northwest Michigan’s downtowns are perfect for holiday shopping. Quaint waterfront villages like Leland and Suttons Bay are popular stops, as is Traverse City’s vibrant downtown, which offers special evenings for Men’s Night and Women’s Night during the holiday shopping season.

6. Sledding Down Your Favorite Sledding Hill
Connect directly with childhood holiday memories by grabbing a sled and heading to the nearest sledding hill. If you still have your Flexible Flyer in the rafters of the garage, pull it down and show the kids what sledding was like in the time of A Christmas Story.

5. Toast the Season with Local Beer
It’s no coincidence that Michigan has developed a reputation as the “Great Beer State,” and the Grand Traverse region is a big contributor. Enjoy hand-crafted brews at brew pubs and restaurants throughout the area, including Short’s Brewing Company in Bellaire and Jolly Pumpkin on Old Mission Peninsula. Downtown Traverse City offers three options: Right Brain Brewery, Mackinaw Brewing Company, and North Peak Brewing Company.

4. Snowshoeing at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Snowshoeing at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Snowshoeing is high on our list of winter activities for a number of reasons. It’s an opportunity to burn some calories, it’s relatively easy and requires no instruction (outside of putting on the snowshoes), and most importantly… it’s fun!

The 70,000-acre Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore offers virtually limitless opportunities to explore the outdoors during the winter, many of which offer stunning views from bluffs high above Lake Michigan. Join a ranger-guided snowshoe hike, held on Saturdays during the winter beginning January 7, 2012, and enjoy the natural setting.

3. Wine Tasting on the Old Mission and Leelanau Peninsulas
Michigan tart cherries aren’t the only fruit that thrives on the rolling hillsides of northern Michigan. Wine grapes have become a significant part of the agriculture in the area, and now support a thriving wine region with over 30 wineries between the Leelanau and Old Mission peninsulas. Wind through country lanes and historic farms between tasting rooms at Leelanau Peninsula Wineries, or explore the narrow finger of land between East and West Grand Traverse Bays as you visit the Wineries of Old Mission Peninsula.

2. Downhill Skiing & Snowboarding
Northwest Michigan is home to some of the best skiing & snowboarding in the Midwest, averaging over 150″ of lake-effect snow per year in many areas. Get the kids bundled up and hit the slopes at Crystal Mountain Resort & Spa, west of Traverse City, Holiday Hills in Traverse City, or Shanty Creek Resort, near Bellaire. Further up the road are Boyne Mountain, Boyne Highlands or Nubs Nob near Petoskey and Harbor Springs.

Ring in the New Year in downtown Traverse City. Happy 2012!

1. New Year’s Eve in Downtown Traverse City
In 2009, Traverse City “dropped” a new holiday tradition on northwest Michigan: The Cherry-T Ball Drop. Drawing inspiration from its larger cousin in Times Square, this now-annual event attracts thousands to downtown Traverse City to watch as a giant electric cherry is “dropped” to celebrate the beginning of a new year. Come early and start the celebration at one (or more) of TC’s bounty of restaurants, bars and breweries. Happy New Year!

Beyond the Holidays
Northwest Michigan is a popular travel destination all winter long – and with good reason! Aside from numerous winter sports opportunities and lively communities, our part of the world is home to some great winter events. Here are just a few:

Winter Trails Day – January 7, 2012
Learn to cross-country ski or snowshoe for free at several participating resorts and trail systems.

Women’s Winter Tour – February 5, 2012
Billed as the ultimate “Celebration of Wine, Women and Chocolate,” this popular annual event for women focuses on outdoor winter sports, and of course, fun!

Winter Microbrew & Music Festival – February 11, 2012
Craft brews and live music at historic Grand Traverse Commons.

Winter Wow Fest – February 17-20, 2012
An annual celebration of winter over President’s Day Weekend.

Wherever you are celebrating this year, all of us at FruitFast hope you enjoy the holiday season with friends and family, and wish you happy, healthy New Year!

Happy Holidays from all of us at FruitFast.

Dear Friends,

Your support this past year has not gone unnoticed! YOU are the reason we continue to grow and prosper and YOU will continue to be the main focus of our efforts.

