Birthday gift baskets and hampers are one of our top sellers, and sales have increased dramatically since the launch of our create your own gift basket website last month. We are still in the process of adding product lines to the site - because we have so many - and also because our purchasing team keep attending speciality food fairs and discovering more - and I quote “awesome products that we just have to introduce.”

For example we only added our new range of iced birthday cakes at the weekend, and so many customers choose one as part of their personalised gift basket we’ve already trebled our weekly standing order with the bakery that supplies them.

Cheese and fresh meats are also proving to be a very popular choice for birthdays, especially the cheese selection gift box, for reasons most aptly put by one customer’s birthday gift card message - “why eat cake when you can eat cheese ?” Smoked salmon and cured hams are also flying off the shelves - perhaps it’s the time of year with summer nearby, as in her gift card message one customer from Australia told her Father that she would be picturing him enjoying the smoked salmon sitting in the back garden in the sunshine.

It’s always very interesting for us to see what food items our customers individually select to send to their loved ones to celebrate their big day, and there is no doubt that a lot of thought and time goes into each gift basket. We’ve found that it is mostly close family members that build their own hamper, as they obviously know the recipient’s food preferences very well.

For those customers wishing to send a birthday gift to a work colleague or friend that they perhaps don’t know quite as well, we have a massive range of ready-made hampers that have been carefully designed around a central theme or focus such as chocolate, organic food, radio controlled helicopters etc…

Of course we’ll also be watching closely, and getting content tips from those of you that create your own gift baskets!