A fruit basket is one of the best gift baskets people send to others. Why is that? A fruit basket is hard not to appreciate since most people do enjoy eating fruit. After all, fruit is nature’s dessert. What’s not to love about that? Plus, the beauty of fruit is eating it without guilt or remorse since they’re healthier than any chocolate or candies you would include in gift baskets.
With so many fruits to choose from, how do you know which ones to include in a fruit basket?
If you have been bogging your brain down trying to think of ideas, read on to find inspiration on what you can include in curating a delicious, refreshing fruit basket for someone!
Picking the Right Fruit: Key Factors
Many might assume compiling fruit for a fruit basket is easy. It can be – but if done right. There are a few key considerations to put into account that go toward creating a perfectly curated fruit basket. Here are a few of them below.
Importance of Preservation
As produce, fruit does not last very long compared to preservable food. If you are sending out a fruit basket, you want to ensure most of the fruit inside doesn’t spoil fast. After all, you don’t want your recipient to not enjoy every fruit inside because most of them have become rotten. Think about getting fruit you know that will last, like apples, oranges, pears, or clementines. Additionally, if you know your recipient loves citrus fruits, you can always add lemons, limes, and even grapefruit. Avoid choosing fruits that will rot faster or limit their amount if you know the recipient will take a long time to eat everything. Fruits like bananas, peaches, and berries, to name a few, are ones that rot quickly. By being mindful of fruit preservation, your person can enjoy every piece of fruit in the basket without rushing to finish everything.
Accessible and Common
Part of what makes a fruit basket great is its simplicity. You can just choose among various common fruit accessible from any grocery store. Of course, some places might have more seasonal fruit than others. But, for the most part, you can find these types of common fruit to incorporate into a fruit basket:
- Apples
- Oranges
- Mandarins
- Lemons
- Limes
- Grapefruits
- Bananas
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Apricots
- Peaches
- Plums
These are just a few examples of what you can find. You can certainly find melon fruits like watermelons and honeydew. However, they’re not usually the best to include in fruit baskets since they take up so much space because of their size. Also, technically tomatoes and avocados are fruit but are a unique inclusion. Only add these two if you know the person likes them!
A Novelty Element
You don’t need to always stick to common fruit for a fruit basket. There are plenty of exotic fruit options to choose from that you can include inside. Here are a few exotic fruit examples to consider:
- Guava
- Star Fruit
- Dragon Fruit
- Jackfruit
- Acai
- Passion Fruit
Adding fruit like these is great because it allows your person to explore and enjoy fruit they may have never tasted before! However, you don’t need to include foreign fruit for it to have a sense of novelty. Even less common fruit is great to consider, like these few here:
- Pomegranates
- Mangoes
- Kiwis
- Nectarines
- Plums
At least with a few of these different selections, you can potentially find them at your local grocery store.
Think of Value
Sending someone a fruit basket shows appreciation to another. In this case, you want to think of that person when choosing fruit. If you know someone’s favourite fruit is cherries, you can easily add it since the person will most likely gobble them up as soon as they see them. Another point to consider is if the person is health conscious. Fruit is overall healthy to eat. However, each of them has unique benefits—for instance, blueberries. Blueberries are packed with antioxidants with high levels of potassium and vitamin C. These nutrients help lower heart disease and cancer risks and are anti-inflammatory. Putting so much thought into someone’s health this way is a great approach to curating a delicious and nutritious fruit basket!
The best gift baskets are the ones made with care. They’re easy to compile, but the ones that put thought will be appreciated. Hopefully, this gave you a better idea of how to go about making a fruit basket that’s loved!
