How to choose a food hamper

Most of us have received one. A large, handsome basket, a lot of shredded paper, and inside: a miniature jar of chutney, a sachet of hot chocolate, a small packet of shortbread and a mystery condiment that sits in the cupboard until it expires.

A food hamper should be the easiest present in the world. Everyone eats. So why do so many end up half wasted?

Usually it's because the hamper was designed to look generous in a photograph rather than to be eaten. Here's how to tell the difference before you buy.

Look past the basket

A wicker basket, a wooden crate, shredded paper and ribbon all cost money, and all of it comes out of what's left to spend on the food. A hamper that looks impressive in a picture isn't necessarily one with much inside.

Before you judge a hamper by how big it looks, find the contents list. If you can't find one, that tells you something too.

Check the sizes as well as the number of items

"Fifteen items" sounds more generous than "five items". It often isn't.

Miniature jars and single-serve sachets pad out a list quickly. Look for the weight or volume of each item. A hamper with five full-size products will usually give far more food, and far more use, than one with fifteen samples.

A useful test: would you buy each item at that size for your own kitchen? If most of them are too small to bother with, the hamper is mostly packaging.

Work out the value

Most shops sell the same products individually. Add up what the contents would cost bought separately and compare it with the price of the hamper.

A good hamper should come out close to, or below, the cost of its parts. You're paying for someone to choose, pack and present it, which is worth something. But if the hamper costs twice what's inside, the difference is going on the basket.

Order earlier than you think

Hampers are popular at exactly the times delivery services are busiest, especially the weeks before Christmas. Stock of the best-made hampers can also run short, because they're packed in batches rather than produced endlessly.

If the hamper is for a particular date, order a couple of weeks ahead and check the retailer's last posting dates. Store-cupboard hampers make this easy: nothing in them will spoil while it waits in a cupboard for the big day.

If you're sending it straight to someone else, check whether the retailer can include a gift note and leave out the invoice, so the recipient doesn't see the price.

Think about how long it lasts

A hamper full of fresh cheese and cured meat needs eating within days, which is fine for a party and awkward for someone who lives alone or is away for a week.

A mix works best. Something to open straight away, like a bar of good chocolate, alongside things that keep for months in a cupboard: nuts, dried fruit, honey, oats, nut butter. The gift keeps giving long after the first evening, and nothing goes to waste.

Check best before dates too, especially if you're buying well ahead of an occasion.

Read the allergy information properly

This is where food gifts go wrong most often, and it matters more than anything else on this list.

UK law requires 14 major allergens to be declared on food labels, including peanuts, tree nuts, milk, sesame, soya and cereals containing gluten. A well-made hamper should list the allergens in every item it contains, plus any "may contain" warnings.

If you're buying for someone with an allergy, don't rely on the name of the hamper. "Healthy", "natural" and "organic" say nothing about nuts or milk. Read the full ingredients, and if a hamper doesn't list them, choose a different one.

The same goes for diets. A hamper can be vegetarian but not vegan because of a single chocolate bar containing milk. If it matters, check each item.

Match the hamper to the person

The best hampers feel chosen. A few questions help:

Do they cook? A keen cook will enjoy ingredients: good oils, spices, honey, speciality flours. Someone who doesn't cook wants things they can eat as they are.

How do they eat? Some people sit down to a treat in the evening. Others pick at food throughout the day, a handful of nuts here, a few apricots there. The second kind of person will get more from a hamper built for grazing.

Sweet or savoury? It sounds obvious, but many hampers are mostly sweet. Plenty of people would rather have crisps and nuts than another box of biscuits.

Any dietary needs? Vegan, gluten free, nut free or organic narrows the field quickly and makes the choice easier.

Who else is at home? A family hamper should have things children will eat too.

Look for honest labels

"Artisan", "gourmet", "luxury" and "wholesome" have no legal definition. Anyone can print them on a box.

"Organic" is different. In the UK, food sold as organic must be certified, and each product carries the code of the body that inspected it. If an organic hamper matters to you, check that the individual items are certified. The word on the outside of the box proves nothing.

The same applies to Fairtrade. Look for the mark on the product, not the marketing.

Our hampers, and who they're for

We built our hampers around the idea running through this whole article: full-size products that people actually want, with the contents, sizes and allergens listed clearly.

Organic Snack Hamper. Five certified organic items, including two Fairtrade chocolate bars and a full kilo of cashews. Built as a gift for someone who appreciates good food. Vegetarian, not vegan, and it contains nuts and milk. Here's what's inside and why.

Healthy Grazing Hamper. Six full-size packs of nuts, seeds, dried fruit and a jar of pecan butter, for people who pick at food throughout the day. All six items are vegan. Here's how it works.

School Lunchbox Bundle. Six store-cupboard snacks for a parent to portion out over the school term. Less a gift than a very practical shortcut.

Before you buy any hamper, from us or anyone else, check one more thing: could you get the same products for less? Members of the free Whole Food Earth Club see member prices when they're logged in at checkout.

A quick checklist

Before you buy a food hamper, ask:

• Is there a full contents list, with sizes?
• Are the products full-size, or mostly samples?
• How does the price compare with buying the items separately?
• Is there a mix of things to eat now and things that keep?
• Are all allergens and "may contain" warnings listed?
• Does it suit how this person actually eats?
• If it says organic or Fairtrade, are the individual products certified?

If the answer to most of these is yes, you've found a hamper that will be eaten rather than tidied away.