I spend time each day listening to Ken, Mary, Jodi, Quinton and Paulette taking phone orders for our all-natural pure fruit supplements and conversing with customers like you. The staff prides itself on answering questions, offering suggestions and sharing experiences with old-fashioned kindness and personal attention. When you call here, we want you to know that you are talking to a friend that has a personal interest in your well-being.

It humbles me to receive your emails lauding our efforts. Without your continued support and complete satisfaction, we would be just another fruit supplement company in the crowded Internet space.

One area that we are focused on improving is our website shopping cart. We have heard your concerns and  are working to create a much-improved online shopping experience. The result of these efforts will be a newly designed website and shopping cart, which will be launched in the next few weeks. Designing and building the new site has been a challenging 7-month process, and one that I will be delighted to see completed. Let’s just say it is my Christmas present to me! I will be sure to let you know when we launch the new website and I am anxious to hear from you once you have had a chance to navigate the site and shopping cart.

I am thankful for each and every one of you and hope that this joyful season finds you optimistic that we can move toward a nation and world that offers peace, prosperity, personal responsibility, innovation and motivation for future generations!

God Bless, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,

Steve de Tar

Save 10% On Your Order, Use Coupon Code: SAVE10

Enter SAVE10 into the coupon code box on the first page of the shopping cart checkout. This offer applies to all products and there is no minimum purchase required.

Reminder: Free Shipping On All Fruit Softgel Capsules!

Offer expires Sunday, December 11th at Midnight EDT

One-pound bags of FruitFast premium dried fruit are on sale through Sunday.

Looking for an easy way to add the Power of Fruit to your daily diet? Perhaps you’re helping your family take advantage of the numerous health benefits of these wonderful fruits. It’s easy to do both with premium dried fruit from FruitFast!

Add dried montmorency tart cherries to your salad with lunch or dinner. Mix a handful of dried wild blueberries or dried cranberries into your yogurt or oatmeal with breakfast. There are some many ways to enjoy these delicious, all-natural dried fruits. Find plenty more on the FruitFast Blog.

Now through Sunday, save 25% on one-pound bags of premium dried fruit!

Stock up for the coming holiday season, purchase gifts for family and friends, or replenish you personal supply with our lowest prices ever on premium dried fruit!

• Sweetened Montmorency Tart Cherries
Regular Price $9.00, Sale Price $6.75
• Unsweetened Montmorency Tart Cherries
Regular Price $16.00, Sale Price $12.00
• Wild Blueberries – Sweetened
Regular Price $14, Sale Price $10.50
• Cranberries – Sweetened
Regular Price $5.00, Sale Price $3.75

Tart cherries covered in dark chocolate make an excellent holiday gift.

Know someone who deserves a great gift or special thank you? Treat them to a one-pound bag of our chocolate-covered dried cherries! Choose from Dark Chocolate Covered Cherries or Milk Chocolate Covered Cherries. Both make excellent holiday gifts!

• Dark Chocolate Tart Cherries
Regular Price $9.00, Sale Price $6.75
• Milk Chocolate Tart Cherries
Regular Price $9.00, Sale Price $6.75

These are the lowest prices ever offered on our 1 lb. bags of dried fruit. Take advantage of this special pricing and fill your shopping list for:
• Holiday Hostess Gifts
• Thank-You’s
• Stocking Stuffers
• Cookies, Muffins, Desserts and Entrees
• Personal Indulgence – Don’t you deserve a treat?

Click here to shop online or call one of our customer service specialists at 877-591-3101 to order by phone.

FruitFast all-natural fruit supplement bars are a delicious, healthy snack any time of day.

A healthy lifestyle is all about choices – especially when it comes to eating. FruitFast All-Natural Fruit Supplement Bars make the healthy choice easy!

These delicious and nutritious fruit bars are perfect for a light snack prior to your workout or for a healthy after-school treat for the kids.

With the holidays approaching, we’ve found ourselves with a large stock of our Mixed Berry and Dark Chocolate Mixed Berry Bars, and for a limited time we’re offering special pricing just in time for healthy holiday shopping!

MixedBerry Fruit Supplement Bars are packed with premium-grade raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and other natural ingredients for a nutritious between meals treat.

