Chocolate Corporate Gift Basket

Everyone at my company noticed when our boss lost weight during COVID-19. While others gained weight from exercising less and staying home during lockdowns, our boss was getting thinner. Nobody said anything. After all, it's not appropriate to comment on a person's weight. But soon we discovered why. When the staff came back to the office after COVID cases went down, we noticed our boss was going to the gym a lot. Almost every day on his lunch break, our boss would go to the gym for a workout. He would come back sweaty and smelling like gym socks, but he looked happier and healthier than he had in a long time. So, everyone was happy for him.

That is, until he started trying to get the entire office in on his health kick.

At first, he tried asking around to see if anyone wanted to go to the gym with him during his lunch break. Then, he started to ask about meeting up before or after work to go for a run. A couple of people went with him, but most of us just continued focusing on work.

A few weeks went by and we started to notice the gourmet chocolate gifts in our break room were gone. There weren't any more sodas -- just water and herbal tea selections. Even the best chocolate gifts from our office party had been removed!

We asked our boss why he had them taken out and he said he wanted to make the workplace healthier for everyone since he had been doing so well with his own health and wellness goals. He said no more custom chocolate corporate gifts either, and even threw away the chocolate corporate gift basket his supervisor had given him! He said that corporate gifts for clients would have to include other items besides chocolate, candy, or food.

The team was shocked when our boss told us that we would no longer be sending chocolate corporate gifts to clients. Not chocolate corporate gifts in the USA, and not chocolate gift baskets abroad either. He wanted to make sure that everything he was sending out -- and bringing into the office -- was as healthy as possible. He wanted our business partners and clients to know about his health kick, and he wanted to offer them support if they thought about doing the same, and he said that sending chocolate gift baskets would just tempt people who were trying to live a healthy life.

One of our managers politely disagreed with him. I was surprised she spoke up -- she almost never contributed to company meetings. But this time, she said she wasn't sure if clients and business partners would be receptive to the change. Giving gift boxes with decadent treats and snacks was a company tradition for years, and they would be changing something that the community had come to expect about their business and often looked forward to every year. She mentioned how business always went up right after we sent chocolate gift baskets out to their recipients.

I could see our boss thinking hard. Then he asked, "Does anyone have any ideas for unique corporate gift baskets that don't have chocolate or candy in them?"

Soon, a loud chatter erupted from the staff as they started talking about unique corporate gifts that weren't edible.

"What about gift baskets for employees working at home that feature stationery, pens and pencils, and other office supplies?"

An excited murmur told me that this was an idea that most, if not all of the staff, liked.

Our boss piped up and said, "Okay, that sounds like a really good idea. Could we do that for a gift basket for a group too?"

Everyone nodded. "It would be really easy to get together corporate gift baskets with office supplies for different groups," I added.

We talked about different types of non-food gift boxes, including health and wellness gifts, gift cards, bath and beauty gifts, and more. Then, we talked about healthy food gift boxes that included fresh fruits and other healthy snacks, but these couldn't be shipped without risking spoilage.

The office took the afternoon to deliberate on our boss' idea. Nobody was happy that all the sweets had been taken out of our office and weren't going to be part of the company gifts anymore.

Soon, it became apparent that we weren't going to be able to do edible corporate gifts at all. The only food items that were healthy couldn't be shipped. So we held a vote and decided that we would go with luxury corporate gift baskets for clients that included things like candles, face masks, champagne, keepsake glasses, and similar.

The person at the company helping our boss pick out luxury corporate gifts for employees, clients, supervisors, and anyone else for whom gifting would be appropriate was very nice and I spoke with her a number of times while we were deliberating on the options available to our company. She said that luxury corporate gifts were quickly outpacing gift baskets with snacks, chocolate, and other candies. Unique gift boxes with keepsake items were growing in popularity and the best gift baskets didn't even have chocolate in them at all.

After all, chocolate melts in the heat. If we needed to ship the basket to an employee or client in a warm climate, it could arrive all melted and ruined. We didn't want that! So we discussed what other items we could include in our custom corporate gifts that our health-nut boss would allow us to send.

The lady helping us at the company that sold unique gift baskets to businesses said that the best luxury gift baskets included classy home or office items, drinkware, kitchenware, etc. We were informed that gourmet gift baskets didn't have to include chocolate or any kind of snack if our boss didn't want to send edible gifts to employees, business partners, clients, and other recipients now that he was concerned about everyone's health.

The entire staff wanted to be a part of selecting items to go into the best office gift baskets. We chose a wide variety of useful and luxurious gifts, like patterned Post-Its, cute staplers and push pins, and pens and pencils with our company logo on them. By the time we were finished, we were convinced we had made the best corporate gift baskets that had ever been made! Without chocolate, of course. Everyone knew that a gift basket with a few sweet treats was a better option, but after COVID and losing so much weight, our boss just wasn't going to have it. We were all going to have to abide by his health kick, but I didn't really mind. I'd lost five pounds since coming back to the office after working at home for so long!

Our boss didn't want to see a premium chocolate gift box anywhere. Not in our break room, not in our mail box to go out, and certainly not on our desks. Employees ate the rest of their corporate chocolate gift boxes from the last office party as quickly as they could, keeping the trash hidden at their desks until they could throw it away. I had some leftover chocolate from one of my Godiva corporate gifts and I gave it to my co-worker. I just didn't feel like having any after seeing everyone get nearly sick from eating so many gourmet chocolate gift boxes at once. 

Maybe I was becoming like our boss and preferred healthier choices as opposed to enjoying the best gourmet chocolate gift baskets. Sure, granola isn't as decadent or delicious as chocolate, but it's definitely better for the body. Ever since our boss started making employees keep chocolate and snacks out of the office after COVID, I've lost a ton of weight and kept it off. I think everyone should think about giving up eating so many sweets, but many employees are happy to abide by the no-sweets rule at the office only until they get home, where they can indulge in peace.

Now, our company's best custom gift baskets don't have any candy or snacks and it's been that way for a couple of months now. Our clients, employees, and business partners love their corporate gift baskets with logo-emblazoned items. The pens and pencils were a hit, and we decided to exchange staplers for one of our other corporate gift ideas -- a custom, reusable dry erase board.

We weren't sure if these corporate gifts for employees would go over well, but they definitely did. Not only were they customized corporate gifts that helped promote our company, but they were also useful items that people actually wanted to receive. We went the same way that other luxury corporate gifting companies started going after COVID and we haven't looked back since. Our unique corporate gifts are much more popular now and they're also not as expensive, saving our company money on expenses.

Even the employees that weren't excited about getting rid of the chocolate and candy gifts at first are starting to enjoy having more practical, usable items. Everyone on staff seems to love the new gift basket ideas, and we're even starting to put together a health and wellness basket to give away next!