Are you looking for new gifts and goodies for gift baskets? Here’s how to search for local products.
Backyard bonanza
It’s fun to travel to a local farm or fair to enjoy time at that event. What’s even better is when you find a product that has potential for adding to your gifts and baskets.
You’ve never seen the product before. Perhaps it’s brand new, or maybe the maker only sells at this event. If it’s a gift item you look at the product carefully as you think about the possibilities. If the product is in the gourmet category, you taste it to determine if it’s just right for your clients.
Has this already happened for you? What were the results after speaking with the maker or representative? I’ve found products at such places, which is a bit outside of places this main gift basket products article features.
My favorite spots are chocolate shows, craft fairs, and country events. Such shows introduce me to sauces, confections, and beverages not found on retail shelves. Best of all, such products elevate gifts above traditional items found in most basket designs. Plus, customers love knowing that a product they’re buying was made locally.
Three steps
When finding such products, it’s important to learn where and how the product is made and packaged. Edible items must be developed in a commercially-based facility, a place outside of home kitchens. This is the foundation for knowing if the product is a candidate for your gifts.
You also must know about wholesale pricing. Some makers have only thought about selling at a retail price. Introducing the person to the wholesale market may be a new avenue for her. You know, from seeing the retail price, how much you want to pay per unit. The maker may have a different price in mind.
Can you buy the product in quantities that will always be available even during hot weather or holidays? Some small operations don’t think much about such a process because a buyer like you has never approached them. Still, this type of negotiation may be worth your while.
More on how to search for local products
Episode 70 podcast, How to Buy Locally Made Products, provides more insight into this buying opportunity. Like you, I’m a designer who loves discovering something new and different for my gifts. When such a product is found, my mental wheels start spinning, and a discussion with the owner begins.
If you’ve not considered buying wholesale from local vendors, perhaps you will now.
