Top 15 Local Food Gift Ideas in Vancouver 2022 – For Foodies

The holidays are fast approaching and I’ve curated an extensive list of my Top 15 local food gift ideas perfect for your foodie friend, partner, or family member this holiday! As everyone knows, these past few years have been extremely tough on especially local businesses, so that’s why I purposely created a list that will support local Canadian and Vancity businesses. I hope you enjoy the list and buy some local gifts for your loved ones!

My Top 15 Local Food Gift Ideas (in no particular order)

1. Fresh Ideas Start Here – Ultimate Uni Box ($95)

Their Ultimate Uni Box is $95, and is a dream come true for Uni lovers (like me!). The box comes with Fresh BC Uni Tray (Green or Red depending on availability), top selling Uni Pasta Sauce, smoked BC Red Sea Urchin, Shoyu Ikura, Uni Butter, & Nori! I’ve tried their fresh uni, frozen uni, and their uni pasta sauce before – all of them are stellar!

2. Plant Curious – Plantcurious Deals Book ($39.99) or Holiday Box ($79.99)

If you have a loved one in your life that is interested in adopting a more plant based lifestyle, then you have to check out Plant Curious’s deals book or holiday box! The deals book is kind of like the entertainment deal book from many years ago, but all for plant based establishments! How neat! Their holiday box is also really cool and they collaborated with To Live For Bakery to create it.

3. Teakan – Exploration Kit Vol. 5 ($30)

Teakan is a local Vancouver company and their Exploration Kits are perfect for tea curious people who want to learn more about single-origin teas. Their mission is to make tea more fun and create an experience with it! Therefore each kit comes with a link to register for their private virtual tea tasting sessions hosted by the 2 owners (Claudia – tea sommelier, and Jan – tea curious). Such a cool way to learn more about tea!

4. Charcuterie Vancouver – Holiday Dessert Box (various prices based on size)

Most of you probably already know about Charcuterie Vancouver but did you know they have a Holiday Dessert box? It’s one of their most popular items during the holidays so make sure to pre-order early if you want your hands on one! They’re available starting Dec 1st and you can order them online or you can visit their newly opened Kitsilano shop (they’re opening Nov 26)!

5. Adonia Tea House – Winter Afternoon Tea To-Go ($55)

ADONIA Tea House is a very well loved high tea restaurant in Vancouver and they’re offering a beautiful Winter Afternoon Tea To-Go for $55! The new holiday tea includes new canapés like Key Lime Meringue Tart, Hot Crab Dip, and eye-catching 3D Swan Profiteroles. It’s priced at $50 for dine-in and comes in a regular, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free option.  You can also add on the ADONIA Tea Tower for $8 to complete your experience at home. ❤️

6. Commissary Connect – 2021 Holiday Gift Box ($75)

Commissary Connect is a Vancouver Commissary kitchen that hosts a lot of wonderful members/entrepreneurs. Every year, they support their members by curating these yummy holiday gift boxes. This year, all of their proceeds will be given to The Red Cross to help those affected by the BC floods. Purchase their Holiday Gift Box and you’ll do 2 amazing things for the community!

7. Pajeon Pals – Foodie T-shirts/Sweaters ($30-$55)

Pajeon Pals was created by Diana of Foodology (another well known food blogger in Vancouver!) and all of their designs are absolutely scrumptious and CUTE! They are all food inspired and they’re mainly Korean snacks which her, her husband, and her daughter really enjoy. I have one of her t-shirts and they’re one of the softest t-shirts I own!

8. Planted Meals – Plant Based Meal Prep Subscription (~$10-11 per meal)

Planted Meals is a plant based meal subscription service and they actually work out of the Commissary Connect kitchen! I absolutely ADORE their meals and I can guarantee it’ll satisfy any carnivore. Some of my favourite items from their line up include: Kale Caesar Salad, Tofu Ricotta (add on), Buffalo Caesar Wrap, Peaches + Cream Overnight Oats, Caesar Salad Dressing (add on). Truly, I cannot recommend this meal subscription service enough as a gift for anybody in your life that’s looking to eat healthier and more plant based!

