I'll try to help on the food issue. Florida has a law that prohibits the use of any food items, including prepacked items such as candy, popcorn, pretzels, etc., in gift baskets assembled in a private residence. This law has been around for awhile, but I was out of the business so I wasn't paying any attention. I was doing some research a couple of months ago and came across the regulation. I contacted the Florida Dept of Agriculture and a lawyer. There is no way around this other than to rent a storefront. Disney Florist and regular florists are not affected by this because they work out of a location other than a home. Sarah, and now Betsy, work from their homes. The same goes for Gifts of a Lifetime. I also worked from my home. Once I found out about the regulation, I contacted the other businesses to let them know. This isn't information that the state readily revealed to us, yet a violation of the regulation can result in a $5000 fine and business closure. As far as I have been able to discern, Florida is the only state in the nation with this type of regulation.
Others have asked why groups such as boy scouts, little leagues, church groups, etc. can buy items and sell food items. Since they are considered temporary (meaning one time) vendors, they are exempt from the regulation.
Believe me, if there was a way around this, the small gift basket vendors of Florida would find it. I've talked to different Florida gift basket companies across the state. They all hate this regulation and have tried to find a way around it. The only solution is to rent a location that meets the state guidelines for mobile food vendors. I looked into what that would cost and it is very expensive. Since I never made that much of a profit on my baskets, there is just no way I could ever afford to rent a location. Perhaps one of the others will find a way. In the meantime, please realize that this is not something that those of us in the gift basket trade want.