MixedBerry Bar Ingredients: Apple Puree, Red Raspberry and Strawberry Concentrates, Red Raspberries, Black Raspberries, Blueberries and Strawberries, including skin and pulp.

View Our Certificate Of Analysis, MixedBerry

Chocolate lovers will revel in the robust taste of the MixedBerry Fruit Supplement Bar with Dark Chocolate. The same premium fruits found in our Mixed Berry Fruit Bar are combined with 8g of delicious dark chocolate. Each bar provides 2 servings of fruit and only 280 calories!

MixedBerry Bar with Dark Chocolate Ingredients: Apple Puree, Red Raspberry and Strawberry Concentrates, Red Raspberries, Black Raspberries, Blueberries and Strawberries, including skin and pulp, Dark Chocolate (Cocoa Mass, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Natural Vanilla).

View Our Certificate Of Analysis, MixedBerry w/Dark Chocolate

Purchase a case of 16 Mixed Berry or Mixed Berry with Dark Chocolate Fruit Bars and save 50%! That’s only 87 cents each! No coupon code is necessary. Pricing is already in place in the shopping cart. Can’t decide? Try a box of 8 regular and 8 Dark Chocolate!

Click here to shop online or contact one of our customer service specialists at 877-591-3101.

Either way, now is the time to order your favorite products from FruitFast. To celebrate another successful summer, we’re offering FREE shipping on all orders over $75* today through Saturday at midnight!

Order online or call us at 877-591-3101 to order by phone. Use coupon code FREESHIP75 when ordering to receive free shipping.

Reminder: Shipping is always FREE on our fruit softgels, regardless of quantity.

*Offer valid on orders of $75 or more. Expires Saturday, August 20, 2011 at 11:59 p.m.

Here are the 12 Semi-Finalists:

Entrées:

Roxanne Chan
Jill Drury
Naylet La Rochelle
Mary Shivers
Amie Valpone
Kristel Wiesner

Desserts:

Danielle D’Ambrosio
Margee Berry
Joni Hilton
Sunya Hobson
Alida Nattress
Mary Shivers

Debbie Colaianni and her panel of judges reviewed all kinds of dishes and desserts, narrowing the field for the final round entries.  From here, Debbie and her team will actually be making these dishes – precisely following the recipes – and then a second panel of judges will score and taste the entries and ultimately select the winners!

We want to thank all of the entrants who took the time and made the effort to submit an original culinary delight using FruitFast products in either the Entrée or Dessert categories, or both. There was an abundance of FruitFast ingredients used from cherry juice, Mixed Berry, Pomegranate, CherryFlex Liquids, and plenty of our premium dried fruits.  We are pleased to report that in the short one-month timeframe we had far more entries than we ever expected from no fewer that 23 different states. And from both men and women, too.

Best of all, when this process is complete, FruitFast will have lots of wonderful recipes to share with all our customers and friends – so we all end up being winners.

Stayed tuned to find out who the talented culinary stand-outs are as we will be announcing them on April 30 – right here on our blog and on Facebook.

Steve Syrokosz

“We have been carrying Brownwood Acres products for as long as I have been here and that’s over 8 years now,” said store manager, Steve Syrokosz.  “The tart cherry juice concentrate is always on our best-seller list for the store.  We have lots of farmers who come in and will buy 3 or 4 pints of the tart cherry juice concentrate and take two doses a day.  They like the more natural aspect of staying healthy – that’s why they buy it.”

Customer feedback is important to store employees, so they ask why they keep coming back for FruitFast products.  Maintaining healthy joints is the major reason, according to Steve, and their overall well-being.  The Health Food Mart also carries CherryFlex, Great Lakes Cranberry and Pomegranate softgels, along with FruitFast Blueberry juice concentrate.

When a segment on the Dr. Oz national television show aired recently touting the health benefits of tart cherry juice, they were sold-out in a day.

And once again, Steve called Brownwood Acres/ FruitFast to place another order.

Thanks to the Health Food Mart for promoting healthy living!

The new U.S. dietary guidelines are designed to be very clear and direct:  they spell out SoFAS, which translated means we should avoid extra calories from ‘Solid Fats and Added Sugars.’

