Chocolate; the world’s favourite treat since the Ancient Mayans. This sweet treat has had more influence on humanity than it may appear, with both psychological and economic consequences. How much has chocolate changed the world as we know it?

Coffee and chocolate gift baskets make the ideal present for Christmas, Birthday, thank you or a warm welcome. Whether for the coffee lover in your life that deserves a daily blissful break, or a professional relationship, coffee and chocolate gift baskets are the finest indulgence.

There’s something quite special about giving (and receiving!) a homemade gift. Even the simplest gift can feel like a million bucks when it’s been gorgeously gift wrapped. If you haven’t been blessed with the gift wrapping gene, you may be wondering just where to start. Try some of these inspiring creative gift wrapping ideas that take gift wrap from drab to fab.

Two of our Bestselling Gourmet Gift Baskets are a chocoholics dream! The House of Chocolate Indulgence Gift Box

Before baby arrives, there is the baby shower - a way to celebrate the transition from Maiden to Mother. It's a lovely tradition that brings friends and family together to support the expectant Mum.

You know someone who has moved into a new house and you'd like to give them a wonderful 'Welcome', what do you give them?

With the change of seasons, we often see a change in what people like to send as gifts. In the winter months we see a lot of cosy, chocolate inspired gift hampers!

With Christmas rapidly heading our way, we need to start thinking about our special Xmas gift budget and who we need to buy for!

A Recycling Frog? Yes a Recycling Frog!  This little gift basket is a great gift to not only give the younger set, but could also make a great gift for teachers

I'm not sure if you're ready for it, but we are rapidly heading towards Christmas and also the summer school holidays (didn't we just get through the last batch of holidays?).

It's one thing to buy a gift and write "Thanks for the help", but that's not very memorable. When you buy a gift for someone, especially if it's a gift basket, 

A great choice for a gift is the 'Gourmet's Choice' gift basket. It is one of our most popular gifts and you can see why.

We are rapidly heading towards 'Wedding Season' here in New Zealand. January, February and March are the most popular months to get married. Here's how to choose a great wedding gift!

There is a very good reason why the 'Snack Attack' gift basket is such a popular seller - it is full of deliciousness and it works for pretty much everyone.

It's that time of year when it seems there are more new babies arriving than any other month, so it's time to plan what you'll buy the parents of these precious new babies. 

There is a growing group of people who eat a gluten-free diet. It could be because they have coeliac disease, their tolerance to gluten is low, or maybe they don't eat gluten for preventive measures

Do you know the elements to a great gift basket? If you are planning on putting together a birthday gift basket or maybe a house warming gift basket, you need to know what to include, to make your recipient go 'WOW'! You can even use these tips if you want to 'perfect' one of our already amazing gift baskets.

No, Dad doesn't want socks and undies for Father's Day this year (it's coming up fast - the 7th September). Nor does he want a tie, or a novelty fishing rod lighter. What Dad does want for Father's Day is some help.

Weddings in New Zealand are most popular from December through March each year, so if you are planning your wedding, you're no doubt down to the finishing touches. 

What 's the number one gift that people buy?

Clue:
What do you end up buying someone when you've got no idea what to buy?

Got it yet?

One of our most popular gift baskets is 'Alfresco Entertaining.' It's not a surprise that's it's a 'Best Seller' when you consider the contents - lets have a look:

A little while ago in this post we hinted about sending gifts to Australia. Well lets get into the nitty gritty. Yes, Gourmet Gifts can release you from the chore of organising gifts to Australia, and it’s very fast and painless.

When the situation calls for a bunch of flowers (new baby, new job, 'I'm sorry', or 'just because') but you don't want to send flowers, we have the answer!  

People love receiving gifts that they wouldn't buy for themselves. People also love to receive gifts that are nicely wrapped. So when it comes time to buying gifts, try to choose a gift which people will think is 'extravagant' and wrap it beautifully, you will make your loved one very happy.

One of the many fun things about running Gourmet Gifts is getting to know our customers. It's a great feeling knowing that you're about to make someone happy, from our customers who buy the baskets, to the recipient of the gift. Another great thing about working at Gourmet Gifts, is seeing what combinations people put together.

We're deep into winter and there's little motivation for most of us to get stuck into the garden, but then again we're not 'true' gardeners. True gardeners are the ones with the green thumbs and love being out in the garden no matter the weather. They will find any excuse to dig in the dirt and pull the weeds.

Do you know someone who has been bitten by the 'Master Chef' or My Kitchen Rules bug? You know who they are. These are the people that are obsessed with watching these shows. Whatever you do, DO NOT interrupt them while they are getting their cooking fix. They no doubt will record the shows for analyzing later and then will try and recreate (or improve) these recipes in their own kitchen? 

In the time of Facebook reminders it's pretty rare for someone to still have a ‘Birthday Book'. Remember those? One of those little calendar books your Mum or Nana used to have that listed birthdays, wedding anniversaries and other notable events to celebrate.

When you work with all these fantastic gourmet gift baskets it really is hard to choose a favorite, but I particularly like this one -- The Family Favourites basket

Why do I like this one? Because it's a taste of New Zealand, and it makes everyone in the family happy, plus it makes an excellent gift for non-native New Zealanders. Ok, so Pringles aren't very 'Kiwi' but they sure are tasty!  Show me a kid (or adult) who doesn't like Pringles, I dare you!

While Christmas is a lovely time of year filled with  BBQ's, sunburn and gift giving, it can also be a stressful time. For some of us it seems to sneak up and has us crying because we've overspent! If we can get a handle on Christmas now, you won't be looking at your credit card statement in January and wishing you'd been a bit more frugal. Plus  of course if we start planning now it will mean less stress for you when it gets to December.

There is something special about receiving a gift basket isn't there? It's a treasure trove of treats that you normally wouldn't buy for yourself. That is why they are so fun to receive - and to give.

We all know to send a gift basket on special occasions like Mother's Day, Birthdays, Father's Day etc. But when it comes to saying 'Thank You' a special gift or gift basket is going to make a much bigger impact than $10 worth of Instant Kiwi tickets (unless of course you can guarantee that there is $10,000 hidden in there!)

Wedding anniversary gifts are one of the most important gifts you can buy.  For your closest friends celebrating their first major milestone, for your wife who has stood by your side year after year or for your husband who still makes you feel like a princess.

We love receiving orders for wedding anniversary gifts and over the years we have had some very unusual requests, what better gift to personalise than an anniversary gift basket.  Here are some of the more memorable...

Actions speak louder than words and when shopping for the perfect (gourmet!) gift online, you need to know that only the best quality gift baskets are sent on your behalf.  That's our commitment to you, we stand proudly behind each and every gift ordered off our site.