Posts filed under 'Gourmet Gift Foods'
In addition to the popular national holidays that we traditionally celebrate, there are hundreds of organizations that celebrate their causes through a day or month of recognition. For example, you may not be aware that March is:
- American Red Cross Month
- Irish-American Heritage Month
- National Nutrition Month
- National Noodle Month
- National Peanut Month
- Women’s History Month
- Workplace Health and Safety Month
Any of these can serve as a basis for marketing your gift basket business.
And most of these have web sites that include information to support your promotional efforts.
For example, the American Red Cross offers a multitude of opportunities for Americans to donate time and money to many worthy causes. Have you ever checked in with your local Red Cross office to find out about their activities? Maybe you can arrange to have some percentage of your gift basket sales donated to the Red Cross? Your customers may appreciate this opportunity to have their gifts also be a “gift” for someone in need.
You might check out the National Irish-American Heritage Month web site and get some ideas about what local communities may do to celebrate. If you find that local organizations in your community are holding a parade or some type of special event, you may be able to promote your gift basket business by joining in the festivities. Donate a basket to giveaway or set up a booth on the parade route.
National Peanut Month or National Noodle Month provide opportunities for you to design and promote a special basket featuring those products. If you do more research on the web, you can find recipes that you can add to a “pasta” basket or “fun facts” that you can use to make your “peanut” basket unique. (Did you know that four of the top 10 candy bars manufactured in the USA contain peanuts or peanut butter…how about a peanut butter candy bar basket?)
Spend a little time on the web and use your imagination to learn about these “national holidays”. Then, create exclusive basket designs and unusual marketing opportunities to promote your gift basket business.
February 12th, 2010
Well gift basket business owners: if you weren’t able to get to San Francisco for the Fancy Food Show, January 17th - 19th, you can still read about new products in the marketplace and expected food trends for 2010. For those of you who have never attended, the Winter Fancy Food Show had over 80,000 products displayed. Displays included products for restaurants, large and small grocery stores, gift stores, hospitality venues,and yes….gift basket businesses. Although you may have missed tasting all the interesting and exquisite new foods, you can still learn a lot that will benefit your business.
According to a blog posting from Gourmet Retailer, “a panel of food experts selected the top five food trends for 2010, including good-for-you foods; coconut; gluten-free; exotic citrus; and nostalgic foods.” While it may be difficult to relate these trends directly to your gift basket business, i think it’s important to read the articles and blog postings about the show so that you can get a “picture” of what consumers will be seeing when they visit their grocery and gourmet food stores. This may lead you to making certain choices of products for your baskets. For example, if you frequently use fruit drinks in your designs, you may consider a coconut flavor or citrus flavor for 2010. If consumers are interested in “nostalgic foods”, then you may want to design a breakfast basket with pancake mix and maple syrup or a basket filled with soup and biscuits mixes.
I’ve listed some links below that will take you to articles and blogs about the Fancy Food Show. Some will be very useful, others will just be fun to read. Take some time to look at these, then keep your mind open to the possibilities when you plan your designs for 2010 gift baskets.
February 1st, 2010
The National Gift Basket Professional Convention has merged with the Ultimate Gift Show for a bigger and better opportunity for 2010! The convention will be filled with over 15 hours of seminars, including a 3 hour, hands-out workshops. Attendees can visit with vendors at the Trade Show to see the newest, hottest products in the marketplace. Time is scheduled for “Discussion Groups” so that you can get answers from the experts. And networking opportunities will be unlimited.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: JULY 23-25, 2010, CANTON, OHIO
Who should attend this extraordinary event?
- Retailers and Gift Providers
- Gift Basket Professionals
- Floral and Balloon Designers
- Hospital Gift Shop Managers
- Resort Gift Shop Managers
- Coffee Shop and Tea Shop Managers
- Garden Centers
- Wineries
- Event Planners
- Everyone who wants to take their business to a higher level!
Register today and take advantage of Early Bird Specials! Go to the Gift Basket Professional Convention or the Ultimate Gift Show web sites for full registration and travel details.
Representatives from Apex Gift Foods will be there to show you the best selection of gourmet products for the 2010 holiday season. Hope to see you there!
January 23rd, 2010
Although you may still be putting away your Christmas decorations, it’s time to start promoting your Valentines Day designs. If you’re accustomed to sending out emails or direct mailings that simply list your holiday promotions, think about a new twist.
Put together a checklist that will help your customer make choices about your basket designs. Point out the features of each basket, what products it includes and the type of person that might find it appealing. For example, a basket that includes an adorable bear might be appropriate for a younger person; a basket that includes a coffee mug might hit the spot for someone who works; a design that includes some spa products might be the perfect choice for a busy mom.
You can also share information about extra services that you offer: delivery and/or shipping options; special wrapping, cards, ribbons, balloons or other enhancements for a more “customized” basket. Think about offering cash discounts or a coupon for a discount on an Easter basket. Or team up with a local florist to include a some silk roses with your design.