“We want to move away from our overreliance in the past on sugar and sodium and saturated fat,” USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said.  The new dietary guidelines come at a time of growing concern over the obesity epidemic in this country and the health issues it brings.

Along with advising more exercise for all ages, the USDA is pushing an increased intake of fruits and vegetables.  No surprises there, but changing people’s habits and likes will not be easy.  As an example, pizza is a major source of the food types Americans should avoid.  Also on the cautionary list are processed foods, which are typically high in sodium.

Here’s an overview of the new guidelines:

* Eat more seafood — at least 8 ounces a week
* Eat more fruits and vegetables
* Substitute healthy oils for solid fats
* Lower your sodium intake
* Avoid fast foods
* Exercise more
* Read food labels
* Substitute whole grains for refined grains
* Eat more beans and peas
* Get plenty of fiber, potassium, and vitamin D
* Eat/drink more nonfat or low-fat dairy products
* Replace high-fat meats with lean meats
* For some Americans, drink less alcohol
* Get off your SoFAS

So on that note, I remind you that Brownwood Acres/ FruitFast products are on target with the new guidelines – promoting healthy living with quality fruit that’s natural and convenient.  Check out our specials today!

Fitness and medical experts say resist that temptation and do the opposite.
According to WebMD, an online health site, it’s crucial to move and use your muscles and joints to keep them healthy, strong and flexible.

“Exercise might seem counterintuitive, but inactivity further decreases joint motion and flexibility and can lead to weak muscles and joints,” says Brunilda Nazario, MD. “Regular exercise helps reverse joint stiffness, builds muscle, and boosts overall fitness.”
Dr. Nazario advises choosing low-impact aerobics such as swimming, walking, and cardio machines like the elliptical trainer. Start by exercising a few minutes a day, adding more time as you can. Eventually you should build up to 30 to 60 minutes most days of the week.

Include resistance exercises two to three times a week to improve muscle strength and mobility and decrease joint pain. Stronger muscles decrease pain by better supporting the joints. Use elastic bands, free weights, or machines for resistance.

Regular stretching is important to increase flexibility and joint motion. Hold stretches for 30 seconds each without bouncing.

Here at FruitFast, we agree and would suggest also getting plenty of rest, eat balanced meals and increase your intake of premium fruits to stay at the top of your game.  And that’s where we can help with our line of quality fruit products.

Questions? Give us a call toll free at 1-877-591-3101 or send me an email at steve@fruitfast.com.

What’s not to like about FruitFast’s Number One selling product?

CherryFlex Softgels are now out-selling our Tart Cherry Juice Concentrate two to one.  Twice as many of our customers have found the product to be effective, convenient and an affordable alternative.

No more messy mixing of the concentrate.  CherryFlex softgel capsules do not require refrigeration and make perfect travel companions.

Satisfied CherryFlex customers are our best barometer:

“I have always known that cherry juice was good for you.  I had been drinking cherry juice but not on a regular basis when I found CherryFlex.  CherryFlex is a regular part of my daily routine.  I will not go without it,” says Cindy in Lake Odessa, Michigan.

And from Michael in Norfolk, Virginia who says, “I did some research and found out about the effects of tart cherries. I started taking tart cherry juice about 18 months ago.  I am now taking CherryFlex capsules once day and they are working just as well as the juice for me.”

If you are currently using tart cherry juice concentrate, it’s time to give CherryFlex a try.  And now is the perfect time!

During National Cherry Month, CherryFlex Softgels are specially-priced at just $17.75 a bottle – a savings of 11% during the month of February.  Plus shipping is FREE.

Details about our CherryFlex Softgel Capsules:

•   60 capsules per bottle (1 month supply)
•   Over 500,000 bottles sold
•   Made From Grade A Whole Montmorency Tart Cherries
•   800mg Per Capsule
•   Supports Healthy Joint Function*
•   Supports Healthy Cardiovascular Function*
•   Supports a Healthy Immune System*
•   Natural Melatonin – Helps Maintain a Normal Sleep Cycle*
•   100 mg Anthocyanins Per Capsule
•   20 mg Flavones Per Capsules
•   CherryFlex Softgels May be Swallowed or Chewed
•   100% Natural, Product of Northern Michigan, USA

* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.