I'm so excited to be sharing with you my bumper gift guide for Christmas 2021 and this post is all about the best fun foodie gifts you can find this year because let's face it you can't go wrong with a box of luxurious chocolates or delicious coffee can you?
I've rounded up 9 of my favourite winning foodie gifts for the person in your life who loves to eat and try new things! From specialist pregnancy teas to food-themed calenders, we cover it all in this post and I hope it inspires you to try a new and independent brand when shopping for the proclaimed foodie on your list.
I would love to see if you've added any of these foodie gifts to your own Christmas list or if you've found the perfect gift for the food and drink lover in your life. Don't forget to tag me and the brand over on Instagram, you can find me at @small_business_collaborative.
Bloom & Bambi
Bloom and Bambi launched in 2021 after years of research and product development, Jennifer's first collection of tea blends is centred around supporting the wellbeing of mother and baby during pregnancy and postpartum.
Each tea is blended for a specific concern during pregnancy and postpartum. They use the finest ingredients in their teas to create a wholesome experience for every stage of pregnancy – supporting the wellbeing of mother and baby during the first, second, third trimester and while breastfeeding. All of the products pack in goodness while providing a welcome moment of calm.
This tea would make the perfect gift for any mum or expecting mother. The packaging is so beautiful and thoughtful to the environment and all the blends sound delicious.
Fun Fact from Jennifer: Bloom and Bambi were born from my experience with loved ones. My background is in chemical engineering, and I have always just enjoyed researching the science behind plants mostly for skincare uses.
Price Range: £11.95
Website: https://bloomandbambi.bigcartel.com/
Follow: @bloomandbambi_
Fetcha Chocolates
Fetcha Chocolates makes beautifully decorated and delicious tasting vegan, gluten and soy-free chocolates that are packaged 100% plastic-free, made in the UK and palm oil-free.
When starting out Fiona started with a dream: a dream that everyone could enjoy (or gift) delicious chocolates without compromising their ethics.
Fetcha Chocolates are certified as Vegan Founded, are members of the Vegan Traders Union and Fiona work with Ecologi to plant trees in the UK and abroad.
I find that vegan often means that there are lots of ingredients I have no idea of what they are but Fiona offers a great alternative to this with lots of natural and often organic ingredients and to top it off, her chocolates are also beautiful looking. The perfect editable gift!
Fun Fact from Fiona: This journey to chocolate making started about 10 years ago with another edible art form, cakes. Getting a great deal of enjoyment from "playing with food", but finished with cakes, I was frustrated when, on becoming vegan, I couldn't find nice chocolates to gift to friends and relatives that didn't compromise my ethics.
For the first 6 months, ALL the packaging was made by hand with a cutting mat, knife, a printer and lots of very long nights.
Price Range: £2.50- £55
Website: https://fetchachocolates.com/
Follow: fetchachocolates
Katie Tinkler illustration
Katie design and create food-themed products such as greeting cards, tea towels, calendars and original paintings. All are made in the UK and all packaging is plastic-free.
Her USP is that her work is drawn with a high level of detail and is quite realistic. She also creates things like an original painting of baked beans on toast which is both quite unique and fun.
Last Christmas one of her bestsellers were the vegan Christmas dinner cards. My favourite is p the breakfast T-towel and of her food pun greetings cards.
Fun Fact from Katie: I started my business during the first lockdown when I had no work. The reason I draw food is from when there was no food on the supermarket shelves and it was all we could talk about.
Price Range: £2.50- £95
Follow: @katietinklerillustration
Leith & Gray
Leith & Gray aim to make gifting easy, stress-free, quick and original. They carefully source beautiful and thoughtfully designed products from exciting new brands and present them in a luxurious Leith & Gray keepsake box.
Leith & Gray is a huge supporter of other small UK businesses and is therefore proud to stock products from many independent makers. They strive to be as sustainable as possible and almost all of their products come in reusable or recyclable packaging. Leith & Gray are proud to be part of the Blue Light Card initiative where members can always get 10% discount on any order.
I love how many small brands Lucy and Lucy support with their business. Way too often are hampers or gift boxes filled with one nice thing and mostly filler products but Leith & Gray is different and everything in their boxes are carefully curated and considered.
Fun Fact from Lucy & Lucy: We are Lucy & Lucy (!), founders of Leith & Gray.
Best friends, mothers to 3 children each and with husbands who are best friends, we are pretty much in each other’s pockets most of the time. We share a strong passion for design and creating beautiful things, and we love the challenge of finding unique and exciting presents for people. It was because of this love of gifting and the realisation that many people don’t enjoy spending hours searching for something a little different to the norm that Leith & Gray was born.
Price Range: £4.50- £60
Website: https://leithandgray.co.uk/
Follow: @leithandgray
YouPhorBee Naturals
YouPhorBee Naturals use the science in nature, harnessing the powerful benefits of botanicals and bees to create unique, premium, 100% natural health supplements, supporting specific body systems.
Feel fabulous from the inside out. Pure, Natural and Authentic.
Proudly made in the UK using majority organic ingredients, 100% natural with no added preservatives, anti-caking agents, fillers or other nasties. Their Plant Powders and Herbal Honey Electuaries are unique in that instead of popping a capsule or pill, you can add their products to your daily smoothie, (plant) milk, oatmeal, juice, tea or warm water. A bit more fun and versatile!
I use some of their powder in my smoothies and fruit juices.
