Stories From The Gift Box

Those little jams in gift baskets are kind of cute and they do add some colour to traditional baskets that are suffocating behind layers of cellophane. We respect that some people choose these little ordinary jams as gifts. However, we think that your gift recipient deserves something more unique.

Cocolico helped me to love chocolate. Before I met Wendy Boys, my appreciation for the delicate nature of this wonderful substance was superficial. Her story is great. Her training in a Parisian culinary school built a strong foundation before working under Rob Feenie for 10 years in Vancouver’s well renown Lumiere restaurant as his head pastry chef. After making chocolates gifts one holiday season her family and friends convinced her to go out on her own and Cocolico was born.

I love it when things land in your lap. When you're on a path, putting energy in a certain direction, I'm always amazed how things find you. Over the last 4 years I've been on a search for the freshest, best tasting food products made in British Columbia. I was recently approached by Dyana Biagi the creator of Aji Gourmet Food Products to learn more about her line of products to be included in our selection of our Vancouver gift baskets.

Locavores watch out! Les Amis du Fromage, a Vancouver based artisan cheese retailer/wholesaler has found some innovative ways to source locally while building community. Below is an article I wrote that was recently published on GranvilleOnline.ca

Besides knowing what tastes good to me, it's always a great sign when I'm at a show sampling my wares that people see the Gone Crackers box in our gift baskets and say how much they LOVE these tasty artisan wheat crisps. Heather Nichol has developed a handful of tasty interesting flavours such as Blue Cheese and Cracked Pepper and Parmesan and Rosemary. Personally I like the plain savoury styles the best, the Undressed and the Olive Oil and Cracked Pepper, as they seem to be best for tasting local wine and cheese and treats like local artisan antipasto in our gourmet gift boxes.

Over the last few months we've been working closely with Rachel at CocoaNymph on a line of specialy artisan nuts. Delicious and original these are a fantastic corporate gift to send to an office or to take to a dinner party. Easy to share, unique flavours, and damb tasty the nuts are the kind of thing you probably wouldn't buy for yourself but would be happy to enjoy.

I have to admit, I'm a bit of a perfectionist and like things that are really good. Have you ever had one of those experience when you've tasted or experienced something that wasn't quite as good as you thought it could be? Have you ever thought you could make something better? Building a better mousetrap is one way to start a business and lots of successful entrepreneurs get their ideas and inspiration from having a bad taste in their mouth. From my experience this is how I started a corporate gift basket business, I didn't like gift baskets and saw that they were super wasteful. Gary Erickson got the idea for starting Cliff Bar while trying to stomach Power Bars on a 200 mile bicycle ride, seeing an opportunity for tasty energy bars. Tiz and Tara from Zazubean Organic Chocolate have a similar story, while on a cycling trip with friends seeing an opportunity to improve the chocolate bar industry.

Artisan Edibles, from Vancouver Island, BC, is one of our newest suppliers and it's been great to add their amazing products to our line of gourmet corporate gift baskets. Their antipasto was their first product that caught our attention, using local seasonal vegetables to create a fresh and tasty spread. I really like it with crackers or artisan crisps for a snack or for hosting at an event or party. We've also added their artisan preserves to our mix to compliment Vista D'oro.

Vista D'oro seasonal artisan preserves have been one of our most popular products in our local gourmet and 100 mile gifts. They are made in a traditional method using large copper pots out at their farm in Langley, BC. Most of the ingredients come from their farm, a beautiful property with a great farm gate shop filled with their products and other hard to find local artisan products.