Does anyone give foodie gifts ?

[hattie43]

Was just watching QVC and they've a festive food gift day and I was wondering if anyone gives food as gifts .
Surely most people use Xmas as a reason to splurge on special foods you wouldn't ordinarily buy week to week .

Do you mean packed, food items or home-made? There was a thread last week about home-made food gifts for Christmas.

Years ago I made up my own hampers with packaged foods- few bottles of booze, nice crackers, bacon jam, biscuits- but I too think people have so much of this at Christmas- I doubt they want more. Hence I only did it the once!

I also have lots of pickles, chutneys, plum brandy, sloe gin etc I made from the garden- but rarely give these away!

It was pre packaged shop / artisan goods . I think homemade gives a much more personal touch whereas buying someone cheese truckles eg seems strange to me.

Personally I'd be quite happy to have something like that bought for me. If I was given homemade foods as a gift they'd go straight in the bin. Each to their own.

I do a hamper for each of my adult children and their partners every year with luxury tea, coffee, preserves ,chocolate, high end mince pies, panatone,special treats for the dog etc. I tailor it to what I know they each like and also include one or two heirloom decorations from the family tree. I like to drop them off in early December so they’ll have treats to enjoy in the run up to Christmas.
I first did it in 2020 when I knew we wouldn’t see each other (we have another child who was at home and clinically vulnerable so there was no question of us mixing that year).
My daughter returned the wicker basket so I could use it again the following year!
I think luxury food items can be very welcome, especially when a lot of unwanted gifts end up in the charity shop

I've bought hampers from Betty's tearoom which were lovely.

One year we made up hampers for the adult in laws and tailored them to their likes.

Eg
There was no alcohol in SIL's hamper, but we included fancy cordials
For BIL we included red wine and charcuterie meats
For PIL we chose more traditional bits like chutney and fancy jam

We chose items from Fortnums, Harvey Nichols & Fenwick food halls (posh crisps, chocolates, crackers, biscuits, etc)

They all loved them as it was things they like but don't often buy as a standard "grocery" item

My late in-laws used to do us a hamper, they'd buy stuff like artisan sweets, Christmas beer chutney, we're still using the ones we were given about 5 years ago.

We have friends who often buy us foodie gifts and we absolutely love it. Much better than something that won't get used. It's usually got a fairly long life and we often bring it out on a cold January or February night, long after our Christmas stash was devoured.

Often, either pre packed or home made or a mixture, usually carefully tailored to individual in mind.
Have often received too, gratefully

We do this. A mix of long dated artisan foods, homemade chutneys and spice mixes.

Dh gets hampers through work and I’ll be honest I don’t really like them - I have to find space to store it, it’s not necessarily to anyone’s taste and one week after Christmas everyone I know is on their New Year diet.

I have a friend who is a fabulous cook who always gives food gifts that I look forward to very much. And my uncle used to give everyone a Christmas pudding - Christmas hasn’t been the same since he died.

I ordered a hamper of French food for my dsis and French bil who were missing their annual trip to France during covid - but it was all things they would usually have bought for themselves, not just random festive stuff.

Totally agree.
Especially with “not just random festive stuff”.
The secret of good food gifts is in knowing what people like to eat or would appreciate as a special treat.
Lots of the corporate and High Street hampers have a handful of really nice items but lots of cheaper fillers.

I like receiving them. We get one from dps work so I drop heavy hints what "we" like - tequila and triple sec, lime juice, salt crystals and various snacks last year ,.. love margaritas

I’ve certainly ordered presents from Inverawe - smoked salmon, but also smoked trout and other fishy delicacies like pate. AFAIK they’ve always gone down well.