Christmas Hampers Offer Goodies from England -- Priced from $60 to $41,000

LONDON — Americans are familiar with the extravagant Christmas gifts offered each year by Neiman Marcus, the Dallas-based luxury retailer. But London stores might have finally gained the edge when it comes to over-the-top indulgence this holiday season.

Fortnum & Mason, the Queen's official grocer, has unveiled a Christmas hamper to mark the store's 300th birthday. The cost? Nearly $41,000.

The three-tiered Tercenturian hamper includes fine wines, beluga caviar, hand-engraved stationery, a vat of lemon curd, two pairs of cashmere socks, a bottle of 1955 vintage port, enough foie gras for 25 people, and an array of other epicurean delights.

And then there's the delivery — via horse-drawn cart.

"For one year only, we've pushed the galleon out," gushes the store's literature. "This is no tuneless hymn to opulence, no gormless glut of gilded lilies. Everything is here on depth of merit. Search where you will, you won't find better."

This tribute to gluttony almost makes the most expensive hamper available from Harrods department store — another bastion of luxury in London — seem paltry by comparison.

The Chairman's Choice hamper, priced at just a bit over $10,000, includes smoked salmon, Lebanese dates, raspberry truffles, a special limited edition of 30-year-old Glenmorangie whiskey, and a selection of 12 fine wines.

The hamper's "conserves are handmade using traditional copper pans in the Oxfordshire countryside," according to the store's literature.

Many other stores in Britain offer their own versions of this peculiarly British tradition.

But there's no need for jealousy — many hampers are available to overseas customers. (Alas, not the Tercenturian.) Orders can be placed online or over the phone.

Andre Dang, a spokesman for Harrods, said the Grosvenor hamper, priced at more than $400, is very popular with foreign buyers.

It includes nonperishable items such as teas and coffees, marmalade, milk chocolate digestive biscuits and a six-cup teapot, all presented in a sea grass basket with a leather-style lid.

"We've tried to include things that people will actually want to use right away," Dang said.

Historically, Christmas hampers have been a good way for this city's magnificent food halls to call attention to themselves.

Fortnum & Mason's opulent food hall, with its Oscars-style red carpeting and impeccably polite staff, has long been a favorite among tourists.

Anecdotes abound of the grocer's history serving the rich and famous. Charles Dickens, for example, apparently treated himself to a Fortnum & Mason hamper each time he finished a book.

Selfridges, another popular store in London, is credited with originating the concept of mass-market hampers in the 1930s.

In the beginning, there was turtle soup and crystallized fruits. That changed to sandwich spread during the World War II years. More recently popular choices have included pates, cheeses, and the confection known as Turkish delight.

This year Selfridges' hampers range in price from around $60 to more than $1,600. The most expensive includes handpicked Bramley apple and almond chutney, 60-year-old Vecchia balsamic vinegar, Gosset Grande Reserve Champagne, and Caspian sevruga caviar.

Hampers also are big business, plain and simple.

"Hampers are an extremely important part of a store such as Fortnum & Mason's overall business," said Isabel Cavill, retail analyst at Planet Retail, a research firm in London.

Cavill said clients tend to be both individuals and corporations, and are almost always given as a gift.

Years ago hampers were thought to be a tad impersonal as a Christmas present. But these days, the vast choice of contents has boosted their popularity.

"New bespoke services are likely to add even further value to the already growing hampers business," Cavill said.

Harrods, for example, lets customers create made-to-order hampers by calling a special food orders desk.

James Edsberg, a partner at Lighthouse, a consulting firm in London, said that hampers are likely to benefit from a predicted doubling of the online Christmas shopping market this year in Britain.

"Many people are set to research and buy presents online for the first time this year, and hampers are ideally placed to take advantage of this trend in ready-wrapped presents ordered online," he said.

Edsberg said that, especially in the advertising industry, extravagant hampers are a way to make an impression on a client.

"One of our consultants once sent a cake around to a client with our phone number iced on the top to encourage them to call back," he said. "You can make a similar kind of impact with a hamper."

On the Web:

Harrods: www.harrods.com

Fortnum and Mason: www.fortnumandmason.com

Selfridges: www.selfridgeshampers.com