Flavor(s) of the Week(s) June 19-(undefined): 15% off sale on all Keto Chow 1.9*
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Flavor(s) of the Week(s) June 19-(undefined): 15% off sale on all Keto Chow 1.9*

Keto Chow

Flavor(s) of the Week(s) June 19-(undefined): 15% off sale on all Keto Chow 1.9*

The original reasoning for doing the “Flavor of the Week” sales was to move along flavors we had too many of. It’s done a good job of that =). Usually, the process for deciding what flavor to put on sale each week involves looking at the shelves and saying “Yep, we have too much Snickerdoodle, do that one!”. Right now we’re getting down to the last few flavors of version 1.9 so we’re just going to put the entire v1.9 product line on sale – until further notice, it’s all 15% off, the sale will end when we run out =). We have a handful of Strawberry “Day” packs, a few “Samples” in various flavors; and Chocolate Fudge, Snickerdoodle, and Strawberry in the “Week” package.

I was asked if we’re going to be having a sale on v2.0 anytime soon. We’re actually a bit worried we’re going to run out of the v2.0 stuff (I’m looking at you: Salted Caramel!) before the next batch of 2.0 is made. That’s why I’m not running any advertising, or coupons or any promotion until we (1) get the freaking samples going, grrrr…. (2) have a massive inventory such that we are able to handle a spike in orders without running out of existing customer’s favorite flavors.

By Chris|2017-06-24T22:25:16-06:00June 19th, 2017|Categories: Keto Chow|Tags: Keto Chow, flavors, ketochow2.0, Flavor of the Week|2 Comments

Sample all the Things! v2.0 finally available
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Sample all the Things! v2.0 finally available

Keto Chow

Sample all the Things! v2.0 finally available

This entry is part 95 of 131 in the series Ketogenic Diet

We’ve had a lot of ~~fun~~ with Keto Chow 2.0 Samples. The short version of it is: the machine that was supposed to be making the samples isn’t working right and we’re having to manually package the samples until that gets resolved. You can read more about the issues on this previous post.

Last week we made the determination that we needed to do something to get a workable solution in place, especially since the supply of v1.9 samples is almost entirely gone – along with the old sample bundle. So I contacted the manufacturing facility and arranged to get part of the bulk powder that’s been waiting to be made into samples. For now, we’re going with simple zipper snack bags and a printed label – it’s kinda ghetto and costs significantly more to produce compared to the cooler packaging that they’re supposed to be in… but it’s a viable solution FOR NOW. I used the real barcodes on the ghetto labels so you will be able to scan them into Cron-o-Meter and other tracking apps, which is cool. It should be noted that we won’t be offering individual samples of the different flavors outside of the bundle yet, if you want to try Keto Chow 2.0 you’ll have to get all of them in the bundle. The only exception to this is Chocolate 2.0 – the manufacturer had a couple hundred samples so we have those for sale on the samples page.

Anyhow, the Sample Bundle for 2.0 is available – and we have a preponderance of black Blender Bottles so we’re back to packaging the sample bundle with a Keto Chow branded Blender Bottle. It’s everything you need to get started with Keto Chow! Fun fact: the vanilla sample is included in the bundle – we’re still a few weeks out on getting the fixed Vanilla 2.0 in large bags, so this bundle is currently the only way to get vanilla Keto Chow 2.0!

Artwork adapted from Hyperbole and a Half (her FAQ says I can use it so long as I have “Proper credit includes a prominent, easily visible link to the source of the material you want to use” – DONE! =)

By Chris|2017-06-16T09:42:29-06:00June 16th, 2017|Categories: Keto Chow|Tags: Keto Chow, ketochow2.0, Blender Bottle, preparation|0 Comments

Keto Chow 2.0 Samples and “Day” packages, where are they?
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Keto Chow 2.0 Samples and “Day” packages, where are they?

Keto Chow

Keto Chow 2.0 Samples and “Day” packages, where are they?

TL;DR: there will be no “Day” packs of Keto Chow 2.0 – just get three samples; except that we don’t yet have the samples yet, because: reasons.

