This is not a sponsored post. We paid for our own Naturebox and Graze subscriptions.
Our four month-long subscription to Naturebox revealed that we like receiving snacks in the mail. Not that this is a surprise or anything.
The box we chose cost $20 per month for five bags of snacks which was sufficient for our two-person household. Most were hits, while a few others were misses. We liked that we could choose our snacks which were all free of artificial colors, artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, and partially or fully-hydrogenated oils. Snacks can also be sorted by vegan, non-GMO or allergen-free.
We went for the ones that sounded most appealing.
At the end of four months, I decided to try a new snack subscription service. Although we did like most of our snacks, we hit a few duds in our last two boxes that frustrated me. I composed a tweet stating we had some hits and misses and sent Naturebox an email listing the snacks we especially loved and disliked.
To Naturebox’s credit, company reps contacted me immediately via Twitter and returned my email the next day. They informed me about their 100% satisfaction guarantee which provides subscribers with credit for snacks they are unhappy with and offered to ship me replacement snacks. I was very impressed with their customer service’s responsiveness and willingness to send new snacks.
I wish I had known about this policy sooner, but shame on me for not contacting Naturebox sooner! I learned an important lesson to bring my concerns about a product directly to the company and give them an opportunity to respond. Naturebox sends an email when they ship the box along with a tracking number. Ours took one week to ship from Sacramento to Mason City.
These were our favorite and least favorite Naturebox snacks:
Favorites: Big Island Pineapple, Country Ranch Peas, Santa Fe Corn Stix, Sourdough Cheddar Pretzels, Italian Bistro Pretzels, Sunshine Chips
Least Favorites: Baked Sweet Potato Fries, Fuji Apples, Flax Crostini Bites
And now our initial thoughts on our first Graze box.
Graze Box
Several friends recommended Graze and Katy offered us her referral code that made our first and fifth box free. Each Graze box costs $6 each (including shipping), so felt that five boxes for $18 was an affordable way to try the service.
We subscribed to weekly Nibbleboxes, while the Caloriecounter option only contains snacks under 150 calories.
Unlike Naturebox, subscribers can’t specifically choose their snacks, but can browse through them online and indicate which snacks they want to try. I “trashed” some of the snacks that didn’t appeal to our tastes. Subscribers can also sort snacks by allergen and dietary preference.
Our Graze box arrived nine days after I subscribed. Here’s what we received:
Each pouch is a single serving.
Jalapeno Fiesta: Pure nuts. A little bit of spice but not remarkably spicy. Slightly bland but tasty enough. Jake really enjoyed these and said they were his favorite.
Salted Fudge & Peanut Cookie: I initially predicted I would not like this snack, but found it addicting. The mix really did taste salty and sweet. The cookies had a shortbread quality and the itsy bitsy fudge cubes had the texture of Starbursts. A little strange, but I kept going back for more. Nothing tasted too sweet.
Super Berry Detox: I almost never seek dried fruit as a snack, so I’m biased not to favor this mix. But the dried fruits tasted fresh and as juicy as dried fruit can be. Jake gave his seal of approval.
Punchy Protein Nuts: The cashews were coated in a tart chili lime seasoning which I really enjoyed. However, the other nuts were not even salted. Meh.
Initial Thoughts: With the coupon for the 1st and 5th box free, we’re satisfied with the $18 value for five boxes. We do miss the larger portion sizes of Naturebox, because it’s nice to have a whole bag of something you like and reorder it. The Graze box pouches go quickly, but are supposed to ship once per week. Plus, we liked the surprise of not knowing what snacks were inside the box and the ingredients tasted fresh.
I’m hoping we get more of the quirky snacks like the Salted Fudge & Peanut Cookie mix. Hopefully we’ll find some of the popcorn, dips and dippers, and flapjacks inside our future boxes.
Have you dabbled in snack subscription boxes? What have your experiences been?
