Charity Kowalczyk and her mother Marie Erskine work well together, filling in each other’s gaps.
“She’s the smart one,” Erskine said, pointing a thumb at her daughter.
“And she’s the one that got me addicted to chocolate,” Kowalczyk said as the two broke down in laughter.
Together, the two women are working as distributors of Xocai Healthy Chocolates, a home-based business centered on chocolates made without sugar, milk and using a patented cold-press process that allows the chocolate to retain a higher percentage of antioxidants than regular milk chocolates.
“Through heat processes you lose 75 percent of antioxidants in natural chocolate,” Kowalczyk said.
“So the healthy part of the chocolate remains,” finishes Erskine.
Kowalczyk, who worked in the wine business before leaving her travel-heavy job to stay home and raise her young son, said the phrase “healthy chocolate” got her attention and all it took for her was a taste to get on board.
“When I tasted it, I went home and did a bunch of research and I was hooked,” she said.
Kowalczyk said she has always been a big fan of chocolate and absolutely enjoys the product, but she also recognized the marketing possibilities of a chocolate that actually packs a healthy punch as well as satisfying a sweet tooth.
According to Kowalczyk, the Xocai chocolates she sells pack the same amount of antioxidants in one piece as in a 1/2 pound of spinach. She also said the chocolates are also loaded with probiotics and omega fatty acids, though not from fish, which makes them good for vegetarians and vegans.
Kowalczyk, who lives in Covington, said the company recommends three pieces a day, though both she and Erskine of Kent admit that may not always be enough.
“I can eat a whole lot more than three a day,” Erskine said with a laugh.
And after eating the Healthy Chocolates, Kowalczyksaid her sugar cravings – which she said she’s always had – disappeared because now processed candies are too sweet and have a waxy feel to her.
“M&M’s don’t taste quite the same,” she said.
But while taste is subjective, Kowalczyk said she is focused on the business side as well, which she sees as tilting in her favor.
“A billion people ate chocolate yesterday. Out of those billion, 50 percent craved it,” she said. “I look at that as a pretty good market.
“And I was one of those people, so I understand,” she said.
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