Fun Fact from Youseff: Our Gastro Relief blend was originally formulated by Dr. Youssef for his mother who used to suffer terribly from stomach pain and inflammation. Conventional treatments were not effective long term and often came with unwanted side effects. Since taking this blend she is able to calm any irritations and upsets 100% naturally. In fact, the majority of our formulations have been developed by Dr. Youssef to help support friends and family with various health concerns.
Price Range: £10- £38
Website: https://youphorbeenaturals.co.uk/
Follow: @youphorbee_naturals
Coffee & Kin
Ruth and Mark discovered speciality coffee when visiting our brother-in-law, a coffee roaster in Adelaide, Australia. We were blown away by the flavour and quickly became addicted to drinking good quality coffee. So, when they got back they bought a Nespresso pod machine and enjoyed the convenience and taste of pod coffee. However, it felt wrong to throw the used plastic and aluminium pods in the bin so they set out to create their own compostable and eco-friendly pod containing speciality grade coffee.
In November they are launching Coffee & Chocolate Club where they will donate £1 per box to The Blurt Foundation. It features the finest selection of chocolatiers and coffee roasters from around the UK.
One of my guilty pleasures is my pod coffee machine and I constantly feel guilty about the waste and I really admire that Ruth and Mark decided to do something about it.
Fun Fact from Ruth & Mark: At weekends, we love to grind coffee beans and make a pot of fresh coffee. So, we also offer our own range of freshly roasted coffee beans.
Ruth has had her own battles with depression and talks freely about her mental health struggles when her twins were born. When Ruth discovered Blurt’s work, she knew that she wanted to help and that's why Coffee & Kin support the Blurt Foundation.
Price Range: £28- £30
Website: www.coffeeandkin.co.uk
Follow: @coffeeandkin
Three By One Europe
Three By One Europe is a lifestyle brand on a mission to bring transparency, sustainability & inclusivity to the supply chain of consumer goods. They give you, the consumer, options to enable you to make better choices through your purchases.
Laura want our product ranges to be good for our customers, good for the planet, and good for the people who produce them. Zero waste production means they try to use all their waste to create useful products rather than sending the waste to landfill or burning it.
Premium, organic coconut products and spices. All natural, no preservatives and PETA approved. Ethically sourced from small scale producers in Sri Lanka. Sustainable and transparent supply chains. No monkeys are used in the supply chain.
I loved reading how Laura started with oil and then continued her product development to make use of the waste, it makes so much sense and I can't wait to try some of her products.
Fun Fact from Laura: It was 2015. I was busy working for a big denim brand and was working closely with a supplier in Sri Lanka. A non work conversation, about an idea I had that ended up never happening, led me to hear the his family story in the coconut oil industry. Before I knew it I was on board and had jars of coconut oil on a boat, on the way to Belgium!
Price Range: £3- £50
Website: https://threebyone.eu/
Follow: @threebyoneeu
Oh Lily!
Oh Lily! is a wellness snack brand that inspires conscious snacking with crunchy water lily seeds in savoury and chocolate gourmet flavours to nourish your mind, body, and soul.
During a trip to India founders, Dewi and Gov rediscovered the power of an ancient superfood; the water lily seed. Used for centuries in Ayurvedic medicine because of its outstanding nutritional value, the water lily seed is not only a good source of protein but also scores high on iron, magnesium and beneficial amino acids.
Oh Lily! crunchy snacks are handmade and made in the UK.
I love that I get to discover so many new small businesses with unique products putting this guide together and I can not wait to try Oh Lily! snacks. Sounds like the perfect combo of tasty and healthy!
Fun Fact from Dewi and Gov: Oh Lily! is the creation of two French foodie sisters with a passion to share their aspiration for a healthy and environmentally conscious lifestyle. Their secret ingredient is LOVE!
Price Range: £3.5 - £31.50
Website: www.ohlilysnacks.com
Follow: @teamlilypop
Steep & Leaf Tea Company
Steep & Leaf Tea Company is a female and black owned tea company. They sell rare and exciting loose-leaf tea blends using teas that have been grown and sourced ethically from different tea estates across Africa. At present, their collection consists of teas from Malawi, South Africa and Mozambique and these include green, black, white, rooibos and herbal tea blends. The tea blends are inspired by Pam's travelling experiences, cultural heritage and childhood memories.
Pam's mission is to redefine how we drink tea from tea bags to loose leaf teas.
I love how beautiful and different the packaging is and I think Pam's teas would make a great gift and self-purchase. Who wouldn't want to display these beautiful jars on their tea-shelf!
Fun Fact from Pam: We take a lot of pride in our Zimbabwean heritage, and the appreciation of tea plays a pivotal role across the African continent in different social settings. Africa is home to some of the best tea growing regions and the production of tea on the continent continues to grow. Our aim is to get those rare and great tasting teas known around the world.
Price Range: £2.50 - £29.99
Website: https://steepandleaf.com/
Follow: @steepandleaf
If you'd like to see the full Christmas gift guide for 2021 please visit this link.
I think the food-lover in your life will be drooling over these gifts they never knew they needed. It was so fascinating to find out about these businesses and I believe there's truly something for every type of foodie on this list. I would love to hear if you have supported any of the small businesses featured or tried them at home yourself. Don't forget to tag me over on Instagram, @small_business_collaborative, with your unique finds - I love to see them!
Thank you so much to all the 260+ businesses that took the time to apply to this years gift guides, I really appreciate you all and it was so much fun to see everything you create. And thank you to Adele who helped me put this all together. If you need help with your online product listings for Etsy, Faire, Shopify and more, Adele can help. You can find all your details over on her website.