A very good question, especially as the word gourmet seems to be have lost its true meaning over the past few years within the food and gift industry. It seems to be used more and more frequently online (and dare I say it by food hamper companies as well) to describe foods that aren't worthy of such an adjective, and can easily be picked up in your local supermarket. The use of the words ‘Gourmet’ and ‘Organic’ are taken very seriously here at Baskets Galore, with no food products or gifts given the title unless they truly deserve it! This commitment to providing the customer with the best representation of a
Gift Basket possible is reflected through our locally sourced suppliers, many of whom have been awarded Great Taste Awards for their products. To receive one of these awards would swell any manufacturer with pride and joy that their product is held in such high regard, and we endeavour to pass these emotions on to the end recipient of each and every
Gift Basket or
Hamper from Baskets Galore!We have Gift Hampers even dedicated to the Great Taste Award winning food products! An example of the
Great Taste Awards Platinum Hamper;
When we formed Baskets Galore back in 2001, we decided somewhat naively that we were going to revolutionise the hamper industry by offering a gift basket alternative to the traditional boring food hamper, filled with long-life ambient goods such as tinned soup and boiled ham. Instead, we were going to offer imaginative and unusual Gift Baskets filled with an assortment of out of the ordinary food and combine them with complimentary gifts. Each basket we designed had a theme, with a central focal point and the contents were all interlinked. In essence every basket would tell a story.For example one such creation was named "Home Sweet Home" and it's contents included luxury Champagne, Irish Cream Truffles, a framed depiction of a British Landscape and other homely gifts such as a hand-painted light bulb and a pack of ‘change of address cards! This example of a Gift Basket may be a very different variation to what we currently produce and sell; however at the time we took a lot of pride in our alternative Gift Baskets that simply were not offered by other Hamper companies.We weren't naïve enough to think we could go up against the long established companies without having a Unique Selling Point, but without having to even try it came very naturally. We conducted some market research, visited local food markets and speciality food fayres nationwide. Through this process, one thing became blatantly apparent; the enormous wealth of small artisan producers throughout the UK and Ireland that were producing amazing, high quality foodstuffs, but finding it difficult to bring themselves to market.Ok, so we don't have any preconceptions about who we are. Obviously we aren't pretending that we come anywhere close to the Fortnum and Masons or Harrods of the world. But interestingly enough, quite a few of the manufacturers we use also supply to Fortnum’s for their own label goods. The difference is we don't rebrand the products, and although it's a bit cheeky to say it, we also don't add on their price tags. So I guess we can safely say that we offer the same quality as a Fortnum’s hamper without their price tags.An example of a Gourmet Food Hamper from Baskets Galore, The
Christmas Traditional Banquet;
The world is full of long life preservative ridden shortbread, mass-market synthetic jams, powdery tea, cardboard flavoured crackers and cheap chocolate. Any of these items can be picked up for a pound or two in your local supermarket. So why would you insult someone by sending them cheap products dressed up to look pretty? It doesn't make them taste any better!With this in mind, on the run up to the Festive Christmas season, we made it our mission to create a selection of great Gourmet Gift Hampers which showcased the real taste of Christmas through locally sourced food products. These food Hampers are brimming with only the finest organic and gourmet foods we have to offer, and are definitely classed as the jewel in our crown this Christmas Season.We don't profess to offer the best wines in the world; rather we concentrate on popular wines that everyone recognises as being perfectly drinkable and inoffensive. Wine, much like a watch, is a personal choice that can easily be chosen by the recipient themselves in their local wine shop or by having it delivered. Instead we prefer to concentrate on sending regional great taste award winning foodstuffs that aren't readily available unless you travel to Tipp to see it being smoked. After all what is someone going to remember more, a glass of wine or the most exquisite mint ganache they have ever tasted?
