Another interesting e-mail exchange

Well, I decided that I hadn't done enough Munros this year, what with all my Challenge opt-outs and everything, and that I REALLY wanted to get back to Scotland one more time before the winter weather set in. So I picked a weekend in mid-October, planned a route, and booked my rail tickets. And then THIS e-mail dropped into my in box:



From: Valerie.vlasenko@gmail.com

Hi JB

I'm part of a team developing and selling Ambronite, a drinkable supermeal that helps people to make the most out of their travel. Ambronite is the ultimate hack as it fuels your body with the most powerful whole food ingredients and takes on 2 minutes to prepare. By far it's the best travel food out there - it's light, easy and nutritious. I’m reaching out to you, since Two Routes Across Scotland seems to share a similar audience and the same values with Ambronite, and I see partnership potential here.

5 quick facts about Ambronite:

•It is real, nutritious whole food that satisfies hunger for 4-5 hours.
•Ambronite contains 100% of all daily nutrients, fulfils US and EU nutritional guidelines for all nutrients: healthy fats, carbs, protein, and all 24 vitamins and minerals + fiber
•The product is Vegan, Soy-Free, Dairy-Free, Non-GMO, Additive-Free, Complete Protein Source. See our ingredients here: http://ambronite.com/pages/ingredients
•Used by competitors in world series like Volvo Ocean Race, Adventure Racing World Series and Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc. Also recommended by outdoor & world travellers: http://bit.ly/1G2HOOy
•We became most crowd-funded food product ever on Indiegogo http://bit.ly/1iP1Mj6


Let me know if you'd be interested to try it out, and I'll send you our sample to test.

Valerie / Ambronite

www.ambronite.com/



Notice how different Valerie's e-mail was from the previous e-mail I had had from Craig Hall at Mediaworks, asking me to puff a product or products on my blog: Craig was offering me nothing in return; whereas Valerie was offering a trial sample to test. And you know what? The offer really sounded worth exploring. The only thing was, that list of qualities did not say whether or not it is gluten-free; and if it is not, then it should be of no use to me. So I replied as follows:



I would certainly be interested in trying out a sample - especially if it can be here by Friday as I shall be going on a solo expedition to the Scottish mountains this weekend.

I am gluten-intolerant, though, and you don't say whether it is gluten-free or not.



Valerie Replied as follows:



Jeremy,

none of the ingredients naturally contain gluten. However the organic oats we use in Ambronite are not currently controlled for gluten cross-contamination and thus there might be trace amounts of gluten containing grains in the product. I apologize for any inconvenience regarding mis-communication of this fact. About 40% of Ambronite consists of oats and we tested the amount of gluten to be 40ppm. Is this ok?

Let me know

- Valerie



This sounded OK to me. I am not coeliac, and a little trace of gluten will not kill me. So I e-mailed and said yes, that would be fine; and I gave her a shipping address. Unfortunately, however, the sample did not arrive in time for me to take it with me to Scotland; but it DID arrive shortly after I got back, so I will tell you all a bit about it after I have written up my final foray North of the border in 2015.