With Keto Chow 2.0 being manufactured in a commercial facility there were some changes to the product line that needed to be made. One of the decisions we had to make was about the 3 meal “day” packs. Having 3 sizes per flavor is… well… 50% more than having 2 (I can Math!) and having more products adds complexity and diminishes economies of scale. So instead of having Day packs, the plan was that we would price the individual meal (samples) low enough that you could buy 3 for close to the cost of the “day” package. By doing this we could aggregate the quantities for the samples and days together and the aforementioned economies of scale would kick in – if it costs 1x each to make 2000, then it costs around 0.6x to make 56,000. That sort of thing.

So with that plan in mind, we ordered the packaging material to make really a lot of samples. We were supposed to be getting samples of each flavor as each flavor became available and all would be well. Except that didn’t happen (as you may have noticed – we don’t have any samples of Keto Chow 2.0 right now).

The machine that forms the packaging is having problems with the printed plastic film – specifically the flat sheet is formed around a metal horn and then sealed into a long tube, and as the film goes past the metal former it’s dragging on the metal and breaking. Right now we have a few dozen samples but nothing like what we need. Here’s a video that shows how stick packaging is supposed to work:

Cool right? Except when it doesn’t work =( So the plan now is to reprint the packaging on a different film, we’re supposed to be getting the packager and printer together to determine what media to use so we can get things rolling as soon as possible, hopefully we can have some progress this week and maybe get something in by mid June. The saddest part is the $7800.40 worth of printed film that’s useless – maybe I can use it as 6 inch wide wrapping paper for the next 200-300 years.

By Chris|2017-05-30T08:02:00-06:00May 30th, 2017|Categories: Keto Chow|Tags: portability, Keto Chow, ketochow2.0, samples|2 Comments

Now Available: Keto Chow 2.0 Banana, Chocolate Peanut Butter, and Mocha
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Now Available: Keto Chow 2.0 Banana, Chocolate Peanut Butter, and Mocha

Keto Chow, Future Foods, Ketogenic Diet

Now Available: Keto Chow 2.0 Banana, Chocolate Peanut Butter, and Mocha

Got a surprise today: when I called the facility we’re using to manufacture Keto Chow 2.0 to ask if there was any progress on the samples (there isn’t, we’re still trying to figure out what to do but likely we’re going to have to print new packaging on different media) they told me that the rest of the flavors were ready. I assumed they meant they had Banana ready but no: they had Chocolate Peanut Butter, Banana, and Mocha ready for us. I was home sick in bed trying to sleep, so naturally we drove down (twice) to pick up the finished stuff. I’ll have correct inventory amounts in tomorrow but for now you can go ahead and place your orders! As of now, we have all the flavors of 2.0 except vanilla.

By Chris|2017-05-25T15:51:29-06:00May 25th, 2017|Categories: Keto Chow, Future Foods, Ketogenic Diet|Tags: Keto Chow, flavors, ketochow2.0|5 Comments

Strawberry Keto Chow 2.0 now available
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Strawberry Keto Chow 2.0 now available

Future Foods, Ketogenic Diet, Keto Chow

Strawberry Keto Chow 2.0 now available

This entry is part 94 of 131 in the series Ketogenic Diet

#strawberryselfie

We have strawberry flavored Keto Chow 2.0 available now. The 1.9 Strawberry had a pretty muted flavor that, frankly, I wasn’t really a big fan of – it needed more strawberry! With 2.0, the Strawberry actually tastes like strawberry.

