Giving your employees a gift is supposed to be an exciting, thoughtful, downright joyous moment — not a chore you dread ticking off your to-do list. While the holidays are the most popular occasions for giving a gift, a lot of CEOs, HR pros, team leads, and managers, still struggle to do it successfully. Trying to strike this dream trifecta can be one of the biggest hurdles of the holiday season:
- Something that everyone will like.
- Something that shows authentic appreciation.
- Something within the company budget.
Fortunately, there’s an easy and delicious solution — food. Food is a crowd favorite. Food is memorable. Heck, great food is practically its own love language. And, most importantly, food is a great way to show your employees appreciation and care around Christmas (all while leaving them with a delicious taste in their mouth).
Why Food Makes the Perfect Christmas Gift for Employees
When it comes to employee Christmas gifts, there's no denying that food is the perfect choice. But what is it about yummy grub that makes it such a great gift?
Let's start with the fact that everyone loves food! Whether it's a gourmet snack, a delicious box of chocolates, or a mouthwatering assortment of sweet treats, food is something that brings people together and creates a sense of joy. What’s more, the novelty of the food you give teamed with the moments or events surrounding it embed deeply in people’s memories. If you want to make this season a memorable one for employees, toss ‘em a food basket that’s unique, flavorful, and fragrant to really leave your mark.
In fact, in 2020, food and beverage accounted for nearly 1 in 4 corporate gifts. This means that giving someone something delicious is a trend more people will come to expect.
Food also makes the perfect Christmas gift for employees because it's a practical and thoughtful choice. Instead of giving them another generic corporate gift that will gather dust on their desk, why not give them something they can actually enjoy? Food is a gift that won't go to waste, and your employees will appreciate the effort you put into finding something they'll truly love.
And if you needed more convincing of the merits of food, these gifts are versatile and can fit any budget. Whether you have a limited budget or want to splurge a little, there are plenty of options available. From affordable gift baskets to extravagant gourmet selections, there's something for every budget and taste.
Time-Saving Tips for Employee Christmas Gifts
Finding the perfect Christmas gifts for your squad can feel too time-consuming for your tight schedule, especially if you’re already facing a long to-do list during the holiday season. This results in settling for something quick and easy, like gift cards, or choosing something pretty ho-hum and generic, like those pre-packaged kits of mystery lotions and gels from the nearest department store.
It doesn’t have to be that way. With the right tools and even better inspiration, giving gifts to your whole team, whether you’re at a startup or a Fortune 50 enterprise, can be as jolly as the rest of the holiday season.
First, if you’re looking to save some serious time, buy your gifts in bulk. Whether it's gourmet snacks, chocolates, or sweet treats, buying in bulk not only saves you time but also ensures consistency in your gifts. You can easily customize the packaging or toss in a personal touch to make it special for each employee, but choosing one or a limited number of gift options is going to shave hours off of your gifting task versus buying a unique gift for everyone on your list.
Another time-saving tip is to choose pre-packaged gift sets in lieu of many individual items you’d have to kit up for each gift. Many online retailers and Zest brand partners offer pre-packaged gift sets that are ready to be shipped directly to your office. This saves you the hassle of assembling gift baskets or boxes yourself, storing the items as they come in, and double-checking that everyone’s gift box got everything.
Lastly, don't underestimate the power of an online corporate gifting tool, which can be more versatile than you may have thought. Instead of spending hours searching for the perfect gift in stores, take advantage of all-in-one platforms like Zest that offer both a wide selection of food gifts as well as a shopping experience as simple as buying for yourself.
With Zest, you can peruse hundreds of curated goods from popular ecommerce brands, personalize each and every e-gift, upload dozens or hundreds of recipients, and deploy your thoughtful and memorable gift in just a couple minutes.
The speed of Zest comes from the incredibly slick user experience as well as the fact that you don’t need to gather up every recipient’s shipping address — they’ll enter that themselves right after they digitally unwrap their delightful surprise. Plus, one of the coolest features for recipients is that they swap their gift if alternative gift options are available from a brand. So if you’re not sure what flavor cookies to send off, don’t sweat it. Your recipients have the freedom to pick!
Pro tip: If you want to get even more ahead of the holiday gifting game, Zest lets you schedule your gift delivery. That means that even in the middle of October, you could already cross off “buy employee gifts” from your Q4 to-dos. (Oh, this feature is also free. You won’t be charged extra just for having your sh*t together.)
Without the stress of collecting addresses, packing gifts, handling logistics, and beyond, all you have to worry about is the next part — which delicious, crowd-pleasing grub are you going to gift this year?
Food Gifts Your Employees Will Love This Holiday Season
Food as a gift isn't a new and thrilling idea. It's a classic gift, but the truth is, it's a gift category that's grown pretty blah. We hand-picked these treats to inspire you to make a truly memorable holiday season for your team. These gifts are 100% high-quality, truly unique goodies that bring the yum and will keep employees feelings excited to see what's in store the next time you dole out gifts.
Porter Road
Bissinger's Handcrafted Chocolatier
Wildwood Chocolate
Salted Brown Butter Texas Pecan Brittle Bar
Vosges Haut-Chocolat
The Dalmore Scotch-infused Chocolate Collection
Dana's Bakery
Champagne Celebration Macarons
Grove Cookie Company
Brightland
Olive Oil — The Mini Artist Series
Di Bruno Brothers
Danny & Joe's Famous Pizza Kit
A Signature Welcome
Tasty Ribbon
Unboxme
Giften Market
Bunny James
Send the Yummiest Employee Gifts the Corporate World Has Ever Seen
Holiday gifts are a small gesture that shows your employees that you care about them and that their hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. When crunched for time, you don’t have to settle for stuff that’s subpar (and could actually have an adverse impact on office morale). Instead, look to the marvels of modern technology and count on gifting platforms like Zest — the fastest, freest way to send employee gifts this holiday season.
