We like nothing more than a good old fashioned picnic surrounded by beautiful scenery, and the opportunity presented itself during a recent trip to the Cotswolds.

After being given a recommendation to try The British Hamper Company, this appeared to be the perfect chance. What grabbed us about this company is their use of luxury, artisan produce, inspired by all things British. It seemed a natural choice for a spot of lunch.

“As a gift, or to treat yourself to lunch! They truly are a superb choice.”

The British Hamper Company offer a vast selection of different hampers, catering for all occasions and dietary requirements. After much deliberation, we opted to sample two of their hampers - The Grand Gluten Free Hamper, and the Gourmet Traditional Hamper, so see how they stood up to task.

The Grand Gluten Free Hamper

The British Hamper Company has done particularly well in catering for those with intolerances or dietary preferences. This hamper contained a fine selection of both sweet and savoury indulgences for those on a gluten free diet, the selection is perfectly picked to ensure that taste isn't lacking even though gluten isn't present.

Included in this particular hamper were the following: Plush Chocolates - Milk Chocolate Caramel and Sea Salt Wafers, Kent & Fraser - Olive, Walnut & Pimenton Toast, Le Mesurier - Red Onion Chutney, Yorkshire Crisps - Henderson's Yorkshire Sauce flavour, Thursday Cottage - Handmade Lemon Curd, Willie's Cacao - Milk of the Gods Luxury Chocolate, Hobbs and Silverthorne - Almond Butter Crunch, Against the Grain - Berry Delicious Cookies, Angelic - Cranberry Crunch Cookies, Yorkshire Popcorn - Salt & Sweet Popcorn, Cotswold Fudge Co - Crumbly Fudge, Angelic - Rosemary & Sea Salt Savoury Biscuits, Jenkins and Hustwit - Gluten Free Fruit Cake, Kent and Fraser - Lemon Butter Shortbread, Hawkshead Relish - Raspberry and Vanilla Jam and Willie's Cacao - El Blanco Luxury Chocolate.

Personal highlights included, the Handmade Lemon Curd by Thursday Cottage, and the Almond and Butter Crunch by Hobbs and Silverthorne, absolutely delicious and modestly priced at £90.00

Gourmet Traditional Hamper

For our second hamper we chose the Gourmet Traditional Hamper which was priced at £85.00. If you're looking for a full throttle, all bases covered option, the Gourmet Hamper would be hard to beat in terms of variety.

Included in this hamper were the following: Cotswold Fudge Co - Crumbly Fudge, Monty Bojangles - Choccy Scoffy Truffles, Teoni's Cookies - All Butter Shortbread, Chocca Mocca - Real Strawberries covered in Creamy White Chocolate, Grate Britain - All British Cheddar Biscuits, Willie's Cacao - Venezuelan Gold Luxury Chocolate, Elegant and English - Honey and Almond biscuits, Lincoln Tea & Coffee Co - Columbian Filter Blend Coffee, Chocca Mocca - Drinking Chocolate, Peter's Yard - Artisan Swedish Crispbread Bites, London Tea Company - Organic and Fairtrade English Breakfast Tea, Hawkshead Relish - Raspberry and Vanilla Jam, Perry Court Farm - Sweet Apple Crisps, Hawkshead Relish - Traditional English Mustard, Willie's Cacao - Milk of the Gods Luxury Chocolate, The Real Smoked Nut Company - Hickory Smoked Almonds and Cashews and Monty Bojangles - Bon Bon Bonanza.

Highlights of this hamper included - but were not limited to! - the Strawberries covered in Creamy White Chocolate by Chocca Mocca, and the h Hickory Smoked Almonds and Cashews by The Real Smoked Nut Company, the nuts simply were beautiful!

We would thoroughly recommend The British Hamper Company again and again to anyone who would like a special hamper experience. As a gift, or to treat yourself to lunch! They truly are a superb choice.