The Doers Gift Guide For Foodies
Looking for inspiration for the foodie in your life? Look no further, we’ve pulled together ten incredible gifts from some of our favourite brands this year, that any foodie would love to receive.
We’re a bunch of foodies at The Doers. Outside of the world of marketing, you’ll often find our Founders, Jess and Laura checking out the latest foodie haunts (check out their Reel from a launch dinner with our Client Seafood Scotland), our Copywriting expert, Ben has actually written a recipe book this year with his best mate and Allie officially brought two crates of Black Lines Oat Nog like the true Christmas cocktail fanatic she is. So it only makes sense that our first gift guide of the season should feature gifts to make mouths water, taste buds tingle, and of course, our inner foodie hearts full of joy. Let’s dive into what to get the foodie in your life this festive season…
We’ve rounded up our top gifts for the home bartender to the sweet tooths in your life. You’ll find sustainable boxed wine by Laylo, delicious chocolate by the Scottish-based brand Bare Bones, and even one of our top reads this year by the wonderful Stanley Tucci.
For the wine lovers
If you have a friend that knows their Vinho Verde from Viognier, we have just the gift for you. Laylo offers incredible wines, all sourced and produced sustainably in boxes. You heard us right, boxed wine that is actually great. Not only do the boxes make the wine last up to six weeks once opened (ideal for those who like a small glass with dinner) but, it’s actually pretty good for the environment too. Plus, the aesthetic selling point? The boxes are so, so beautiful - they’re a piece of art in themselves.
If you fancy reading a little bit more about Laylo, their founders, and marketing strategy - Laura did an interview with them here.
Our gift pick: Team Laylo’s Top Picks £105.97
For the stylish cooks
We will never not recommend Our Place, splashing onto the scene a couple of years ago their stylish cookware brand has taken digital marketing by storm. You can barely open Instagram without seeing one of the colourful pans adorning the cooker of an aesthetic kitchen. Asides from its looks though, the cookware is fantastic and their brand marketing? Even better. Allie gave a nod to their social media efforts in her yearly round-ups in 2021.
Their pans make for a thoughtful gift for keen chefs, they’re beautiful but also pretty amazing to cook with - a true win-win situation.
Our gift pick: The Always Pan £125
For the home bartender
Move over gin, tequila is making a comeback, in fact, it’s share of spirits sales has grown by 13% over the past few years. So if you’re looking to impress your mixologist friend, a bottle of tequila will be the perfect addition to their bar cart. El Rayo is an all-around favourite with our team, created to take on the T&T market (tequila and tonic if you’re wondering!) - its incredible taste means it’s a perfect simple drink for any occasion.
We’re obsessed with the gift packages they have this year, including glassware, and coaster and we’re even eyeing up some of their art pieces. If you fancy reading more about El Rayo, their founders and marketing strategy, Ben caught up with them earlier this year.
Our gift pick: Your Perfect Reposado T&T £89.95
For Baristas in the making
Since the lockdown, there has been a huge shift in coffee culture, taken away from our usual coffee shop haunts a lot of people turned to create their own coffee haven within their homes, those with space have made a specific coffee corner (have a search on Pinterest, there are some super innovative ideas). So it’s no surprise that coffee-related gifts will be gracing many people this year.
We actually wrote an entire blog post on coffee brands we love to support recently, but we also bring another, incredibly festive pick to the table… Say hello to Coaltown Coffee, B-Corp official, specialty roastery. Their Christmas blends have really caught our eye (Allie has actually ordered both to try, we’ll keep you posted with the taste testing on our Instagram!). The best thing about this brand? You can choose exactly how you want your coffee, for no change in price whether it’s whole beans, ground coffee, or even Aeropress (there are so many more choices).
Our gift pick: The Festive Duo Coffee Gift Box £25
For the creative chef
Some people have what it takes to create the perfect recipes in the kitchen, their creativity is unfounded and they love to share their concoctions. The best gift for them? A recipe book, for noting down all of these incredible recipes. Now we hear you, they’ve probably already got one. Well maybe, but if they’re creating an abundance of recipes, a fresh new one for 2023 isn’t going to go a miss.
