Order Hampers for Birthdays

Choose by appetite, not by budget

Most birthday hamper ranges are sorted by price, which tells you nothing about whether the person will enjoy the contents. Sorting by appetite is faster. Nearly everyone sits in one of three camps, and once you have picked the camp the shortlist gets very short.

• Sweet. Chocolatier Belgian chocolate truffles, Scottie Dog shortbread fingers, Buttermilk caramel sea salt fudge and Pimlico fruit jellies. The safest bet for someone whose taste you only half know.
• Savoury. Hunter's Gourmet black truffle potato chips, Kangaroo Island olives, Valley Produce Company roasted peanuts and mini artisan crackers, plus Chocolatier caramelised cashew brittle for the person who never finishes a dessert.
• Both. Kangaroo Island Produce Co honey popcorn appears in more of our hampers than anything else because it bridges the two, and a fig and almond fruit pyramid gives a cheese board somewhere to go.

If you want to browse wider than birthdays, the full gourmet hamper range is sorted the same way, and the snacking and chocolate pages are useful if you would rather build something small yourself.

Landing it on the day

Birthdays have a fixed deadline, which is the whole problem. Orders placed before 12pm on a weekday are dispatched the same day, and every parcel is tracked with Australia Post so you can watch it move. Transit time belongs to Australia Post rather than to us, so if the date genuinely matters, order a few days out instead of on the morning. If you are already late, ordering before midday still buys you a full working day over ordering at three in the afternoon. Full detail sits on our delivery information page.

Milestone birthdays

Thirtieths, fiftieths and the ones with a nought on the end usually want a bottle in the box. The champagne hampers put G.H. Mumm Cordon Rouge, Moët & Chandon Impérial Brut or Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label alongside the same food, and Château Tanunda Grand Barossa Shiraz works better for a red drinker. If the recipient does not drink, the non-alcoholic hampers are built around food from the start rather than being a wine hamper with the bottle taken out.

When the birthday gift is from everyone

Office collections, sibling group chats and sporting clubs all run into the same two problems: someone has to front the money, and fourteen names will not fit on a card. A hamper solves the first because one person orders and the rest transfer, and the second is easier than it looks. Sign it with the group rather than the roll call, then say what the group is. "From the Thursday netball team" lands better than a list of first names in six point type, and it tells the recipient exactly which part of their life the gift came from.

The card matters more than you think

Every hamper includes a free personalised gift card carrying your message, slipped under the ribbon so it is the first thing seen when the lid lifts. It is worth a minute of thought. "Happy birthday" is fine, but the year you both remember is better, and it is the part they keep long after the popcorn has gone.

Birthday hamper questions

Can it arrive on the birthday itself?

Often, but we will not promise a date. Order before 12pm on a weekday for same-day dispatch, then use the tracking number to watch the parcel. For a date that cannot slip, give it a few days of margin.

What do I send when I barely know their taste?

Go savoury and sweet in the same box. Honey popcorn, crackers, olives and chocolate truffles between them cover almost everyone, and nothing in that mix needs to be an acquired taste.

Can I send a birthday hamper to an office?

Yes, and it is often the more reliable address during business hours. Put the company name in the address so reception can match the parcel to a person, and keep the message on the gift card in mind if you would rather colleagues did not read it aloud.