The Cruelty-Free Shop Vegan Mystery Box is a subscription box that promises 8 – 10 cruelty-free items valued at $34.95 minimum. The contents of the box are entirely vegan and range from snacks and sweet treats to more substantial food or pantry staples.

Cruelty-Free Shop Vegan Mystery Box
Cost: $34.95
Shipping Costs: $9.95 within Australia only.
Payment Method: Credit Card.
Mailed Out: First Wednesday of each month
**Note: subscriptions auto-renew on the 2nd of each month**

My box was dispatched on Wednesday 5th October and arrived the following Monday 10th October. FYI, while I usually share the items during lunch break with my work buddy Brad, he actually resigned recently, so this was a farewell present to him instead. While he kindly allowed me to take photos for this post (the blog comes first!), I didn’t actually eat anything within. Such a shame as it’s the best box of the year! I was tempted to confiscate a few items before gifting it to him, haha. 😉

OVERVIEW OF CONTENTS

Double-sided page with a list of the contents: while they list in italics whether each item is gluten-free and so forth, I would recommend you double-check the ingredients if you have severe dietary issues, as there have been mistakes before.

This is one of the bigger boxes of this whole year! And they didn’t even include the additional recipe as an item like they used to, lol.

I prefer the months where the menu is themed according to one of the included items, as that makes it more relevant, but since this is a bonus, I’m not too fazed.

Pukka Tea Bag (20 bag pack for $8.45, so one is $0.42)

Extraordinary Foods Coconut Bacon/Superseed Sprinkle Sample (value?)

Addiction Food’s Mint & Coconut Chocolate Truffle ($2.95)

Table of Plenty Dark Chocolate Coated Mini Rice Cakes (the 60g version is $4.05, so this 14g version is $0.94)

Swizzels Love Hearts ($1.85)

Nature’s Protein – Green Pea Protein Snack ($2.70)

Veggie Street Eggplant Spread ($5.95)

Plamil Green Chilli Mayonnaise ($8.70)

Dr McDougal Pad Thai Noodle Cup ($3.50)

Wot No Dairy Rice Dessert – Peach & Mango ($2.00)

Soymilke Soy Caramel ($7.40)

VERDICT

Quality of Curation: 10/10, amazing job! There were several big items in here, I was excited at how heavy the box was when I picked it up, and it definitely lived up to expectations. I’ve tried a couple foodie boxes and some skew too heavily on items you need to cook before consuming and others are more snack-based, but the CFS box has a fantastic mix of the two. I love that you can instantly munch on some sweets or a decadent truffle, and then have the spread later with crackers or the soup for a fuss-free lunch.

Aside from catering to a range of culinary options, it’s cool that there’s healthy items as well as some yummy chocolate snacks! People are often under the misconception that being vegan means never getting to enjoy the taste of food again, lol, and this totally proves that wrong. Going into the Christmas season, this would be a good gift for someone considering going vegan – just as a subtle hint, lol!

I also really appreciate that a couple items were new to the CFS online range – people don’t always go onto the site to check if their shop’s been updated, so this is a great way to find out about neat new vegan additions!

Worth It? The total value of this box was $36.41 AUD, not including the sample that I couldn’t estimate a value for (which I don’t imagine could be more than fifty cents). This value covers the purchase of the box itself, although I did pay a total of $44.90 AUD including shipping. That said, I hadn’t realized til I went to the CFS website and put in a test order that the standard shipping cost is actually $12.95, so we’re saving $3 there at least. 🙂

With most boxes, I do consider shipping fees as a factor in the overall value of the box (which I think is fair because the items might be amazing, but if you’re paying $20 for postage, that lessens the value). However in this case, I’m so pleased with the items chosen for this box that I’m not fussed paying several dollars for postage. I think this was their best box out of the whole year!

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

4cats