How can you take this a step further to feel really special and personalised? Papier of course. A go-to stationery brand for us (you should see our matching branded notebooks!) - they have an array of designs, from minimalistic to eccentric, plus you can add their name to it, it is always the small things, right?
Our gift pick: Bake and Grill Recipe Journal £26
For the cocktail enthusiast
Bottled cocktails have become a regular on the shelves at your local supermarket, they always look a bit sad and full of sugar though right? Well thankfully, the beautifully designed and made Black Lines is here to change the way we see bottled cocktails. They are made with good ingredients, the selection is considered, and well, the taste. Let’s just say we’re consistent repurchasers.
We created a Brand Marketing post about them if you want to see more about how much we love their marketing strategy, but if you’re here purely for the cocktail chat (we get it!) - we’ve tried pretty much all of them, but Allie is a little obsessed with the Oat Nog (two crates have been purchased this year, two). They’re actually giving five meals away to The Felix Project with every bottle bought!
Our gift pick: The Italian Job £84 (also absolutely get yourself a bottle of ‘nog whilst you’re there).
For the sweet tooth
Chocolate, you cannot go wrong with a chocolate gift at Christmas. After all, it is the month when it becomes acceptable to eat chocolate pre-lunchtime right? Let’s be honest though, not all chocolate is made equal, nowadays we’re inundated with choices and flavours, how do you cut through and choose the best?
We base it on a few things, taste and most importantly, sustainability. That’s why we love Bare Bones, the Glasgow-based bean-to-bar chocolate brand that has goodness at the heart of them. Their chocolate is produced in small batches in their factory/shop in Glasgow, they source rare quality beans, paying a fair price for them and creating a mutually beneficial relationship for farmers and themselves. Also, their packaging is made in the UK and is fully recyclable. Not to mention the fact the chocolate is delightful, which makes for the perfect gift!
Our gift pick: The Orignal Four Bar Collection £24
For the avid reader
If you love food, you’ll probably want to read about food right? A read which has been thoroughly enjoyed by the team this year is Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci. Most will know Stanley from films, he’s an incredible actor with an array of incredible films to his name, but he’s also a huge food enthusiast.
This memoir speaks through his food experiences throughout his life from growing up to filming foodie films such as Julie and Julia (a great watch by the way). It’s a book that any foodie would truly devour and makes for the perfect stocking filler.
Jess actually bought this book for Ben last year as part of our secret santa, he loved it so much that he wrote a blog post all about copywriting tips from Stanley Tucci.
Our gift pick: Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci £9.49
For the Italian amanti
Sometimes (most of the time) there is nothing better than a good pasta dish, with comforting carbs covered with parmesan. It’s enough to make anyone drool, right?
Let’s face it sometimes we want restaurant-quality pasta, but we don’t quite have the tools to create our own pasta or the time to create the perfect sauce. The answer? Pasta Evangelists. The pasta delivery service makes fancy meal times a dream. With different options every week, you can curate the perfect Italian date night from the comfort of your own home. All you have to do is boil off your pasta and heat the sauce (and pour the wine of course).
If you are stumped on a good for your foodie friend, a Pasta Evangelists voucher will go down a treat, especially in dreary January when they need a pasta pick-me-up.
Our gift pick: Pasta Evangelists Gift Card from £20-100
Wild Card Choice
Last but not least, we present our wild card choice (who doesn’t love a wild card?) - if like us you’re a fan of putting together a hamper for Christmas we’ve found the perfect addition. Now, this is a foodie-specific gift, but for the right person, this would be such a treat.
Foodies know that good olive oil is everything, it can make or break your dish - truly. So to add a little more excitement to your foodie friend’s kitchen, why not try popping a YiaYia & Friends Olive Oil in your hamper? Not only is the bottle and branding stunning, one to have on show in your kitchen for sure - it’s also cold pressed, nutritionally high in value, and low in acidity. It’s a small and mighty gift for any foodie. They have a few different infusions to try from classic garlic to chili.
Our gift pick: Olive and Basil Oil £19.50
There you have it, foodies in your life, sorted. Just remember the perfect festive gift-buying rule, one for them, one for you right?
Don’t forget you can also find a ton of foodie gifts in your local area, from your local bakery to vineyards and breweries. We love the idea of putting a hamper together so you can mix both local businesses with slightly further afield UK brands.
