The corporate gift basket is a traditional form of expressing appreciation to your clients and employees for their loyalty. So if you’re in charge of picking out and ordering your company’s gift baskets, you want to make sure you’re giving an appropriate but interesting arrangement of items.

You want your clients to know that they’re truly meaningful by the thought you put into the contents of your corporate gift basket. And if you know the customer personally, you can individualize the basket even more. The same applies to employees of your organization. If you are a small business and only have a handful of workers, you can tailor each basket to the recipient. Even if you have many employees, you can use a theme or include a specific item that everyone will relate to.

The Time-Honored Corporate Gift Basket

Generally, you can’t go wrong with the traditional corporate gift basket containing some gourmet foods and fruit, and maybe a bottle of wine. This is pretty standard because it’s bound to contain many items that will be appealing to just about anyone. Think Scottish shortbread, fancy crackers, imported cheese, chutney and Belgian chocolate. Have it wrapped up in some colorful cellophane and a big bow, and your customers will be more than pleased.

If you’re looking for something slightly less traditional, but still pretty mainstream, why not try a chocolate theme? A gift basket overflowing with imported chocolates, gourmet hot cocoa mix in a variety of flavors, chocolate coffee spoons, chocolate covered coffee beans … the list goes on. If there’s a chocolate lover on the gift list, you definitely have a winner.

Or consider a basket with an Italian theme, and include some pasta, sauces, antipasto, olives, parmesan cheese and, of course, a bottle of wine.

For the Hip Crowd

For a more modern, trendy corporate gift basket, you’ll want to look at some less conventional ideas. There are some interesting choices out there, including a golfer’s basket, a stress relief basket, a feng shui gift box, and a racing fan basket.

And then there’s the Party Express basket from GiftBaskets.com. Packed into a decorative box, it includes a variety of snack foods including nuts, cheese, crackers, cookies, chocolate, and jelly beans.

In some cases, just a nice arrangement of gift certificates, coupons or tickets is appropriate, nestled in with a related item. For example, your gift basket might include tickets to the ballet or theater along with some opera glasses.

Another elegant idea for a corporate gift basket is a wine basket. Of course the centerpiece will be a bottle (or two!) of wine, but you can also include some lovely crystal wineglasses, wine glass charms (little trinkets that are slipped over the stem of the wineglass to help identify it in a crowd), a stylish wine stopper, or a wine chiller.

If your company wants to make a lasting impression on its customers or employees, a thoughtfully prepared corporate gift basket will definitely do the trick. And it doesn’t have to be your run of the mill arrangement. Let your imagination go, and your gift is sure to be appreciated for some time to come.