Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
Hampers are such a good idea at Christmas. I remember receiving a few over the years when I was a child as ‘thank you’ gifts at Christmas so that the whole family could enjoy them. I don’t particularly remember what was in them but it was so exciting rummaging through all the ruffled paper to find something else. Then there’s the obvious questions to my Mum, ‘What is this?’ It would turn out to be something like a posh chutney, or a type of Christmas dessert we never had in our house. I remember loose tea being in one hamper and my mind automatically thought you had to assemble your own tea bags from it. What was the point of that?
Hampers have come a long way since then but they’re just as popular as gifts and there’s so many varieties to choose from. The Goodness Project use lots of vegan and gluten free products for their gift boxes, and there are plenty of gift boxes available on their website so you’ll find one within your price range and suitable for any occasion.
We were sent their 2023 Joy of Christmas Gift Box to try out. This £28.50 box is deceptively full with treats for Christmas! There’s everything you need including:
- A bottle of Bottega Gold Prosecco (20cl)
- Angelic Chocolate and Orange Biscuits (vegan)
- Love Cocoa Peruvian Dark Chocolate (71%)
- English Truffle Potato Crisps
- Filberts Flavoured Nut Mix
- Lottie Shaw’s Deep Filled Mince Pie (70g)
The box is enough for one person to eat themselves or two people to share, but the bottle of Prosecco is probably only enough for 1 glass each! The Filberts Flavoured Nut Mix was a surprise with how lovely they were. There was a mixture of different nuts, but they were roasted and flavoured with herbs which made them different to what you can usually buy on supermarket shelves. The English Truffle Potato crisps from English Heritage have won the Great Taste award for 2023 probably due to the quality of the potato and then the delicious truffle flavour. If you’ve never tried truffle crisps before, then if I describe them to you as posh mushroom but not as strong, you’ll know that the taste is pretty tame and even children would enjoy it.
For the sweeter snacks, there’s the Deep Filled Mince Pie from Lottie Shaw’s. Bigger than the mine pies you get in the supermarket in packs of 6, this is deep filled and baked in Yorkshire to a family recipe. It’s great for the mince pie aficionado who loves to compare all the varieties on the market each Christmas! There’s also the Angelic Chocolate Orange Vegan cookies which are also dairy, nut and gluten free. The packaging says they’re safe for the top 14 allergens which is good to know if you’re buying the gift box for a teacher or family you don’t know that well. There’s two packets of biscuits in the box (which is all recyclable) and 4 cookies in each making 8 in all. Plenty for a snack throughout the Christmas period but also great for entertaining!
Lastly there’s the Peruvian Dark Chocolate from Love Cocoa. With a weight of 75 grams it’s about the size of tuckshop confectionary but at 71% it’s a dark chocolate from one of the best chocolate makers around. It’s very smooth and very strong so even if you’re a dark chocolate lover like me, you probably won’t want to eat all of it in one go.
The final item in the Joy of Christmas Hamper Box is the Bottega Gold Prosecco which is also organic and vegan. A light, sparkling wine which compliments the mix of Christmas flavours in the other items in the box, it’s a welcome alcohol addition to round off Christmas. It is 11% though so best keep it away from the children!
Rather than buy another ever-decreasing size box of chocolates and the dreaded Panettone
for your neighbours or family friends this Christmas, splash out on a bit more and send a Goodness Project gift box and forget about having to wrap it – their gorgeous ribbon box is sent directly to them for you!
Available online for £28.50 at: https://thegoodnessproject.co.uk/shop/joy-of-christmas-hamper-gift-box
The Review Studio 