Let your customers know that you’ll go the extra mile PLUS offer fabulous designs full of gourmet treats and goodies!
January 7th, 2010
As we move into the Fall and Holiday season with assurances that the economy may be making a comeback, we still need to think about ways to attract customers. Many people are still being very careful about what they spend. So it’s up to us to think about ways to assure our customers that we are still trying to give them the best quality products and service that we can offer.
With this goal in mind, Apex Gift Foods is introducing several new programs this year.
- With the “Apex Xtras Value Priced Items” program, Apex has designated many popular products that have been priced so that customers receive the best values in the marketplace. These are all “name brand” items from major manufacturers who cater to gift basket businesses such as Ghirardelli, Mille Lacs, First Colony, Vision Pak, Lindt, Walker and Nikkis Cookies. As a buyer for your gift basket business, you can be assured that your customers will receive high quality gourmet items while you save on your purchases.
- A new line of “Recession Buster Gourmet Assortments” is also available this year at Apex. The same fine quality nuts, snacks, candies and chocolates that Apex has sold for years, have been repackaged in smaller bags. Once again, you can feel confident that your customers will receive the excellent products they have grown to expect in your gift basket designs.
In your gift basket business, you can offer the same type of “value” in the baskets that you design. By pricing your most popular baskets at prices that are a lower than in the past, you may make up in volume what you will lose in your mark-up. For customers who are willing to spend a bit more, offer similar designs that include more products, a fancier container, or more enhancements.
You may also want to consider a line of “Recession Buster Baskets”. Design a line of gifts that are a little simpler than some of your current baskets. Use a fewer products or choose a less expensive container. Take advantage of sales offered by your vendors to purchase the products that you like. Continue to offer “good value” by creatively presenting the basket design accented with an inexpensive, colorful wired ribbon bow. Show these “Recession Buster Baskets” alongside more expensive versions of the basket for those customers who are willing to spend a bit more.
Now is the time to think creatively. Let your customers know that you have their needs and concerns in mind. You’ll be satisfying your existing customers while attracting a new group of buyers who will come back again.
August 16th, 2009
Many successful gift basket businesses started as home based businesses. And if you are interested in starting such a business, be sure you check out Shirley Frasier’s “How to Start a Home Based Gift Basket Business” and learn how to create a business plan, find suppliers and new products, set prices, market, stay profitable and much more!
But once you’re up and running, the work has just begun. There are still many things you can do to continue to grow your home based business. Read this article on Entrepreneur.com: Ten Ways to Grow Your Homebased Business.
Here are a few of the ideas that will help you be successful.
1. Start by focusing on a specific product or group of products. Think about what you love: are you a sports fanatic? Did you just have a baby? Draw upon your interests to find the best products and create the most unique designs one or two categories. You may also want to read Flora Brown’s blog: “Three Ways to Determine Your Niche Market” for ideas on how to choose the focus for your business.
2. Expand your product line to offer complementary products or services. If you specialize in gourmet and gift baskets for weddings, think about adding wedding accessories such as invitations or wedding favors.
3. Join forces with another company to promote your business. Remember those wedding baskets? Ask your local florist to pass out your business cards to brides. Likewise, you can distribute the florist’s cards to your all of your customers.
Learn more and grow your home based business into a powerhouse!
July 9th, 2009
Have you ever created a great gift basket design that isn’t selling as well as you expected? This is a good time to sit down with your staff and start asking questions!
Get your staff together (with some coffee and snacks) and take a serious look at the design. Come to the meeting with some facts and figures.
- Look at the overall design. Consider the colors and shape of the basket. Does it look elegant? fun? sophisticated? feminine? masculine? Is packed full with product or include just a few gourmet items? Did you use enhancements? Is there a theme? Does the send “send the message” that you had intended? (For example, if you designed a basket full of spa products, you probably want to send a message of “luxury”, “pampering”. Does the container, product, and enhancements that you used convey that message?)
- Look at the individual products. Are these your most popular items? What is the combination of cookies vs. snacks vs. chocolates, etc? What are the price points of each item? Are the individual boxes/packages large or small; simple in design or upscale? (For example, if you created a basket for a corporate setting, does it include products that can be shared by staff instead of all “single serve” items?)
- Look at the customers who have purchased this design: male? female? corporate? For what type of occasion was the basket purchased? Is the basket being purchased by the customers you thought would buy it?
Once you’ve answered some of these questions, you can brainstorm ideas for changes to the design that might better match the goal you had in mind when you originally created the basket.
How can you use these questions to create baskets that are sure to sell? What other questions should you be asking?
