Gourmet Gift Baskets

With the help of a co-op produce manager, Siegal evaluates five fruit baskets containing only organic fruit (some baskets also contained tea and jam). The produce manager concludes that the fruit is the… baskets costs twice as much as it would in a local specialty grocery store, excluding shipping costs. Diamond Organics takes top honors for both overall quality and value with a "Hawaii pineapple so tasty we ate it in one sitting," carefully packed strawberries and "huge, juicy" kiwis, among other fruits. Got Fruit's basket is panned for containing a "moldy orange," a "broken kiwi" and "a couple of gashed pears." The company offered a replacement. Harry & David is the runner-up, but fruit ships when it's ripe, so you can't select a delivery date.

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Lauren Lipton wonders whether gift baskets are the "new fruitcake," leaving behind "mystery condiments" and past-its-prime flavored coffee, long after the holidays are over. Chelsea Market's Simple… Pleasures Savory basket was beautiful but the fruit that came in it was mealy and ordinary. Harry & David's Extra Deluxe Fruit Basket didn't wow testers, but most of its contents were quickly eaten, and the willow basket they came in seemed sturdy. Wine Country gift baskets sent a Classic basket whose contents didn't find many takers. Zingerman's sent a smallish box of baked "moist, tasty" sweets, but testers judged it a poor value.

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Many gift baskets receive one or two reviews, but a few receive a dozen or more. The Thinking of You Basket from Wine Country Gift Baskets earns an average of 4 1/2 stars out of five in 23 reviews. Many… customers praise the presentation, but a few say that the food isn't truly gourmet quality. The Wine Country Sampler from the same company receives much lower marks, with complaints centering on customer service problems.

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