Insurance for Edible Arrangements Businesses

Insurance for Edible Arrangements Businesses

June 20, 2024 / 5 mins read

Your fruit arrangements and dipped treats are always beautifully crafted and delicious. Your Calgary edible arrangements business must ensure that everything is fresh and ready to eat. A food liability insurance package is essential to protect your Calgary edible arrangements business.

Sellers of edible arrangements and gift baskets that contain food need customized insurance to protect themselves against liability claims. What would happen to your Calgary edible arrangements business and its reputation if a customer claimed that your edible treats made them sick?

Your Western Financial Group business insurance expert will give you the top commercial insurance advice at the right value for your Calgary edible arrangements business.

What is insurance for edible arrangements and gift baskets businesses?

Insurance for Calgary edible arrangements businesses and gift basket businesses with perishable food need a package of insurance coverages that provides financial protection against lawsuits alleging food contamination and reputational harm.

Who needs food liability insurance?

  • Edible food arrangement businesses
  • Edible flower arrangement businesses
  • Gift basket businesses with perishable food
  • Fruit gift baskets businesses

How much does insurance cost for Calgary edible arrangements/gift basket businesses?

There isn’t a set price to insure edible arrangement/gift basket businesses.

The following factors are usually considered when determining the cost of your food-based insurance:

  • Your location(s)
  • What you sell
  • Annual revenues
  • Number of employees
  • Any past claims

Why do Calgary edible arrangements businesses need food liability insurance?

A food liability insurance package tailored to your Calgary edible arrangements business protects it from the risks that come with selling food and food products.

Food liability insurance protects your Calgary edible arrangements business from a wide range of risks, such as product recall due to contamination or mould, negative publicity, and lost or damaged items.

As a Calgary edible arrangements owner, here’s how insurance protects you from the risks associated with your business:

Here are 3 examples:

  1. A Calgary customer complained that an edible arrangement you sold gave her food poisoning. Product liability insurance may pay the costs of the recall and legal support if you are sued by a third party, such as a customer or supplier.
  2. Your clients’ credit card information was stolen by cyber thieves from your Calgary edibles arrangements business. Cyber liability insurance can help you recover financially from a cyber-attack.
  3. The office for your Calgary edible arrangements business was vandalized. Commercial property insurance can help cover the costs to clean up or to repair any damage.

An insurance package for edible arrangements/gift basket businesses usually includes these insurance coverages:

Product liability insurance

Product liability insurance is recommended for anyone who sells, manufactures, or distributes a product, including food products such as edible arrangements.

This type of insurance covers such things as design defects, manufacturing defects, and marketing missteps, such as improper labels. It also covers products that have insufficient warnings/information about potential harm.

Product recall insurance

This type of insurance helps you recover the cost of recalling products that pose health risks to consumers due to a defect or contamination, whether the recall is voluntary or ordered by a government or regulatory agency. Product recall insurance helps cover such things as restocking and disposal costs.

Commercial general liability insurance

If one of your customers gets injured (i.e., slips and falls) on your Calgary business premises and sues, a CGL policy may cover any legal defence and settlement fees (up to policy limits) of the lawsuit.

CGL insurance also helps cover allegations of defamation, libel, slander, or false advertising.

It wouldn’t be uncommon to have $2 million to $5 in CGL insurance for your Calgary edible arrangements business, depending on its size and services.

Commercial property insurance

Commercial property insurance protects your Calgary edible arrangements business location and its contents from insured risks that occur, such as a fire, theft, vandalism, or storms. For example, if your business is vandalized with spray paint, commercial property damage could help cover the costs of cleaning off the graffiti.

You should consider adding a sewer backup coverage extension, which standard business insurance policies typically don’t cover, to protect your Calgary edible arrangements/gift basket business.

Cyber liability insurance

Cyber liability insurance helps protect your Calgary edible arrangements business if you electronically store financial data like the credit card numbers of clients. Depending on the size of the breach and the information that was taken, the customers who are affected can hold your Calgary business liable and sue for damages.

Commercial auto insurance

If you’re driving your car to make deliveries as part of your Calgary edible arrangements business, your personal car insurance typically would not provide coverage in the case of an accident. Commercial auto insurance protects you if you are driving your car for deliveries or meetings with suppliers.

Cargo insurance

Things can go wrong when you’re transporting edible arrangements. Food liability insurance policies often feature cargo coverage, which protects your food items in the event they are lost or damaged in transport.

Business interruption insurance

This type of insurance supports you when your Calgary edible arrangements business can’t operate due to a covered loss.

There are a number of losses that can force your business to shut down. Some examples are:

  • Damage to your equipment from fire or vandalism
  • A major reduction in revenue due to a client/supplier facing losses of their own
  • A disruption in your supply chain

Business interruption insurance can help with these expenses:

  • Payroll
  • Rent
  • Utilities
  • Property taxes
  • Alarm monitoring
  • Relocation of your business

Errors and omissions insurance

E&O insurance provides you with support if one of your clients sues you for negligence, mistakes, omissions, or failing to deliver a service as promised that causes them to suffer a financial loss. For example, an edible arrangement item you produce for them fails to meet their instructions.

What do I do if I have a claim against my Calgary edible arrangements business?

  • Contact your broker immediately after any business-related mishap. Waiting to file a claim can confuse insurers about the severity of the damages to your business.
  • Know your policy so that when you contact your broker you are familiar with what will be covered or not.
  • Document the damage. Take photos right away and write down what happened.
  • Do not throw away damaged goods after taking photos. Keep the physical evidence so that your adjustor can see it.
  • Do not invite lawsuits. Don’t say anything that could be used against you, especially if you aren’t sure what happened.
  • Be honest about what your damaged property is worth. Damaged commercial property is generally valued according to its actual cash value or replacement value.

Here’s an insurance checklist:

  • Do you have the best Calgary business insurance rate that suits your work?
  • Do you have the right amount for your deductible and regularly review it to make sure it’s the right amount for you?
  • Are you or your employees using personal vehicles for work?

Western Financial Group has licensed BUSINESS INSURANCE EXPERTS to get you the best insurance coverage as a Calgary edible arrangements/gift basket business. Our experts are available now to help you navigate the business insurance journey to protect your Calgary business.

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