June 14th, 2009
Visit from Beth Groundwater, Author of the Claire Hanover Gift Basket Designer Mystery Series
Many thanks to Lorie for inviting me to submit a guest article to her blog as part of my virtual book tour to promote the second book in my series, To Hell in a Handbasket. This book, along with the first, A Real Basket Case, stars a Colorado Springs gift basket designer as an amateur sleuth who solves murders that fall in her lap (literally, in the first book!). Claire has a part-time gift basket business in the basement of her home and puts together different types of baskets in the books.
I’d love to answer any questions you have about what it’s like to write a mystery series based on someone in your profession, and anything else you want to talk about. Every person who comments is automatically entered into a contest for a free set of both books autographed by me. If you have any funny or embarrassing stories to tell me about baskets or deliveries gone wrong, I’d love to read those, too, and may even use them in a future book!
Here’s a favorite gift basket recipe that I hope you’ll enjoy and use for someone who adores all things mysterious.
Recipe for a Mystery Lover’s Gift Basket
Color scheme: black, red, and either white or gray
Container: black-painted basket, bucket or box, with a lid or handle sticking up, from which you hang fake spider webbing
Stuffing: dried Spanish moss or red-dyed tissue paper, shreds, or wood shavings
Contents:
- A Real Basket Case and/or To Hell in a Handbasket mystery books (email me at beth07@bethgroundwater.com to find out how to obtain discounted copies)
- CD of eerie music such as Mystery Movie Scores or Mystery Sound Effects
- Pocket-sized mystery party game or travel Clue game
- Movie DVD: Clue, Mousetrap, an Alfred Hitchcock or Sherlock Holmes movie, or a movie collection (Mystery Classics: 50 Movie Pack)
- Chocolate or bubble gum coins or other mystery-related chocolate shapes such as blood drops, knives, or guns (see http://www.chocolatepen.com/pieces.html for a sample vendor)
- And a selection from the following list:
– Magnifying glass
– Pair of play handcuffs and/or sheriff’s badge
– Rubber knife
– Glasses, nose, mustache disguise
– Skull-shaped/logo item(s): tea-light candle holder, squeeze ball, notepad, drinking cup (see the Halloween collection at www.orientaltrading.com)
– Bottle of stage blood from a costume or makeup supply store, or make your own (see chemistry.about.com/cs/howtos/ht/fakeblood.htm)
I hope many of you gift basket designers will use this idea for a Mystery Lover’s Gift Basket, and don’t worry, you won’t have any competition from me! Unlike my amateur sleuth, Claire Hanover, I do not have a gift basket business of my own. My business is writing mystery novels. My debut, A Real Basket Case, was released in March, 2007 and was nominated for a 2007 Best First Novel Agatha Award (named for Agatha Christie). To Hell in a Handbasket, the second in the Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series, was released May 15th.
I live in Colorado Springs, where I defend my garden from marauding mule deer and wild rabbits and try to avoid getting black-and-blue on Colorado’s black and blue ski slopes. I have loved to read since I was a child and savor those monthly meetings with my Book Club, and not just for the gossip and wine. For more information about me and my books, and to sign up for my email newsletter and enter a contest for free books, go to: http://bethgroundwater.com/. You’ll also find the schedule for my blog book tour there.
So, readers of Lorie’s blog, do you have any more ideas for creative ingredients to add to a Mystery Lover’s Gift Basket? Do you have any interesting stories that I can use in future Claire Hanover novels?
May 29th, 2009
Looking for fresh ideas for your gift basket business? Think about attending the Summer Fancy Food Show, June 28-30, at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City. There will be over 100,000 products on display from 2,300 exhibitors representing more than 70 countries.
You can also take advantage of a great educational program that starts on June 26th. Learn from industry experts in more than 20 seminars. Check out special showcases for natural and organic foods. See the hottest, newest products that your customers will want to buy.
Get more information and details for registration and hotels at NASFT FANCY FOOD SHOW.
May 25th, 2009
According to Platform-A, AOL’s advertising business, more and more people are using on-line generated coupons for purchases than the traditional newspaper coupons that were popular in the past. Furthermore, “younger couples are the most likely life-stage group to use online coupons, indicating an opportunity to influence product choices within this segment.” Full story.
With this in mind, those of us in the gift basket industry might try incorporating more of this type of marketing on our web sites.This can be done simply. Create a coupon using Microsoft Publisher or any other design software that you use. Most software includes templates that you can use. Save your coupon to your desktop. Then simply upload the coupon to your web site just as you upload photos of your gift baskets. Send an email to your customers directing them to your web site in order to print the coupon.
A few other tips: Make sure you are very clear about the promotion you offer (Save $5 on your next purchase; Get 10% off your next purchase, Receive a discount on a particular category of products such as all Baby Baskets, etc.). State the dates when the coupon can be used. Also be sure to indicate if there are certain items that you carry that for which the coupon does not apply. Use your logo or your “tag line” on all your coupons.
April 18th, 2009
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