The holiday shopping season is a time when brands achieve record-breaking sales, and this year is no exception. In addition to prioritizing holiday gifts amid inflationary pressures, consumers are planning to spend more on food and beverages this season. This signals an opportunity for brands with products or content that can be complemented by premium CPG items.
To offset a potentially lower number of sales of higher-priced items, food and drink gifts that are more budget-friendly can be added to your shop.
With 30,000 new CPG products launched each year, the challenge is curating foodie gifts that will actually intrigue shoppers. “The irony is that shoppers don’t want more products to consider, but they also don’t want fewer. They want more of the right products,” says Sabena Suri, our Head of Curation.
Fortunately, this challenge is a ghost of holidays past. Instead of working around the clock to curate and stock CPG products that may or may not sell, you can add premium food items from value-driven brands to your shop via Canal. These items are featured in our Holiday 2022 Catalog, including gift ideas for foodies under $50.
Who should add foodie gifts to their ecommerce shop?
Because food is an essential part of our livelihood, demand for food will grow despite economic downturns. And as Thanksgiving, BFCM, Hanukkah, Christmas, and other holidays approach, more ecommerce brands and content creators can enter this space thanks to brand partnership platforms.
Kitchenware brands
Acquiring customers is a big challenge, especially for DTC brands. To increase repeat purchases and revenue, brands must focus on retention tactics, upselling and cross-selling, and providing a top-level customer experience. For kitchenware brands, that can mean selling third-party food products from value-driven brands alongside your own cookware and bakeware.
The Pantry Pals collection by Great Jones is a prime example of this. They partnered with brands like Fishwife, Fly By Jing, and DEUX to increase AOV by 80%.
Other food and drinks brands
At this time of the year, gift cards and restocking are typical preparation processes for most food and beverage brands. But instead of relying on these old, regurgitated tactics, why not surprise customers with delightful food gifts from fellow brands? For example, a chocolate brand could partner with candy, wine, and nut brands to create a holiday gift collection.
Culinary content creators
If you already have an established audience of foodies, selling products during this holiday season is an excellent way to earn a side income. There are several examples of culinary creators who started by building their brands but later became ecommerce retailers after realizing this opportunity.
Food blogs, food critics, and chefs can seize this opportunity. Instead of relying on affiliate commissions, advertising revenue, and private label dropshipping, you can create a holiday marketplace of your favorite food from the world’s best brands. Merchandise them through your favorite social channels, shoppable recipes, and gift guides for foodies.
The best food gifts to dropship
Partnering with the best food dropshipping suppliers is one of the easiest ways to increase assortment and AOV this holiday season. But while it’s an attractive business model, choosing brand partners is a big challenge if you’re strapped for time. To make this easier, we’ve curated a collection of the best gifts for foodies, all available on Canal.
Graza Drizzle Oil ($20)
“We all set out to build a new type of olive oil company. One that is not rooted in deceptive marketing. One that is not tied to one cuisine. One that is fun as hell to use (squeeze bottles say whattttt). One that is not bougie or egregiously expensive. One that is MADE TO BE USED.” — Andrew Benin, Co-founder and CEO of Graza
Graza olive oil contains 100% Picual oil sourced from Jaen, Spain. After living with his in-laws in Spain for months, the co-founder concluded that everything tastes better when it includes at least a spoonful of olive oil. Inspired by this experience, he started manufacturing his olive oil: Drizzle and Sizzle.
Graza’s Drizzle oil is extracted from the early harvest of small and hard olives. Unlike other olive oils, finishing oil is affordable and contains rich antioxidants. Because it’s made from young olives, Drizzle oil has a spicier, stronger, and more concentrated flavor. Add Drizzle oil as a “finisher” on your pizza and ice cream and as simple dips for your bread.
Fishwife Smoked Trout ($27)
“On a hike in early 2020, my co-founder Caroline and I had the light bulb moment. We realized that, although countless Americans adored high-quality tinned fish, no American company was catering to this audience.” — Becca Milsten, Co-founder of Fishwife
Female-founded and Los Angeles-based, Fishwife Tinned Seafood Co is a brand specializing in packaging premium canned seafood. Caroline Goldfarb and Becca Millstein, the two founders, dove into the tinned seafood business in 2020 after they fell in love with tinned fish, using it for almost every snack and meal. Soon, they realized a gap in the American market for premium canned fish which led to the birth of Fishwife.
For trout lovers, Fishwife smoked trout is a nutrient-rich food containing 62% less mercury than the FDA’s acceptable standard. In addition to garlic, salt, and a toothpick for picking up the chunks of fish, the trout is canned in olive oil. This is perfect for foodies who love quick lunches and hostesses making holiday snacks.
Jacobsen Salt Co. Finishing Salt ($15)
“I first experienced quality salt when I was living in Copenhagen, Denmark. I landed there for school and later moved to Norway for work. When I first tasted good sea salt, there was no going back. Why? It was just SO much better than anything I had ever tasted in the United States” — Ben Jacobsen, founder of Jacobsen Salt Co
Prominent for selling harvested sea salts, Jacobsen Salt Co is a leading salt maker in America, garnering worldwide recognition for pure taste from industry-leading chefs. The founder, Ben Jacobsen, experimented with making good sea salt for nearly two and half years before establishing Jacobsen Salt in 2011.
