When is a Christmas hamper not a Christmas hamper? When you’re Gail’s Bakery and you put together a ‘survival kit’ to see you through the oh-so-slow bit between Christmas and new year. Perfect for those of us (us) whose first-world problems go off the scale when there’s no way to get a perfectly-steamed flat white and a made-by-hand sourdough loaf for toast in the morning. NOWHERE! FOR DAYS!

We wrote the words for the kits and branded them and the wider range as “Gail’s Christmas Pantry”; Irving & Co made them look good. But the inspiration for the kits came from Gail’s head baker, Roy. Instead of making a Fortnum and Mason style hamper with cognac butter and truffles, he decided to put together all the basic things he wanted – and missed – most over Christmas. The centrepiece is a 2kg sourdough sharing loaf to take to family and friends.

We liked this little anecdote so much we persuaded Gail’s to lead with it rather than the usual ‘here’s our hamper with some bits and bobs in it’. And it’s got Gail’s more Christmas press than they’ve had in years. You’ll probably spot it in a lot of those gift guides you get in magazines and weekend papers. And Vanity Fair already talked about the pandemonium when the kit arrived in their office.

See more of our work for Gail’s Bakery here.