Gift Baskets: From Base to Bow

Ah fourth quarter, that special time in a retailer’s life when shopping is at its peak and gift baskets have the potential to fly off shelves. As that time of the year quickly approaches, now is the moment to begin planning ahead so you don’t let yourself get caught behind or off-guard.

At AJ’s Fine Foods in Tucson, Arizona, the local gourmet foods retailer sells hundreds of gift baskets during the Christmas season. AJ’s begins putting the baskets together ahead of time in October for the 11 locations across southern Arizona. They use foods that will remain shelf stable over the coming weeks and brace for the rush while they continue selling everyday baskets on a daily basis.

Floral Boutique Manager Jenny LeGate says the store has been steadily moving gift baskets even during what is considered to be the off season during the summer. AJ’s gift baskets range in price from $50 for a fresh fruit basket on upwards to $140 for a basket with wine and cheese. LeGate has even seen a $300 basket filled with caviar, champagne and strawberries. AJ’s uses a formula for pricing baskets that accounts for the retail price of the contents, the price of the basket, and a make-up fee that is calculated based on the price of the contents. For example, a basket with $60 to $75 worth of product might have a make-up fee of $12 tacked on.

AJ’s does custom gift baskets by customer request and also has some on-hand at all times that are ready to go. LeGate finds that the most time-consuming part of creating gift baskets is the actual shopping for the items that will go inside. She must keep in mind the size of the basket that will be used and staying on a budget because one can easily get swept up in products that raise the price of the basket. She also takes the basket theme into consideration so that the result is cohesive.

“It is better to go with quality products rather than quantity because it makes a nicer impression,” says LeGate. “Quality items are usually the stuff you wouldn’t buy for yourself, so they make for a nicer gift too.”

Gift basket making at AJ’s Fine Foods in Tucson, AZ

After selecting product to fill the gift basket with, LeGate gets to work by filling the baskets with a natural coarse wood excelsior. Most of the baskets at AJ’s are for local gifting, so LeGate doesn’t do much else to create the basket base like other gift basket makers might if the basket is to be shipped.

Deb Condo is the owner of Gift Basket Junction, based in Goodyear, Arizona. Since she sells her baskets online and ships them all over the country, the base of the basket is of the utmost importance.

“It’s all about the foundation,” says Condo, who has had her own gift basket business for 10 years now and has taught gift basket design at the National Gift Basket Convention for the last four years. “Foundation, foundation, foundation. You cannot build a house without pouring concrete: it’s the same concept … You have to use pieces that are going to hold it together, whether it’s kraft paper or a box or foam – something that helps keep everything high and visual.”

LeGate finds that the excelsior filler AJ’s uses does a great job of providing height and being malleable enough that she can tuck in product here and there, with it actually staying in place. She does note that it’s not cheap, so if you are on a budget it might be best to explore other creative options.

Hand-making bows

After filling the basket base, she then rolls out enough cellophane to cover the front, back and bottom of the basket. Once the basket has been centered on the cellophane, it is time to begin filling the basket with product. LeGate approaches this by centering the largest item that will go in the basket. If the basket has a handle, it is easy to center the items around the midpoint of the handle. The rest of the items go around the larger centerpiece product with labels facing outward for a nice appearance. Since the baskets are displayed in the store’s floral section, LeGate like to make her baskets so that they can be viewed from either the front or the back, although she says that there is typically one side that is nicer.

While LeGate doesn’t bother with glue dots or any hidden adhesives to keep the products in place, this is a method that Condo takes advantage of for her baskets that move across the country. Both LeGate and Condo do rely on the cellophane wrapping to completely pull the look together.

“I like to use cello because it gives better for me. I can use it to wrap around the product to make like a tunnel, and so when I’m wrapping it, I can pull everything up and really tight,” says Condo. “I can still get a nice clean line like I would with shrink wrap, without having to get out a heat gun. I wrap it around things, I tuck it in things, and so when I finally do tuck it, roll it and tape it, everything stays. I do use shipping tape and glue dots, depending on how heavy the product is, to keep things stabilized – just like anybody else who’s shipping across the country or overseas. Be sure to always hide your mechanics too.”

Condo goes so far as to ensure her baskets will pass an upside down test, but for many local retailers this should not be necessary. After everything is in place, LeGate pulls the cellophane around the basket and neatly folds and tapes the sides with regular clear tape. She then pulls the cellophane to the top where she secures it with a chenille stem. She cuts a length of ribbon to make a bow by hand – a feat she can now do in about 30 seconds, but she says took her six months to learn! Opting for pre-made bows are a good option for busy retailers trying to multitask. The handmade ribbon is placed over the chenille stem holding everything in place.

Adding a fancy cut to the top of the cellophane

The last step is making the cellophane at the top of the basket look nice. Cutting it straight across is easy and doesn’t look bad at all. When LeGate has time, she does a fancier cut that is hard to describe. She bunches the cellophane in her hand and follows the creases that are created from the folds. She then cuts at these tips in an angled upward motion that results in fanned out points that almost have a leaf-like quality. Condo notes that she pays attention to the colors, patterns and textures going into the basket to help make it cohesive. For example, a yellow label on one of the items to be placed in the basket might help her to decide on the complementary bow. Or she might choose a different type of fill for the base if the basket is lacking in texture overall.

While there are many tips and tricks to making gift baskets, ultimately LeGate points out that, “There is a wrong way to make a gift basket, but there is really no true right way to do it.”

This story was originally published in the September 2015 issue of Kitchenware News, a publication of Oser Communications Group.