By Chris|2017-05-23T18:51:44-06:00May 23rd, 2017|Categories: Future Foods, Ketogenic Diet, Keto Chow|Tags: Keto Chow, flavors, ketochow2.0|2 Comments

New Video on Preparing Keto Chow 2.0
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New Video on Preparing Keto Chow 2.0

Preparation, Keto Chow

New Video on Preparing Keto Chow 2.0

This entry is part 93 of 131 in the series Ketogenic Diet

Now that Keto Chow 2.0 is available, I figured it was a good time to do a new video on how to prepare Keto Chow, specifically 2.0 now that there’s a scoop included. I also wanted to show off the cool shirt my wife bought me and the awesome scar on my left bicep I got when I attacked myself with a quadcopter a while ago =)

Now, the production quality isn’t the best and the circumstances were actually pretty bad. I did have a really nice microphone (that was hooked up to my cell phone, strangely enough) this time so the sound quality is considerably better, but I ran into a bunch of issues:

My house is undergoing some pretty serious remodeling, now that we stopped making 1.9, so I couldn’t do the video in my house where I have supplies on-hand. Instead, I had to take everything to our warehouse and shoot the video there. I used the backdrop we bought for KetoCon but the field of view was too wide so I rolled over a pallet of blender bottles to hide some of the background.
I screwed up doing the blender and ice – only had a little ice left when I did the second take.
Then the large warehouse door was opened in the middle of take 2. I didn’t have any more ice so I had to just roll with it.
I flubbed what I was saying a few times but couldn’t re-shoot it – whatever! =)

In case you were curious here is the stick blender I was using. It’s really expensive but works exceptionally well. For comparison, here’s one of my earlier videos back before I started doing Keto, I’m less of a man now =)

By Chris|2017-05-23T15:41:38-06:00May 23rd, 2017|Categories: Preparation, Keto Chow|Tags: ketochow2.0, Blender Bottle, portability, preparation, video, Keto Chow|0 Comments

Salted Caramel Keto Chow 2.0 now available
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Salted Caramel Keto Chow 2.0 now available

Keto Chow

Salted Caramel Keto Chow 2.0 now available

This entry is part 92 of 131 in the series Ketogenic Diet

OK, it’s the day you’ve all been waiting for – we now have Salted Caramel Keto Chow 2.0 in stock and ready for shipping (though still only in the week size – no samples yet). I didn’t want to put it up on the site until I tested the viscosity and it checks out =). With the arrival last night of Cookies & Cream, that brings the number of flavors we have of 2.0 up to three:

Chocolate
Cookies & Cream
Salted Caramel

We did get a lot of Cookies & Cream and Salted Caramel but I didn’t anticipate how much demand there would be for Salted Caramel, being a new flavor without historical precedent – at least for Keto Chow. I have a new order for more already in the works, but I fully expect we will run out of Salted Caramel before we get the new order, so you’ve been warned =)

Keto Chow Hydro Flasks Available

We also just got (yesterday) 20 oz. Hydro Flask insulated containers with the Keto Chow logo laser etched on one side. They’re available in 6 colors. If you’ve been reading my blog very long you’ll probably know that I’ve been advocating Hydro Flask insulated containers for years and now they’re available with a super cool Keto Chow logo laser etched on one side. Perfect for when you’re:

Staying Keto at a conference.
Running around a weird city (sorry San Francisco, you know it’s true =).
Stuck in a class all day and you know the lunch options are going to completely suck.
Driving around.
Hiking
Running around Disneyland (though those smoked turkey legs are pretty awesome).

You need to either pre-refrigerate your Keto Chow for several hours or add in some ice cubes – in my experience, the Hydro Flasks will keep Keto Chow cold for at least 18 hours but the liquid needs to already be cold! The double wall vacuum insulation keeps hot drinks hot up to 6 hours and iced drinks cold up to 24 hours. 18/8 stainless steel won’t transfer flavors or odors to your next drink. This means your favorite beverage is always pure and refreshing.

The flip top lid should keep your gear nice and clean but please do make sure that you close the lid before you put it in your backpack.

I also took some new photos for the Blender Bottles, Fish Pills, and Base Powder while I was… photo-ing.

By Chris|2019-05-23T08:22:34-06:00May 19th, 2017|Categories: Keto Chow|Tags: flavors, ketochow2.0, Blender Bottle, Hydro Flask, Keto Chow|0 Comments

Keto Chow 2.0 Cookies and Cream now available
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Keto Chow 2.0 Cookies and Cream now available

Keto Chow

Keto Chow 2.0 Cookies and Cream now available

This entry is part 91 of 131 in the series Ketogenic Diet

Just wanted to put a quick note that the Cookies & Cream Keto Chow 2.0 is now available for ordering. Got it a few hours ago but I wanted to test it and make sure the viscosity was right before putting it up for sale.

