Hamper

Based on what was on the market we had to work out what we needed. Sounds simple but actually it was quite a task because we had to get the product in fairly quickly and it needed to meet our criteria.

We sourced the wicker hampers from Virginia Hayward selecting a generous, sturdy lidded box with attractive closure straps in a handsome mid-tan wicker.

Filling

To fill the hamper, we used a high quality shred from British company WBC which gave plenty of lift to our products and we used red, white and blue colours (as the UK flag). Not only that, we were attracted to WBC because all their shred is made out of 100% recycled paper – so kind to the environment.

Stencil & Spray

It was important that we had our name and logo imprinted onto the hamper (heaven forbid it would be confused with anyone else’s!) so we found two companies that were able to stencil (Stencil Studio) and paint (good old B&Q) the Hunter & Gold name which would adorn the front for everyone to see. We got the stencil from Stencil Studio who produced something in supersonic time and we were thrilled to see the stencil was great quality so can be used again, the excitement over our project was definitely mounting – it was beginning to take real shape!

Overview

Our first “inside” job was to source alcoholic drinks including Red Wine, Rose, Champagne and Sparkling Wine. Obviously it was important that we try everything that was to go inside the hamper, this was probably the best bit so some rather raucous Hunter & Gold wine tasting followed…this did seem to stretch a little too far into the afternoon (and evening, and night…but luckily not into the morning.)

Alcohol

We added a sparkling sweet wine as this is deemed very popular for the festive season. We opted for Martini Asti sparkling wine (although not a British brand, a well-respected Italian) from good old Tesco. Not only was this superb value but it has a fabulously fruity taste. If you read up more on this Asti you will note the comments from Tesco: “There is a rich and subtle aromatic harmony of aroma and taste with notes of pear, green apple and peach giving Martini Asti a light, deliciously fruity taste.” We couldn’t put It better ourselves.

Champagne

After some deliberation (and when our heads were less fluffy) we decided on Balfour Brut Rose Champagne, packaged in a handsome bottle. This champagne is 100% British sourced from Hush Heath Winery and won a prestigious gold medal from Decanter World Wine Awards 2013 so ticked the box for home-grown. If it’s good enough for Decanter World, it’s good enough for Hunter & Gold. Furthermore, this wine is a limited edition magnum (only 400 produced) and known as England’s most exclusive pink fizz. Here’s one fizzy fact, the Balfour Brut Rose is grown from no less than three classic Champagne grape varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.

Rose Wine

We included a Brut Rose Sparkling Wine from Herbert Hall Wines. Made in Kent this is a delicious tasting sparkling wine which was voted the best by the Wall Street. Another did you know? Herbert Hall is a traditionally hand-made sparkling wine combined using a low yield Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. All of these are grown organically at the Marden Vineyard in Kent.

We then had to take a break to recover from wine-tasting and quite a lot of nurofen was consumed.

Red Wine

Our red wine choice was also home-grown and hailed from the Bolney Wine estate in Sussex. We selected a fine quality Pinot Noir and this particular bottle won a trophy from the International Wine and Spirit Competition in 2012. We particularly loved the fact that this is 100% UK made. The wine makers say this is a “fantastic example of a cold-climate Pinot. Fragrant, well-balanced, medium bodied wine full of red cherry flavours and hints of toasted oak which give a lovely complexity on the bouquet and palate.” Trust us, it was so delicious we went through the (first) bottle rather too quickly and onto the second in no time…it was lucky we overbought!

Hot Drinks

Of course, no Christmas hamper is complete without hot beverages so after all that wine-tasting it seemed only fitting to sample tea and coffee and sober up!

Loose Tea

To offer the “staple” hot beverage items we decided to opt for true luxury with Wedgwood’s home-grown loose English breakfast tea and their phenomenal Earl Grey. Wedgwood imports their raw materials but everything is blended and packed in the UK, ticking our boxes. The Earl Grey is a combination of quality tea leaves with Bergamot oil and hints of citrus, fabulously refreshing. The English breakfast blends Assam and Kenyan teas with those from Ceylon, bringing a sweet malty taste with plenty of strength. Both these flavours came packaged in a sensational decorated tea caddy with distinctive fine bone china influenced graphics. Incredible.

Instant Tea

We found ourselves tempted by Whittard of Chelsea’s distinctively festive mulled wine instant tea which has a fruity, mildly spiced flavour without the hangover and makes an outstanding Christmas brew. This particular tea is apparently inspired by Turkish apple tea, which we’ve yet to try but we believe you Whittard! Of course, Whittard of Chelsea is a British company in one of the finest areas of London. All of Whittard’s products are very attractively packaged in luxurious tins that are able to be re-used once the contents are finished, they make great pen pots as can be seen in our office!

Coffee

To complement the mulled wine tea we decided a good, strong coffee was what was needed and settled on a rich, dark Columbian coffee which was packaged and sold by Whittard’s. This coffee won the Great Taste Gold 2012 award and the beans inside are grown on small farms within the slopes of the Andean Mountains. The beans sit in volcanic soil and create a medium, silky coffee. The medium taste is such that it should suit everyone’s palette. We all drank this Columbian coffee in copious amounts after the wine-tasting so it got the thumbs up from us!

