For years I had been looking for high quality food items to sell here at First Serve Tennis. Up until now the only edible items we sold at FST was Sugarpova candy which is very popular but not exactly the healthiest thing to offer to tennis players or athletes in general. I had toyed with bringing in a line of energy/protein bars to sell, but I could never find something I was completely happy with.
Then it dawned on me that I wanted to offer something different and healthy to tennis players and athletes. Something that they could consume during or in between matches that would give them energy and help them maintain it without experiencing the dreaded “crash” that always occurs when the quick fix wears off.
So after spending months and months of searching I was about to give up until I had a meeting with Sam Henselijn. Sam was in the process of launching a new company here in the USA specializing in gourmet nuts and goodies. So I was quick to tell him of my frustration with what was out in the marketplace. I explained to him what I was specifically looking for and Sam immediately said to me “Rich I can help you with this.”
Sam went on to tell me all about his new company he was launching called “L’Orenta Gourmet Nuts and Goodies.” I was very interested as I was well aware of the numerous health benefits of certain nuts. This is when I decided I would create a line of the highest quality nuts that would be specifically tailored for my customers!
Sam quickly agreed to help me with this venture and we got to work immediately on two “First Serve Tennis exclusive mixes” that I would be able to offer.
The first two collaborations we came up with were the “First Serve Tennis Healthy Mix” and the “First Serve Tennis Energy Mix”
The First Serve Tennis Healthy Mix consists of raw almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, pecans, and macadamia nuts. This particular mixture was created with the tennis player and athlete in mind. The health benefits of the ingredients in this mixture are unbelievable and is the perfect snack in between matches or in between meals.
The First Serve Tennis Energy Mix consists of papaya, pineapple, dark raisins, blanched peanuts, banana chips, Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, dry roasted soybeans, chopped dates, coconut, cashews, and walnuts. This is by far the best combination ever created for tennis players to eat before and during match play to maintain their energy without crashing.
We knew because of the success of the Sugarpova candy, customers like to splurge and treat themselves to something that will satisfy their sweet tooth. So I decided to create two additional desert type offerings.
After sampling to customers, friends, and to my employees we decided to go with “White Chocolate Toffee Cashews” and our own exclusive “First Serve Tennis Sinful Mix”
The “White Chocolate Toffee Cashews” start off with a toffee coated cashew then drenched in white chocolate. We knew through the feedback from the sampling that we had a winner here! Everyone who sampled this was hooked and kept asking us when we would have this to sell in the store.
The “First Serve Tennis Sinful Mix” started off as a joke amongst myself and Sam and the crew at FST. We had been sampling covered almonds and out of nowhere I said “Sam let’s just use all three variations together and call it sinful.” After we all laughed we agreed it was the perfect strategy. Our exclusive “First Serve Tennis Sinful Mix” consists of white chocolate, dark chocolate, and milk chocolate covered almonds.
I am very proud to be able to offer these healthy and not so healthy snacks to my customers. I can assure you that the quality of these nuts are of the highest quality which is why I was willing to put the First Serve Tennis name on them.
If you are looking for a healthy snack or something to keep in your tennis bag to eat in between sets or matches I invite you to give our nut mixtures a try or if you have a sweet tooth that needs to be dealt with, I am certain our White Chocolate Toffee Cashews and our First Serve Tennis Sinful Mix will satisfy your craving.
-Rich