How to Keep Bugs Out of Your Baskets

By Shirley Frazier
Sweet Survival^®/GiftBasketBusiness.com

Customers love munching on the snacks we select for gift baskets. So do bugs, mice and other critters.

Our clients pay money to enjoy the goods, while some gift basket designers waste money by not investing in the equipment that protects the inventory.

When boxes enter your facility, each should be checked for correctness, quantity shipped, and breakage.

If all is well, the products are transferred from shipping boxes to another repository. The favored choice is the snap lid storage container, purchased from any all-purpose department or variety store.

Clear or opaque containers are popular color choices, as it is easy to see what's inside each container.

Other colors are acceptable and simply depend on your preference. Each container should be tagged with a labeling system that clearly identifies the goods, quantity, and expiration dates.

When teaching classes, I often tell the story about a product that was delivered to my warehouse intact, yet one package included an uninvited guest. What would you do if such a problem occurred?

In my case, the manufacturer was immediately contacted, and a full refund was mailed to me after the product was returned to the manufacturer's location.

What would you do if the problem went undetected by you but was found by the gift basket recipient? First, don’t panic. This is the time to stay in control and decide the best course of action.

Solutions might include giving the customer a full refund or sending a new gift basket or another remedy that you believe will solve the problem.

You must also contact the manufacturer to discuss what solutions they can offer, whether monetarily or the shipping of new, fresher replacements. Attorneys rarely become involved in such matters, but that may change if the receiver threatens legal action.

Situations usually never become this entangled, but always be ready by documenting what your course of action will be. This is part of your disaster plan, which is discussed in another article.

This subject bugs everyone. However, any quality control that you perform before the products are placed into baskets will prevent such matters from occurring.