Christmas Crackers

Finally, to get everyone into the Christmas mood, we included the finest Christmas crackers. Each of these contained an extremely luxurious gift for the recipient to enjoy. It’s difficult to describe just how wonderful these crackers were but we can tell you every single one was hand-made carefully, some using antique gold pearlised wrap with a wide Italian paper printed band. Each was tied with a red satin or gold organza bow. Hidden inside there were a variety of quality gifts such a compass, pen, bottle opener and other extravagant items. As well as the festive crackers, we included others combining recycled printed paper with eco inks and a fun-loving crown print. Again these contained super-deluxe gifts. All in all, the best crackers on the market.

Tea Strainer

For our recipients to get started on enjoying the indulgent hamper we also added a beautiful finishing touch with a Whittard of Chelsea tea strainer so anyone could immediately enjoy a good cup of tea from the Wedgwood Caddies. What we loved about this strainer is the spring action infuser. For brewing tea leaves, you simply pull down the lid and the infuser opens to scoop up the desired amount of tealeaves. Once released, the infuser shuts firmly keeping all the leaves safely inside. It makes preparing the perfect cup of tea a fun experience and we spent many a happy hour testing this infuser!

Our conclusion was that we definitely would be doing the hamper challenge again as it was an enjoyable (if not somewhat hectic) process. However we would like to spend even more time focusing on home-grown and we will further research products. We’ve learnt that we absolutely must negotiate better prices!

What we learned

Obviously we learnt plenty! We are very proud of what we achieved and we are planning to repeat the exercise but we would do certain aspects differently. As with every project, there are lessons and here are some of the points we have noted when we start this year’s project.

From the very beginning we encountered plenty of challenges that we needed to overcome. Firstly, we would aim to begin the task much earlier to give us more time to source, create and present the finished luxury Hunter & Gold hamper. We envisage starting as early as July or August this year giving us ample time. From the start, we will ensure we have plenty of space in the office so that at point of product delivery we will be able to store all products and hampers. There’s nothing worse than clambering over merchandise and worrying it might get damaged.

Going forward, we now know that the stencil and spray paint should be a sufficient enough size to cover the area required on the hamper rather than spraying parts that didn’t need to be sprayed! We had to modify the stencil we purchased too and even go as far as using double-sided insulation tape to get the stencil into position, this also acted as a preventative measure for paint leaking outside the footprint of the letters. Next time, we’d really ventilate the room with fresh air before spraying – that paint is full of fumes, in other words it’s lethal!

Another valid point we noted was that we should take advantage of sales such as Black Friday as there are some significant offers on products suitable for our Christmas hamper, this would help with cost. We would also like to order samples of products rather than full size goods before placing an order. This will help us to check important things such as look of packaging as well as flavour and manufacturing quality.

On deliveries, we learnt that there can be restrictions on alcohol transportation so we would build in speaking to the delivery company and the wine merchant before shortlisting and ordering drinks. We will also ensure that we check delivery deadlines with our delivery companies to make sure of punctual delivery. For hampers going to international destinations it is vital we include “cold-pads” inside which will keep the shorter life products, particularly dairy, nice and fresh. Furthermore, following delivery we noted we should always cross-reference invoices to make sure everything has been delivered as we wouldn’t want to find out we hadn’t received enough of something when we come to make up the hampers.

We learnt about shelf-life too and that it is important to order the long-life products early as they tend to sell out closer to the festive period, particularly poignant when referring to Christmas crackers, Christmas accessories and festive drinks. Conversely, order all shorter life products as close to the hamper delivery date, this is especially relevant to cheese, hand-made sweets and pastries.

Once all the products have arrived and it comes to constructing the hamper, it is important to remember to always place the heavier items in the lower layer, for example, the bottles of drink. As you move further upward you layer the products according to weight – getting lighter as you get to the top, this prevents squashing!

Hampers need ample filling as it acts as protector to fragile products such as drinks. If we do use shred again we would order plenty at the beginning of the process to ascertain how much we would need per hamper. We would place the dairy produce (due to short shelf-life) at the very top and enclose a short note detailing their shelf-life thus letting the recipient know that they should be transferred to a refrigerator as soon as possible to avoid spoiling.

As far as the produce we used, we would aim to include instant tea as well as loose tea and we loved the idea of including a tea strainer as it then allows the recipient to get on with making a good cup of tea from the hamper choices! With regards to cheese, chutney and cheese crackers we would incorporate a selection of different types so that everybody’s palette is accounted for.

Finally, a nice finishing touch is to add a greeting card with a note.

Next Time

Here’s what we plan to do next time. Be adventurous! We won’t be afraid of trying new things when choosing products and even services we want to offer. We want to spend more time investigating the cottage industry and we must negotiate better prices! Finally the whole process must be started early to avoid nervous breakdowns.

The Process

1. Plan ahead and clarify every step in writing with a timeline
2. Decide on size of hampers, products to go inside and theme if any
3. Research products on the market
4. Order samples
5. Shortlist product
6. Negotiate prices
7. Place final orders
8. Allocate ample space for the product delivery taking into account large items
9. Keep a list of what has arrived and check quantities
10. Prepare a sample hamper and photograph each layer for future reference
11. Book deliveries according to delivery addresses