Little Box of Yum – May 2016

Little Box of Yum is an Australian food subscription box that searches the country for the best products and sends you a monthly box of gourmet goodness! They describe themselves as a food discovery service that provides you with full-size culinary delights each month.

Little Box of Yum
Cost: $49.00 AUD (inc shipping)
Ships To:  Australia
Payment Method: Credit Card
Estimated Arrival: approximately 2 weeks after the 20th of the previous month

Good To Know: If you have allergies or food intolerances, you can mention this when signing up and Little Box of Yum will do their best to provide you with substitutions where possible. I did mention that it wasn’t the end of the world if they weren’t able to find substitutions, as I was happy to re-gift any items that didn’t suit my purposes, but Heidi was very accommodating and extremely thoughtful in tailoring the box to my needs.

It seems they ship early, too – mine was dispatched on the 28th of April and arrived the following afternoon on the 29th, which was uncommonly quick! I’d received an email confirmation when the box was sent and the ETA was for the following week, but the courier company seems to be super efficient. 😀

First peek inside.The reason that booklet reads April when this is the May box is due to my request for vegan & gluten-free products, if possible. This month’s box would’ve been all substitutions, so they kindly sent me half of last month’s box after checking whether I was interested in the vegan/GF items from that box, and then made a few substitutions including a couple items from March’s box and one item that is brand new.

I received a hand-written note outlining the substitutions in my box.

?

The food items come nestled in a TON of environmentally friendly wood-wool which adds an additional layer of mystery to the unboxing! 😀 In a lot of boxes I’ve received, you can see most of the contents once you remove the pamphlet or biggest item covering up the smaller ones, but this has so much packaging filler that all the products are fully submerged deep in the box and it’s heaps of fun digging in and discovering what’s in there!

OVERVIEW OF CONTENTS:

Nicholson Fine Foods – Summer Mango Finishing Vinegar (approx $6.50 for 100 ml?): Vinegar isn’t my favorite thing ever, but I do love mangos…

Gourmet Morsels – Citrus Fusion ($8.50): something to make vegetables taste better is always appreciated! I grew up with parents who only ever boiled veggies, so I’ve become an adult who desperately craves flavoring on vegetables to give it some pizzazz, lol.

Rainforest Foods – Davidson’s Plum & Sweet Chilli Sauce ($8.95): I love plums and sweet chilli sauce, so this combo should be brilliant! It’s also great that Rainforest Foods donates part of the proceeds from these sales to put toward the regeneration of Australian rainforests. ^_^

Puddings On The Ritz – Sticky Date with Toasted Coconut & Almonds Rice Pudding ($6 – $7 at the local grocer): this is such a cute idea, and my mom loves rice pudding, so it’s the perfect discovery in time for Mother’s Day! She’s made her own rice pudding at home just with rice and milk, but this gourmet version is so much cooler, with the other ingredients added in 😀

Forbidden – Black Rice ($7.99): this is quite unusual, I hadn’t heard of black rice befor. It’s organic, high in iron and protein and will look quite dramatic in the evening meal ^_^

Bondi Chai – Vanilla Honey Chai Latte ($7.20): I was glad to receive this, as my mother’s fond of chai latte and it will be perfect for the Mother’s Day box I’m assembling for her. ❤

VERDICT:

I like that Little Box of Yum provides an information booklet that not only outlines the contents, but also their ingredients and whether they’re dairy-free, lactose-free, vegan, vegetarian, nut-free and so on and so forth. I’m used to doing extensive research into food items and deciphering obscure ingredients to see whether they’re gluten-free/vegan, so having this breakdown is priceless and makes life so much easier.

And besides all that, there’s a brief write-up providing background on the suppliers who created these products along with their website in case you’d like to reorder the item you received or try out others in their store. Plus some recipes! There’s so much effort put into these booklets, and even better, they’re also available online! If you’re interested, you can view the mini-magazine for March and April.

Worth It? I paid $39.20 as I used a coupon to get a discount off the full-price, and the value I’ve calculated comes to about $45-$46 (not accounting for the cost of shipping if you were to purchase these items on your own). But even if I’d bought this box at the regular cost, it was only a few dollars under and completely worth it. I didn’t know any of these products existed, and Little Box of Yum totally justifies the price by introducing you to new things, especially from little niche shops you may not be aware of or get the chance to visit.

This box would be well-suited to foodies keen to experiment with new  flavors and recipes as Little Box of Yum sources artisan products that aren’t regularly stocked by the big supermarkets. This is a great subscription if you’re interested in expanding your horizons, exploring what’s out there and taking your taste-buds on an adventure!

I’m keeping this subscription because of the amazing effort put into the curation, ensuring the contents met my requirements, and putting together the mini-magazine accompanying it.

Personal Rating: 5 out of 5 kitties approve this box!

Find Out More: Little Box of Yum is on Facebook and Instagram.