ISSN: 0004-7163(print)

One week out is for the details. Write the message, confirm the delivery address, and decide whether the gift is arriving on the day or a little before. Chocolate keeps, so a few days early is safer than cutting it fine.

One point worth handling carefully: a staffroom is a mixed group, and you cannot know everyone's dietary needs or allergens. Do not try to. Choose the gift, and let anyone with a question check the information on the product itself. For those who like to know the background, the cocoa is sourced through Cocoa Horizons and the company is a member of Origin Green, with production held to BRC Grade A+ standard.

Sending chocolate by post is straightforward, but the details that make it go smoothly are worth knowing, especially in the weeks around Christmas, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Easter chocolate hamper when the courier network is at its busiest. A little understanding of how it works saves a lot of last-minute worry.

None of this rules roses out entirely. If your partner loves flowers, buy the flowers. But if you want a gift that lasts past the week, suits their taste and does not look like everyone else's, a chocolate collection is the stronger choice, on its own or alongside a smaller bunch.

The third is presentation. A well-made boxed selection reads as considered on its own, without needing a vase or trimming. It travels by post if you are apart on the day, and it arrives intact rather than needing water within the hour. For a couple spending the evening together, it doubles as something to share after dinner.

The finish is what separates a work gift that gets remembered from one that does not. These chocolates are handcrafted in Newbridge, Co. Kildare, where Mary Ann O'Brien started the company in 1992, and a single-origin dark or a hand-finished praline carries that through even at Secret Santa scale.

ISSN: 0004-7163