Traveling to India on business - what gifts to take?

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AreaCode707

AreaCode707

Lifer
Sep 21, 2001
18,447
133
106
Heading to Bangalore in August to spend some time visiting with the teams I work with. Been working with them for about two years and this is my second time visiting. There are about 50 people altogether.

I'm definitely going to bring some good chocolates with me to share, but I'd like to go an extra step and bring some special gifts beyond just that. I'm wracking my brain on what good ideas might be.

In particular I'm from a wine area, and one of our local wineries makes an AWESOME sweet non-alcoholic Gewurztraminer grape juice. (Not everyone in the office drinks, and I'm not sure bringing alcohol in during work hours would be appreciated by management.) I'd be highly inclined to take a case and toast their work but I'm not sure of shipping laws. Besides that I'm not confident of my ability to wrangle a full case of wine through multiple plane transfers and customs, explaining to airport employees who don't speak English, on top of my usual luggage. I may see if I can just get it shipped directly, though I shudder to think of the shipping cost.

It seems it's a lot easier to get American products in India than it is to get Indian products in America. Some of my friends from the team have brought me neat gifts in the past - spices, clothes, etc. They have a good sense of what a unique gift would be in the States, but I lack that same savvy. What's hard to get in India (food ideas particularly)? What would be especially enjoyable?
 
R

radhak

Senior member
Aug 10, 2011
843
14
81
I'm from India, and it's getting increasingly difficult to shop for family when visiting back home. Like you said, stuff from here is easily available there nowadays.

Some stuff that we take don't apply to you (because family and work-colleagues don't compare); nuts like almond and cashews are expensive in India because of they are high-revenue generators via export, leaving little for local consumption, so they used to make sense some years ago. (I've never been told of, or experienced, any customs trouble with nuts).

But you are on the right track - edibles are the best stuff to take: they get easily and instantly consumed, providing you with immediate feedback.

When buying candy, you could skip the regular stuff (M&Ms, Skittles, Toblerones, Ferrero Rocher), and get some 'exotic' stuff, like maybe Godiva or even Lindt. Yes, more expensive, but better impact. The best would be the ones that have hollow centers filled with liquor. Guaranteed to make you loved!

Apart from candy, baked stuff is good too. Cookies, brownies, etc have always been well received. The challenge is for them to survive your journey and the heat in India before you deliver them. If you have a good system of refrigerating them as soon as you reach your hotel, they could serve your purpose. Anything from the local bakery that might survive a few days of travel would be as good as, maybe even better than, the commonly available stuff from big corporations (because the latter might be found there too). The sweeter, the better. And crunchy rather than soft. And play it safe, avoid anything stuffed with any meat. Spoils easy, and not many takers either.

You mention 50 people, and getting exotic stuff for so many might kill your wallet, so the regular stuff might make up for volume what the selective stuff for the 'select few' misses.

You might want to remember (as you might know from your earlier visit) that 'hierarchy' is strong in Indian work culture. If you offer the same stuff to all and sundry, you may not endear yourself to the lowest on the totem pole as much as you alienate their superiors. So you might want to have a couple of smaller packs for the seniors to feel good about, even to take home.
 
N

NetWareHead

THAT guy
Aug 10, 2002
5,847
154
106
In my experience, Indian men love whiskey especially scotch. For a boss or someone you want to impress, bring whiskey. Not sure what to advise you on the rest of the office.
 
Ns1

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,420
1,599
126
When buying candy, you could skip the regular stuff (M&Ms, Skittles, Toblerones, Ferrero Rocher), and get some 'exotic' stuff, like maybe Godiva or even Lindt. Yes, more expensive, but better impact. The best would be the ones that have hollow centers filled with liquor. Guaranteed to make you loved!
Click to expand...

i dunno man, when i bring back ferrero rocher or almond rocas, the offshore team eats that shit up like it was gold.

also, the staff greatly prefers milk chocolate over dark.
 
dave_the_nerd

dave_the_nerd

Lifer
Feb 25, 2011
16,986
1,617
126
Had a coworker in our division come from India for familiarization and stuff. When he flew home he brought a lot of Ben Gay.

