Why you are to blame for the cheesy Christmas package

Suddenly I read in an online newspaper (I really keep up with the times): ‘The only function of a Christmas package is to complain that the boss puts the wrong things in it again.’

I still remember well that when I was young, my father and mother always brought home a gigantic box. Hop, under the Christmas tree and on Christmas Day, after the presents, opening it. There was wine in it: eww, for you, dad (I know better now, though), but also a bag of chips: YES. Christmas cookies. A bag of pasta. A pack of rice. Boring. Napkins. Sardines in a can. Salad oil. Salt and pepper. Smoked salmon. A can of ragout.

Look, you might find it quaint, but there was something about that unwrapping. But the Christmas packages are no longer of this time. Now you get a gift voucher from your work. Or a choice list of charities you can donate to – because you already have enough, right? An estimated six million employees receive a Christmas gift from their boss, but not all of them get a Christmas package like they used to. If a traditional box full of snacks is given, it can be a bit more luxurious, according to the figures. In 2014, a Christmas package cost an average of 41 euros, now that has risen to 47.

The industry is more luxurious, but also in danger. Gift vouchers are lurking everywhere. But the joke is… The irony behind the Christmas package. We complain because of the nonsense inside. I don't want Ardenner pâté! My boss knows after all these years that I'm vegetarian, right? But if you then receive a voucher from Bol or Douglas, that's not good either. Then we complain too. ‘The company certainly didn't want to take the time to delve into the phenomenon of the Christmas package.’ Then we think our company is taking the easy way out. Experts also state: ‘Giving a Christmas package ensures that people feel seen and heard.’

Henry Robben, professor of Marketing at the Van Nyenrode University, finds a Christmas package very positive: ‘It says everything about a relationship. The salary is a way of compensating for the time you invest in the organization. A gift is appreciation, it indicates that there is more than just work. That you value the person themselves.’ But yes, we secretly also find choosing our own gift quite nice. Although that flat gift voucher in an envelope is a bit dull under the tree. But getting your favorite perfume with that voucher, well, you get more out of that than dry pasta that disappears in your cupboard.

So oh well, it fits well with the Netherlands: it's never good. The Christmas package is old-fashioned and quaint, but yes, also quite sweet and cozy. Complaining together. Messaging your colleague: ‘What are we supposed to do with that nasty coffee, that weird tea, and that too fatty whipped cream?’ If you were to receive a Christmas package like we used to: cherish it. Because some don't get it and actually miss it. And complaining is so nice, right? The rest of the Christmas days are already so sweet and soft.