The Use of Color in Your Gift Basket or Gourmet Food Shop

Dark vs. Light Colors and The Use of "Broad Appeal" Colors

The purpose of your gift basket or gift store's color scheme is to attract the eye of potential customers and to create a pleasant environment for the sale of your gourmet foods and gift baskets. Therefore, the colors that you select should appeal to the broadest possible market and be bright, clean and "cheery" in tone.  Avoid both dreary colors and the latest, most radical "faddish, high-style colors" to elicit the most favorable responses from the greatest number of people.  Try to use a reasonably wide variety of colors that evoke pleasant feelings and have the widest possible appeal.

A gift basket or gourmet food store that has a well-coordinated color scheme will appeal to the public at large.  Many of our most successful gift basket and / or gourmet food store customers have told us that the right colors of packaged foods (and merchandise generally) sell very well, while the wrong colors languish on the shelves, gathering dust.  You must try to strike a balance between making your gift basket or gourmet food store a little too "drab and boring" without going too far in the other extreme by having a color scheme that is too trendy and has too short of a popular life span.


Dark vs. Light Colors For Your Gift Basket or Gourmet Food Shop: Some Guidelines

Many gourmet gift shops and basket companies use a light color - usually a beige or off-white - as the major color in the store and then contrast it with brighter hues.  This generally is agreeable to most people and is helpful in presenting the merchandise in the most favorable light possible.  Be sure not to use too much brilliant color, however.  Use it sparingly to direct your customers to where the selling of your gift basket / gourmet food items is done. Use more intense colors (like pastel orange and lime green) at the ends of your gift basket shop to attract your patrons to those areas.  Deeper tones and colors should be used exclusively in areas behind your gourmet foods and other gift basket merchandise.  Do not use these colors on upper walls or other large expanses or areas.  The darker colors are effective "backdrop" for your specialty gift basket / gourmet food merchandise and should be reserved for those areas.  Normally, your furniture and fixtures should be done in neutral colors (beige, gray etc.) so as not to "compete" with the gourmet food and gift basket products that you are displaying.

Overall, use your own good judgement and taste when selecting colors, patterns and themes for your gift basket / gourmet gift shop.  Allow the same creative juices that you use in the gift basket designs that you create to flow in the design and color scheme of your shop (without getting too carried away!) and your store will thrive!

Phyllis and Greg Sprout began their company, epicureanfoods.com, in July 1993.  They specialize in supplying hard-to-find gourmet foods and gift basket supplies to gourmet shops, gift shops and gift basket companies across North America. 

They have helped the founders of literally thousands of gift, gourmet food and gift basket companies start and grow their businesses.  Many of these companies remain excellent customers of epicureanfoods.com today.  They can be reached at phyllisandgreg@epicureanfoods.com.