I guess you can get it there but it's like 5x the price per tube.
 
Homerboy

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,890
5,001
126
20110916054454910.jpg
 
AreaCode707

AreaCode707

Lifer
Sep 21, 2001
18,447
133
106
radhak said:
I'm from India, and it's getting increasingly difficult to shop for family when visiting back home. Like you said, stuff from here is easily available there nowadays.

Some stuff that we take don't apply to you (because family and work-colleagues don't compare); nuts like almond and cashews are expensive in India because of they are high-revenue generators via export, leaving little for local consumption, so they used to make sense some years ago. (I've never been told of, or experienced, any customs trouble with nuts).

But you are on the right track - edibles are the best stuff to take: they get easily and instantly consumed, providing you with immediate feedback.

When buying candy, you could skip the regular stuff (M&Ms, Skittles, Toblerones, Ferrero Rocher), and get some 'exotic' stuff, like maybe Godiva or even Lindt. Yes, more expensive, but better impact. The best would be the ones that have hollow centers filled with liquor. Guaranteed to make you loved!

Apart from candy, baked stuff is good too. Cookies, brownies, etc have always been well received. The challenge is for them to survive your journey and the heat in India before you deliver them. If you have a good system of refrigerating them as soon as you reach your hotel, they could serve your purpose. Anything from the local bakery that might survive a few days of travel would be as good as, maybe even better than, the commonly available stuff from big corporations (because the latter might be found there too). The sweeter, the better. And crunchy rather than soft. And play it safe, avoid anything stuffed with any meat. Spoils easy, and not many takers either.

You mention 50 people, and getting exotic stuff for so many might kill your wallet, so the regular stuff might make up for volume what the selective stuff for the 'select few' misses.

You might want to remember (as you might know from your earlier visit) that 'hierarchy' is strong in Indian work culture. If you offer the same stuff to all and sundry, you may not endear yourself to the lowest on the totem pole as much as you alienate their superiors. So you might want to have a couple of smaller packs for the seniors to feel good about, even to take home.
Click to expand...

THANK YOU! This was a super helpful answer. You don't think there's any problem bringing across homemade treats through customs? I love the idea of bringing something I've actually made.

Yeah, I'm bringing some special gifts for some boss-types and a few super-helpful people on the team to recognize their efforts.

I was also thinking of bringing a few other things - some special tea mixes, little bottles of hand lotions from a local producer, I dunno, stuff like that. There are quite a few women on the team and I could see that going over very well.
 
AreaCode707

AreaCode707

Lifer
Sep 21, 2001
18,447
133
106
SagaLore said:
Wow. You guys are so funny. Hilarious. Finally one of our long term female members comes out of the shadows to say hi and tell us she's going on a trip to India, and we joke about RAPE in a country SHE IS GOING TO.
Click to expand...

It's ATOT, waddayagonnado? :)
 
S

smackababy

Lifer
Oct 30, 2008
27,024
79
86
SagaLore said:
Wow. You guys are so funny. Hilarious. Finally one of our long term female members comes out of the shadows to say hi and tell us she's going on a trip to India, and we joke about RAPE in a country SHE IS GOING TO.
Click to expand...

If, because the OP is female (which I did not know until you pointed it out), I alter the content of my posts to be more sensitive, am I not undermining the idea of gender equality? Last I checked, that didn't mean giving special treatment based on gender, but rather meant giving the same treatment to all genders. And, in case you hadn't noticed, India is having a bit of a rape problem (as if rape anywhere isn't a problem...). Bringing light to the issue, even if in a facetious way, is spreading awareness, right?

TLDR: smackababy can justify making an India rape joke to a women.
 
herm0016

herm0016

Diamond Member
Feb 26, 2005
8,503
1,118
126
the places i go to have a strict no natural edibles policy, no fruit/nuts/seeds/etc. i assumed the rest of the world was as smart in doing this.
 
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