FAQ

A: Dancing Star LLC is the name of the company (and also the farm that we live on). Chunks of Energy is the name of the product. Since we only have one product, we sometimes refer to the company as Chunks of Energy, since that is why people know us. 

A:

You need chaos in the soul to give birth to a dancing star.

-Nietzsche (in ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’)

A: The name emerged around the dinner table, in the early 90′s, during a family brainstorming session. Leah, 8 at the time, shouted out ‘Chunks of Energy!’ because it seemed to her to represent–simply–what her dad had created. It still does.

A: In twenty years, we haven’t raised our prices, because we focus on product development and ingredient sourcing, and let Chunks of Energy speak for themselves. Because of this model, we have come to appreciate our customers even more, and their recommendation of the product to friends and neighbors (in your town, or the bulk aisle).

A: Yes. We decided to simplify the names by referring to their most prominent ingredients. We hope this will help you understand what they will taste like! The products haven’t changed–just the names. These are the old names, and links to the new names:

• Original
• High Country G.O.R.P. is now Peanut Butter Chocolate
• Organic
• Chocolate Paradise is now Chocolate Chocolate
• Carob Joy is now Carob Banana
• Lemon Pop is now Lemon Pomegranate
• Cha Cha Chia is now Chia with Maca

A: Why yes, we do have a complete product list, which you can request to have emailed to you. It is one way that we try to make information about Chunks of Energy more available, since we don’t have a package to print it on. We are glad not to use packaging. Feel free to make suggestions about how we can share product information more easily.

A: We work with Quality Certification Services to ensure that our organic products meet the standards of the USDA National Organic Program.

A: Yes! For those who are HIGHLY allergic/sensitive/intolerant, we have a Certified Gluten-Free products, which are certified by the Gluten Free Certification Organization. The GFCO seal means that the product contains less than 10ppm gluten (5ppm gliadin). This is stricter than federal standards of Gluten-Free, and is the strictest certification available, as no testing method exists that measures to zero.For those who can handle the potential of trace amounts, you’ll see that none of our Chunks of Energy contain gluten as an ingredient.

A: The flavors labeled with the “R” icon contain ingredients that are never heated above 110 degrees F. In other Chunks of Energy, about 80% of the ingredients are not heated about 110 degrees F. None of the nuts or seeds we use are cooked.

A: We can’t give away all of our secrets! Here is a note from our supplier of natural flavors:

None of the flavors that we sell to Chunks of Energy contain any major food allergens.

We do not use any MSG.  We specialize in the manufacture of what are typically called sweet and nut flavors (fruit, berry, nut, mint, alcoholic-beverage, coffee, herb, spice, vanilla, etc.), while MSG is usually used to enhance savory flavors (chicken, beef, pork, etc).

Regarding the question on organic-certified flavors, we make some organic-certified flavors, but not nearly as many as we do all-natural flavors.  The primary reason is that most of the flavor components we use are not available in organic-certified varieties.  For example, we use about 650 ingredients, but less than 50 are available organic-certified.  This means that for many products we and other flavor suppliers are often not able to get the same high quality flavor profile in an organic-certified product.  As a result, many manufacturers, such as Chunks of Energy, may choose to use an all-natural, organic-compliant flavor instead of an organic-certified flavor to provide their product with the best flavor profile available.  Better a great-tasting consumer product with 0.3-1.0% of an all-natural, organic-compliant flavor, than a fair- or bad-tasting consumer product with a less-than-optimum organic-certified flavor.

A: Chunks of Energy will be freshest and will last the longest if they are refrigerated in an airtight container. You can also freeze them so they will last longer. It is ok to store them at room temperature, but the quality might not be as high. (Please note that some people prefer them ‘aged.’) The raw flavors are most sensitive to heat and time, because they are date-based.

A: We recommend that you eat refrigerated Chunks of Energy within 2 months, and non-refrigerated Chunks of Energy within 2 or 3 weeks. The raw ones will start to get dry earlier than the non-raw ones, because they are date-based.

A: We have a dedicated policy page.

A: Orders are shipped out on Fridays and take about a week to arrive. If you need Chunks of Energy before a certain date, please contact us to get a better estimate, based on your location. By the way, www.nuts.com ships Energy Squares very quickly!

A: Our friends at Nuts Online will ship to APO/FPO addresses, Canada, Guam, Saint Croix, Saint John, Saint Thomas, Puerto Rico, Saipan and the Virgin Islands.

A: Gladly! We have a dedicated wholesale page.