We’re proud to say that at Gift Sensations, 90% of the gourmet food products that we package in our hampers are Australian made. We invite you to have a look at our new page that celebrates our Aussie gourmet heritage – Our Gourmet Origins.
Supporting local gourmet has been part of who we are from the very beginning. The reason our founder, Rochelle Cadry, started Gift Sensations in 1999 was because the gift baskets of the day were always boring. They were uninspiring, cellophane-wrapped baskets with garden variety snackfoods from the supermarket. Since then, we’d taken to farmer’s markets such as Bondi’s famous Saturday Farmer’s Market to discover the latest and greatest in culinary creations from all over NSW. It’s through many years of discovery (and long drives!) that we’ve discovered the mainstays of our current range of hampers.
In Our Gourmet Origins, we highlight in particular some of our longstanding partners and friends in the industry, and why we love them so much. We would be remiss, of course, to not mention the outstanding flavours we’ve discovered along the way – such as those outstanding macadamias from our Byron Bay friends, Brookfarm. You may think that with our origins in NSW that other Australian states don’t rate a mention, however this isn’t slightly true. In fact, South Australian suppliers form a large percentage of our current line-up, alongside plenty of cuisine from Victoria. After all, the Yarra Valley is known as Australia’s “destination food bowl” for a reason. What we find is that local flavours are paramount – our rum balls come from Queensland, which is fitting given the Sunshine State’s abundance of sugar cane. In fact, we can proudly say that we have had suppliers from every single state and territory in Australia over the years.
Now, of course, we’re privileged to have relocated to the evergreen, inspiring natural lands of the NSW Hunter Valley. It is because we’re here that we’ll come to start injecting new life into our gift baskets with truly amazing foods from suppliers that are literally a stone’s throw away. We absolutely love the Hunter Valley – it’s heaven for foodies like us. If you share our passion for gourmet food and wine, come and visit some of the amazing artisan producers of cheeses and preserves in our area; amongst, of course, indulging in wine tasting. Here in the Hunter, we particularly love Tamburlaine Organic Wines, and Tempus Two. Personally, I’m a Shiraz afficionado, so I’m very much drawn to the organic, pesticide-free methods of winemaking employed by Tamburlaine – no red wine headaches here.