Too Sexy for a Basket?

Not a chance! Naughty gift baskets have been the second most popular category of themes for the past 25 years -- second only to wine and roses. This year, trend forecasters say that the desire to have fun is a key element destined to pry tight dollars out of a buyer’s wallet.

So -- go ahead and build that sexy gift basket for Valentine’s Day! Tuck in a yummy jar of chocolate body fondue, a bottle of champagne, coffee and biscotti for in-the-morning treats, and . . . well, use your imagination to round out the romantic theme.
Product Source: ABasketSupply.com

2009 Spring Trend Report Coming Soon

Looking for tips on what’s hot and what might be cooling off? Just in time for January trade show buying, Gift Basket Review Online releases its NEW 2009 Trend Report. Look for it next week. One of the trends you’ll see are up and coming flavors for 2009. Among them: Lavender mixed into chocolate. Guess lavender isn’t just for scented sachets anymore!
Product Source: ABasketSupply.com

North Star Music is ready for holiday gift buyers with a new line of CD’s. The new We Three Strings, by Johannes Linstead, will be hard to resist -- especially if you play it in your store. As editor of Gift Basket Review Online, I listen to many new releases and this is one of the best holiday CD’s I’ve heard this year. We Three Strings is twelve of your all-time favorite Christmas songs performed by three of today’s finest guitarists with World, Latin, and Smooth Jazz rhythms. It features Billboard-charting recording artist Johannes Linstead, Bryan Lubeck, and Tomas Michaud. Put it in your best holiday gift baskets! Beautiful packaging -- great music.
Contact: www.northstarmusic.com

New candle fragrances are on the market -- ready for fall and holiday gift baskets. Cedar and saffron are popular again this year, and Orla Soy Candles has a good one with packaging matched perfectly to fall colors. Named Weeked in Tuscany, the candle has a distinctively fresh scent with a sensation of texture and warmth. It contains bottom notes of sandalwood, cedarwood, amber and musk with alluring top notes of bergamot, lavender and coriander. Website: www.orlasoycandle.com

Gourmet food may the most popular holiday gift basket category, but non-food gifts are moving up the chain as more consumers become aware of the health challenges many Americans face. When non-foods are requested, be ready with an impressive collection of affordable gift basket components.

One of my personal favorites is the Meyer’s Clean Day products. The company offers aromatic and environmentally friendly products, ranging from hand soap and lotion (shown here) to actual cleaning products for the home or office, fragranced for the season. Shown here, a small nail brush is boxed and bagged to separate the two Meyer products, stretching the value and filling the space inexpensively. To complete the ensemble, add candles and a tin of holiday potpourri, room fragrance, ornaments -- kitchen towels -- whatever pleases you and your customers.

Harrison’s & Crosfield® Ltd. have introduced a seasonal rendition of their fine teas -- ready to ship for holiday orders. The Christmas Tea is a jolly blend of premium black teas with aromatic orange peel, almonds, spicy cinnamon and luscious marzipan. Just the thing to cozy up with on a chilly winters’ night.

What do I like about it? As a gift basket designer, I like the size and packaging. The larger tin is a good “bulk” component that will fill a good amount of space, and serve as a focal point that can establish the seasonal theme. The smaller cube is less expensive and can fit into smaller budget baskets. Again, this one seasonal product can set the Christmas theme, and that will allow you to use standard inventory to fill the remainder of the basket. Best of all, this is a tea that smells so good you can close your eyes and believe it is already Christmas morning.


The red and gold packaging, with its enchanting winter scene, is designed to evoke warm memories of holidays gone by. It is available in three different packages:
(1) Individually wrapped tagged tea bags in clear cube
(2) English style tea bags in an elegant gold and red caddy
(3) Loose leaf tea in a 4.41 ounce starry night gold and red caddy.

Each tea bag contains the necessary amount of tea to brew a “proper” cup of tea -- 25% more than the average tea bag.Harrisons & Crosfield’s London master tea buyers and blenders have over 30 years experience in the art of tea tasting, blending and buying. For more information and to see the company’s full line of teas, visit their website www.harrisonsandcrosfield.com.

Six New Christmas Designs Added to the
“Sassy Bite” Family of Organic Chocolate Bars


Gig Harbor, WA – August 13, 2008: Olive Sandwiches is pleased to announce the addition of six
new Christmas-themed organic chocolate bar designs to our Sassy Bite product line.

The Sassy Bite family was first introduced in July 2008 at the Atlanta, Los Angeles and Chicago
gift shows, with a very positive response to the initial ten designs. By combining the well-known
Olive Sandwiches brand of retro-images and women-oriented humor with specially prepared
organic chocolate flavors, the Sassy Bite series has “taken edgy taste to a whole new level.”

Each Sassy Bite bar contains 1.25 ounces of fine organic chocolate with a variety of flavors that
match the humor on the wrapper, ranging from timeless favorites such as milk chocolate to
exciting new mixes such as “Hot Habanero Mandarin Espresso”. The new Christmas chocolates
offer flavors such as Peppermint Dark Chocolate, Dark Coconut Almond, Mint Milk Chocolate,
and Gingerbread Pecan Dark Chocolate.

According to Jim Hunt, Managing Partner for Olive Sandwiches, “We’ve been extremely pleased
with the market response to the Sassy Bite organic chocolate bar line, from both retailers and our
end customers. With a growing number of women (and men) already enjoying Olive Sandwiches’
brand of humor, there is a built-in appetite for new products – and the chocolates have been a big
hit by satisfying that hunger. In addition, these newest Sassy Bite Christmas designs will make
great stocking-stuffers and party favors for the holidays.”

All Olive Sandwiches products are the artistic creations of Nancy Rider Hunt and are available in
more than 2000 stores throughout North America, as well as online at www.olivesandwiches.com.

Holiday color trends are all over the board this year. Instead of mega categories, trends in 2008 are micro-centered -- as electic and diverse as the fragmented U.S. consumer demographics. Some of the influencing themes and motifs are:

1. Concern for the environment
2. Retro-to-the-’60’s (peace and love)
3. Fair Trade merchandise
4. Old world opulence (Russia)

Earth-driven color tones dominate the environmental color trend. Sky blue, fern green, sand beige, bark brown, and vibrant wild flower brights; with copper and nickel as strong metallics. In the peace and love category, wild, vivid, visionary colors splash holiday theme merchandise. With the Russian and old world, think deep jewel tones and dazzling metallics. Fair trade color trends tend to reflect the dark tones of mahagony and ebony, with splashes of blackened primary tones (red, orange, green and blue), livened up with tropical blends.

It’s great to read about color trends, but with gift baskets, designers don’t have to think too much about it, since industry manufacturers and distributors have already stocked the latest for the holidays. Just open the catalogs, think about your own customer base, and order the trendiest packaging and supply colors in every style and motif!