9. Uno Gelato – 4 Pint Package with Free Shipping! ($52)

Not only do you get free shipping when you order 4 pints of their delicious gelato, they will deliver to wherever you want for free (in the Metro Vancouver area)! Their gorgeous packaging also makes it the perfect gift for yourself or for your sweet tooth friend or family. My favourite flavours from Uno Gelato include Midnight Chocolate, Akbar Mashti, and Passionfruit.

10. Van Makgeolli – Locally Made Korean Rice Wine ($8-$30)

Vancouver Makgeolli is the only Korean rice winery located in BC and when you taste their product, you can really tell a big difference between their product and the stuff you get from the Liquor store. And beware, you may never want to go back to the liquor store brand. ?  I love how they have different flavours (my fav is Chestnut) and they use no preservatives or chemical additives. Because of this, the flavour of their makgeolli will change over time as it continues to ferment, which is one of the cool things about their product!

FYI – their bottles have changed since I took this photo but it’s still the same product. 🙂

11. Fraser Valley Salt Co – The Sampler ($59.95)

Do you have someone in your life that LOVES to cook? If so, you have to check out Fraser Valley Salt Co. Their premium hand-crafted salts are really different from the normal grocery store stuff and I didn’t realize that till I started cooking with them. They’re based in Vancouver and work with local producers for their salt blends. My favourite salts include the Shaughnessy Truffle Salt, the BBQ Hickory Smoked Salt, the Rodeo Bacon Salt, and the Farmers Rosemary Salt.

12. YVR Cookie – Holiday Gift Box ($46 – $99)

The most indulgent award has to go to YVR Cookie and their BOMB thick gooey cookies! One cookie can feed 2-3 people as a snack and I’m not kidding when I say they weigh probably a pound or two each. ?  Their holiday flavours include Spiced Gingerbread, Chocolate Candy Cane, and Holiday Apple Pie. I’ve tried them all, they’re fantastic. They also JUST released a limited time Chocolate Lava Cake flavour which has melty gooey ganache inside when warmed…. I’ll give you a moment to wipe the drool from your keyboard.

13. Leavenly Goods – Holiday Filipino Celebration Box ($33.25)

If you like baked goods or Filipino cuisine, you must check out Leavenly Goods! Racel is the mastermind behind this brand and she’s been massively successful ever since she first started her business. On the daily, she sells semi traditional baked goods like babkas, croissants, cookies, and buns – but sometimes she adds her own Filipino flair to the flavours like ube!  This Holiday Filipino Celebration Box comes with 6 pcs of Food for the Gods and 2 small Bibingka Espesyal! How cool!

14. Chew On This Tasty Tours – Spice Trail Tasting Tour ($115/pp)

If you’re looking for a fun family or friend date idea, I would highly recommend the Spice Trail Tasting Tour from Chew On This Tasty Tours. Not only do you get to experience a variety of food and drinks from 5 different locations, you will also leave with take-home goodies from each location! I went with 3 of my girlfriends and we had SOOO much fun. They serve alcoholic beverages at a few locations but you can also request for mocktails instead. 🙂 I’m sure your friend will really appreciate being gifted an experience you both can share together.

15. Franklin’s Food Lab – Frozen Ramen ($10.50-$13.50)

I don’t know how you gift frozen items for Christmas but if you can, I would very much recommend Franklin’s Food Lab! It is one of the coolest food items of 2021 (just look at it!) and I can guarantee the taste is great. It’s not just for looks. ?  Their frozen ramen comes as a single block which already has the broth on the bottom, noodles in the middle, and then all the toppings on the top. So literally once you take it out of the packaging, you can put it in a pot and wait till it comes to a boil. It’s a really great idea for camping or if you just want restaurant quality ramen without leaving home. And if you’re worried about the noodles being mushy, I can guarantee that they stay al dente even after being reheated. My favourite flavour is the Gyokai Tonkotsu Shoyu which has a seafoody/fish broth in addition to pork!

 

There you have it! My Top 15 Local Food Gifts of 2021! I have a ton more so let me know in the comments below or on Instagram if you want me to make “Another Top 10” after this!