Jacobsen Finishing Salts are hand-harvested from the pristine waters of Netarts Bay on the Oregon Coast. It adds flavor and freshness to any meal, making it the go-to for chefs nationwide. With bright salinity and delicate crunch, you can Jacobsen salts to sliced steaks and roasts, grilled vegetables, baked goods, and anything else.
West~bourne Coconut Almond Crumble ($15)
"I opened my business, West-bourne, because I had a wild vision for what a restaurant could be: zero-waste, mission-driven, and vegetable-forward, with an unapologetic focus on the well-being of our team and of our neighbors." — Camilla Marcus, founder of West~bourne.
Inspired by the atmospheric Los Angeles-based light and space artists of the 1960s, West-bourne is a minimalist brand with an intentional approach to food, lifestyle, and gathering. Its founder, Chef Camilla Marcus, is famous for her work outside the kitchen and intense passion for vegetables, which led to the establishment of her vegetarian restaurant, West~bourne, in 2018 in New York City.
This Westbourne product is an organic, grain-free coconut crumble made from a mix of dried Sri Lankan coconut, silver almonds, coconut oil, salt, and cinnamon. If you’re looking for stocking stuffer gifts, this is a great addition that granola lovers can indulge in on that special day when friends and family are opening gifts and brunch is being prepared.
Yun Hai Miso Soy Paste ($24)
“My number one goal is to make ingredients and packaged foods and things like that available to home cooks.” — Lisa Cheng Smith, founder of Yun Hai Shop
Miso Soy Paste comes from a blend of Miso (a traditional Japanese seasoning) and Soy (Taiwanese soya beans). Yun Hai Taiwanese Pantry, a Taiwan-based company, is the manufacturer of this premium cooking ingredient.
Raised by a Taiwanese mother and American Father, Yun Hai Shop’s founder Lisa Cheng Smith had always loved Taiwanese food. This passion led to the creation of Yun Hai Taiwanese Pantry in February 2019.
Unlike other cooking pastes, the soybeans in this paste are fermented for at least six months in custom-made vats, giving the paste a distinct scent and flavor that puts it ahead of other standard soy sauces. You can pour Miso paste into any dish that needs a hit of sweet umami, spoon it over a hot protein, or add it as butter to steamed vegetable rice.
More food gifts to dropship
For more gift ideas for foodies, we’ve got you covered. Check out these additional pantry products in our Holiday 2022 Catalog for inspiration…
Foodie gifts under $25
- Diaspora Co. Black Pepper ($10) — Composed of layered, fruity heat, black pepper is rich in flavor, unreasonably tasty, and versatile for any dish.
- Sfoglini Kale Penne ($8) — Kale Penne, as its name suggests, is rich in premium Kale. Hence, it contains vitamins C and K, antioxidants, and a wide range of other nutrients.
- Pineapple Collaborative Apple Cider Vinegar ($24) — Crafted in collaboration with farmer and producer Joanne Krueger, using organic Gravenstein, Red Rome Beauty, Golden Delicious, and Pink Pearl apples hand-harvested from her orchard.
- Fly By Jing Chili Crisp — The first and only 100% all-natural Sichuan chili sauce, proudly crafted in Chengdu. It's hot, spicy, crispy, numbing and deliciously savory.
- Field + Farmer Lemon Garlic Dressing/Marinade ($7) — Shines with real basil and the rustic French flavors of lemon, mustard, and garlic. Perfect with simple greens or on an easy salad of cooked pasta, tomatoes, and spinach.
Foodie gifts at $25 and above
- Banza Alphabet Chickpea Pasta ($25) — Banza contains around 23G of plant-based protein and 30% fewer net carbs than traditional pasta.
- Immi Plant-based Ramen ($39) — Immi Ramen is a 100% plant-based noodle with a nourishing flavor. It’s keto-friendly and contains lower carbs.
- Olipop Sampler Pack ($36) — Rich in plant fibers, Olipop promotes the growth of good bacteria in the gut that improves the overall digestion process.
- Salut Espresso Martini ($32) — A plant-based infusion blend for cocktails and mocktails made with dates, cinnamon, oranges, and of course, espresso beans.
- Seed + Mill Tahini Taster Set ($42) — Includes a jar of each of their current tahini lineup: Organic Tahini, Organic Za'atar Tahini, and Organic Roasted Garlic Tahini.
- Brightland The Pair Vinegars ($44) — These fruit-forward, double-fermented vinegars add zing to salads, cheese plates, and even cocktails.
Dropship authentic food with Canal
Brands passionate about recommending and selling authentic food gifts must partner with other value-driven brands that supply original, high-quality food items. You can find these brands and products on Canal, a brand partnership platform for supplier discovery and dropshipping automation.
Partnering with authentic food suppliers on Canal is easy:
- Contact us about joining our curated network by completing the form below
- Send ecommerce partnership proposals to premium food suppliers
- Add food products to your storefront with a simple ecommerce integration
- Automatically pass-through orders to suppliers and collect commissions
- Discover new food dropshipping suppliers and repeat step two!
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