Photo by Elizabeth Morey
One of the healthy food blogging world’s newest obsession is raw coconut butter. Similar in theory to peanut butter, only made of coconut meat instead of crushed peanuts, this spread was touted by foodies far and wide as to die for. I wanted to try some for myself, but one thing stood between me and my very own jar of raw coconut butter -- money.
Much to my surprise, products like raw coconut butter are available in Missoula at the Good Food Store on Third Street. Usually Missoula’s grocery stores are the last in the nation to catch up on food fads and trends, but not so with the coconut butter. I spied some and stood for many long minutes with the jar in my hand, deciding if it would come home with me or not. It did not, because as much as I longed to try some raw coconut butter for myself, I could not rationalize paying close to ten dollars for a product I was not sure if I would even like. So the coconut butter stayed at the Good Food Store.
Third Street’s Good Food Store is not Missoula’s only supplier for wonderful products like raw coconut butter, however. Even if Montana’s grocery stores are slow to pick up on the latest fabulous foods, Missoulians can still turned to online shops. Love Street Living Foods is just such a shop, boasting amazing organic and healthy products as well as the best online customer service I have ever experienced.
As a healthy food blogger, I of course discovered Love Street through the blogosphere. I had read that Love Street was offering free samples of many of its spreads, fruit, nuts, and other products with every order -- including raw coconut butter. Free raw coconut butter? I was in. I ordered two small signature Love Street items (Madagascan vanilla powder and roasted maca powder) which I had already been wanting and which were competitively priced at Love Street, even including shipping costs. Factor in free coconut butter and I was sold. At the time Love Street was offering three free samples, so I of course asked for coconut butter in addition to some raw cashew butter and a coconut chocolate spread.
My package of treasures did not take long in coming. One afternoon I arrived home from work to find it sitting quite humbly upon my doorstep. I quickly gathered it up and, removing to the kitchen, tore through the cardboard. I was greeted by the sight of little miniature jars of delicious Love Street products nestled inside -- and a note. The handwritten note said, “We ran out of butter, giving you oil instead.”
No butter? No free raw coconut butter? My heart sank in disappointment, but even as it did so my eyes stayed on the note. Through a mild fog of sadness my brain registered that the words I had just read were actually crossed out, and that the message continued. The rest of the note declared, “Found one!”
Thoroughly confused, I began to unload my package. In doing so I was treated to a wonderful surprise -- not only did I receive coconut butter, but they sent me a sample of coconut oil as well! So I walked away from my first Love Street Living Foods experience with two high-quality purchased products as well as four free samples of equal quality and the knowledge that my order had been handled by a real person who, according to all the evidence, cared about his or her customer. Based on this amazing customer service alone, I can do nothing but wholly endorse Love Street Living Foods.
Happily, the Love Street products were just as much of a delight as the company’s attention to its customers. The items I purchased paid off, and the samples were wonderful. As for the coconut butter, it really is just as wonderful as I had heard.