How Edible Arrangements Became the Ultimate Kitschy Food Gift | Eater

"Started in the back of a flower shop in the late 1990s by a young entrepreneur who borrowed a small loan, this franchised business turned floral-style displays of rounded melon balls, daisy-cut pineapple pieces, chocolate-dipped strawberries and grape kebabs on sticks into a ubiquitous gift product for corporate meetings, birthdays and family occasions. Arrangement sales account for roughly half of revenue even as the company broadened into smoothies, freshly baked cookies, cookie boxes, party platters, balloon bundles and a trialed CBD/cannabis spin-off, and rebranded in the 2010s to emphasize being an “experiences” company. It proved unusually pandemic-resilient—creating its own delivery fleet, offering free delivery, pivoting to plain produce delivery and reporting a roughly 45% sales jump to about $500 million across ~1,000 franchised stores in 2020—but those same pivots and required in-store equipment investments (from frozen-yogurt machines to new ovens), rising online platform fees and mandatory marketing costs sparked franchisee disputes that were litigated but sent to arbitration. Culturally the product occupies a space between kitsch and nostalgia: a permissible, whimsical indulgence and a reliably safe gift for all genders that many embrace with equal parts irony and genuine delight." - Abby Carney