Renée Benatar is the Founder and Creator of Hampers Bazaar. Choosing to start a business in the middle of the Global Pandemic, Covid-19 is not something many people did while being confined to lockdown. This however was not going to stop Renée from following her vision. Renée always dreamed of running her own business and through much exposure to the business world and coming from an exceptional family finally led her to founding and creating Hampers Bazaar. At Hampers Bazaar, they specialise in creating luxury customised, bespoke hampers, food and gift baskets to suit every arena both professional and personal with a rare combination of all things exquisite and glamorous and then shipping them worldwide.
Creating a start-up, is never an easy endeavour and it all begins with an idea, a vision and it requires strong leadership skills, fortitude, discipline, and courage.
Every element and detail must be executed with the utmost precision to ensure the product and your services provided are not only the very best there is on offer, but also that we have something more to offer than anyone else. This is your unique selling point, and it is always the business Modus Operandi for your new venture.
I have always believed in having a vision for a future of success and growth and keeping a very open mind.
As an entrepreneur, you are working all different hours of the day and night and weekends too and this requires a special person with loads of courage, stamina, and self-belief.
The Hamper market in the UK is well known as it is a classical concept that has been a very British tradition for many years and hampers are used for many occasions throughout the year, not just at Christmas.
I decided to take a much-loved British hamper and recreate it by putting an unusual and personal spin on it. I felt that the concept of a beautiful hamper was not enough, because in my view the quality of the products needs to match the quality of the hamper itself.
I did not want to reproduce something that already exists, and my aim was to create something different as I felt that half filling a hamper with shredded straw or tissue was not good enough for the recipient and certainly not for me.
Our hampers are lined, and we fill the hampers to the brim with the finest quality products sourced from all over Europe. These products often are limited editions or have won awards and this creates a delight, an array of wonderful things, to open, unpack and consume with each one tasting divine and teasing the senses.
Hampers have always been synonymous with Royalty, and the upper classes, who have been large consumers of the Great British Hamper. This has, over time, filtered down into our supermarket variety… and of course, now, we have customised and bespoke unique hampers which is what we are all about.
Throughout the rest of the world hampers are not as commonplace as they are in the UK and there is an opportunity to deliver this experience to everyone as we ship our hampers worldwide. This being observed, there is most definitely a thirst for our overseas clients to acquire or gift something very “British”. There is definitely a gap in the market for something very personal handwritten and customised with all the ingredients and qualities that “Luxury” brings to mind.
Hampers are known as food baskets in the USA and there is nothing available there that comes anywhere close to what our hamper business has to offer.
There is also a market for clients who have had various hampers, and gifts and are looking for something “unique’ and different so when their gift is received it’s definitely not one of many. It’s one of a kind and this is because I take the time to speak with each client and discuss their requirements with them, who the hampers are for, what the occasion is and what are the tastes, the likes and dislikes of the recipient and so this is how we make it personal, this level of communication and understanding of whom we are working with and what their requirements are given us the tools to make each hamper unique one of a kind.
The possibilities are endless regarding elements for a truly bespoke hamper and we add particular gifts into our hampers that are super personalised, sometimes books, cocktail shakers or scented candles amongst other things.
It’s important that once you are making a gift, you should make it count and this is where we come in, and make it extra special with thought and personal touches as we take care of the entire gifting process from writing your notes to delivery and every aspect of this beautiful gift is covered by us.
One thing I know is that when clients keep returning and referring you and when offers of financing and buying into your business come flooding through your inbox you know that what you are doing is not only innovative… it is something very special.
For me personally, I feel incredibly grateful that I love my work, I love the challenges of everyday being different and having to use my creative mind in order to achieve my goals, in fact I’m passionate about it and look forward to every day which I know not everyone is fortunate enough to do.
I am passionate about creativity; I love to design something new and different, putting a completely different spin on something classic and expected, while respecting the integrity of the original concept. I adore finding the unexpected, and I like to challenge myself and I love to push boundaries sometimes breaking the rules, as I believe, in creativity, there are no rules as a true artist has that creative license.
There is also a versatility that allows me to be creative, from designing hampers to creating social media posts, setting up photo shoots and working out how I’m going to package new items I source and find for my clients and their hampers and of course dealing with clients and taking their orders.
It goes without saying that I am very detail oriented, I see and notice the smallest things and this I feel is the essence of a high luxury original brand which sets a business apart from any others in the Hamper business sector.
Our Hampers are not only a luxurious treat, but they are a lifestyle and are synonymous with all things of great beauty and of individuality and originality. This is evident to everyone who receives a hamper from us.
These gorgeous hampers are not only one of a kind, but they exude an air of the utmost elegance. Whilst still being contemporary and relevant.
Researching the Market before starting the process of creating my hamper business was a long and exhaustive procedure as it is vital to know everything you can possibly find out about the industry… and then some.
The research doesn’t end there, because I am constantly researching new products for new hampers and specific clients with particular requirements. Each and every product I select to curate each hamper needs to be tried and tested to ensure that the taste and quality is the very best that is available. Sometimes, I’m searching for an unusual type of biscuit… and I find an incredible chocolate that I want instead.
Our products are not your supermarket variety, clearly, and some of our products are imported from different parts of Europe. This leads to the issue of Brexit which has been challenging to say the least and shipping into and out of the UK is not as straightforward as it used to be, it’s a challenge we have risen to find the right solutions for our clientele.
One of my favourite mantras is, “Where there is a will there is a way!” and, as such, we are delighted that we do indeed offer international shipping.
I hope that you can feel the love and passion in what I create, and this is what we are all about, they are hand made with love and I like to think it’s easy to tell that I put my heart and soul into each one!