By Chris|2017-05-18T21:11:55-06:00May 18th, 2017|Categories: Keto Chow|Tags: Keto Chow, flavors, ketochow2.0|0 Comments

Update on remaining flavors for Keto Chow 2.0
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Update on remaining flavors for Keto Chow 2.0

Keto Chow

Update on remaining flavors for Keto Chow 2.0

This entry is part 90 of 131 in the series Ketogenic Diet

OK, just talked to the place I’m using to manufacture Keto Chow 2.0 – turns out we’ve caused some logistical problems for them with the amount of stuff we’re ordering, I guess that’s a good thing in certain respects, makes me wonder how we managed to do it all manually for that long =) Anyhow, the owner of the facility went on a trip last week to look at buying a new pouch filling machine that can do 40-60 bags a minute. The problem was that while he was out, no new progress was made on the rest of the flavors – you may have noticed we didn’t get Cookies & Cream or Salted Caramel last week. They’re going to be packaging both of those flavors in the next few days with the other flavors following soon after, I’m supposed to be getting more concrete info by Wednesday and I’m anticipating we’ll get some of the product by Friday. Worst case scenario I’ll drive down on Friday and pick some up.

Along with the new bagging machine, they’re also adding additional “clean” rooms for doing the mixing and bagging – they’ve been using the same area to mix and to bag which has slowed things down considerably. Having different areas set up will be better and we should be able to get the product more quickly. No news on samples though – hopefully I’ll get an update on those soon.

By Chris|2017-05-15T10:04:30-06:00May 15th, 2017|Categories: Keto Chow|Tags: flavors, ketochow2.0, Keto Chow|0 Comments

The end of an era and anniversaries – all the 1.9 is mixed

This entry is part 89 of 131 in the series Ketogenic Diet

I’ve been mixing Keto Chow (and People Chow before that) since January 2015. Yesterday, 29 months later, we mixed up the final batch of Keto Chow 1.9. All the Dymatize protein is used up and the front room and “dining room” of my house are no longer storage rooms for supplies and equipment. I’m not going to lie: I was pretty gleeful going around with a vacuum cleaning up all the powder that has defined a large part of our lives for the last 2 1/2 (almost) years. It tends to settle on every surface in the house, even upstairs. I even took the computer our and blew it out with the air compressor (I think there was 50g in there!). The ironic thing is we’ve been waiting for the end of mixing to start a remodel on part of the house, specifically the aforementioned front room and dining room. Drywall work starts Monday. Guess everything will be dusty again! =)

Early next week we should start getting the remaining flavors of 2.0. They’re all mixed (and I’ve tested them to make sure we won’t repeat the problem with Vanilla) And hopefully, we’ll get the samples soon after that.

Fun story: 17 years ago I married my amazing wife. I proposed 2 1/2 weeks after we met because I waited a week, concerns about the ring and all – turns out you can propose without a ring and let her pick one later (crazy, right?). The night before we got married, my wife’s bridesmaids did a sleep-over at the apartment we were going to be living in (I was still living in my parent’s basement) and the morning of our wedding, May 6 2000, they were frantically getting ready. In the midst of all the commotion, the bacon that was cooking for their breakfast was forgotten and started to burn. There was a lot of smoke. When I saw my soon-to-be wife and embraced her for the first time on our wedding day, I said the 4 words that have come to symbolize so much in our relationship:

“You smell like bacon…”

I’ll never live that down =) Makes for a great story though, the kids think it’s funny and so does she – she just likes to rib me a bit, especially when I cook bacon and it smells like our wedding day all over again. Holy cow we looked like little kids! I do weigh less now than I did back then though =)

By Chris|2017-05-06T07:09:57-06:00May 6th, 2017|Categories: Keto Chow|Tags: experience, ketogenic, Keto Chow, ketochow2.0, bacon|0 Comments