I’m experimenting with boxes. I’ve tried two – Conscious Box and Nature Box. These boxes
are delivered to your door (free shipping) every month for a mere $19.95. I’m
willing to gamble twenty bucks in the name of research and a blog post or two,
so I signed up for both.
The Nature Box full
of 5 bags of relatively healthy snacks arrived promptly. I wasn’t aware that
you could choose which snacks you want in your box, so my first selection was
randomly chosen by the Powers That Be at Nature Box.
Our box contained Cranberry
Almond Bites, French Vanilla Almond Granola, Whole Wheat Blueberry Figgy Bars,
Baked Peppery Potato Fries, and Flax
Fortune Coins. The sales pitch claimed that these would be “full-size” bags
of snacks. And they were. If you’re a toddler. My kids are teens, so each bag
had about 2 servings (except the Flax
Fortune Coins which may last us a month).
If you do the math, that’s $4 a bag. I suppose this is about
the average price for gouchi all-natural snacks, which these definitely are.
I’m sure you can find a knock-off of every one of them at Wegmans. These snacks
contain no high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, artificial
sweeteners, artificial flavors, artificial colors, or trans fats. That’s all
good. A few of them do have their fair share of sugar, but how else will you
get kids to eat them? Sugar is the second ingredient listed on the Flax Fortune Coins but I’m the only one
brave enough to eat them. This I attribute to their unfortunate name, but more
about that later.
When I factor in that I didn’t have to drive to the store
and pick out these snacks, I feel comfortable with the price tag, especially
since from here on out I can select what we want in our box. But when I
consider the environmental cost of bringing these products to me (packaging,
shipping, marketing), I feel a pang of guilt. The figgy bars were individually
packaged inside their re-sealable bag. Even my kids were offended at that
amount of waste.
I decided to un-sign myself up for the next scheduled Nature Box. It’s not necessarily the
food itself or even the price. (My first box was only $9.98 thanks to a promotion on Facebook and I could get further discounts by passing along that Facebook discounts to my friends.) The main problem is that my kids didn’t eat it
on principle. The principle that says that if it’s good for you and Mom wants
you to eat it, it will taste nasty. The uniform packaging didn’t help my case.
All five bags have the same color/shape/look/logo so I couldn’t try to sneak
one in under the radar a few days later. My two older kids tried the snacks
out of desperation and under duress. (I hadn’t bought them any Cheez-its). They
ate the Cranberry Almond Bites and
the Blueberry Figgy Bars. They
wouldn’t touch the Flax Coins or Peppery Fries and had no interest in
more granola. Of course they labeled them “kind of gross” – they had to save
face here.
I tried all of them and thought the Figgy Bars, granola, and Almond
Bites tasted fine. Maybe not worth $4 a bag and a hit to the environment, but
not bad.
My one recommendation for Nature Box is to reconsider the
names and packaging of these snacks. No matter how delicious the Flax Fortune Coins may be, there ain’t
no way my kids are interested. Using the word “fortune” in the name is
misleading; there is no fortune offered. Hey- maybe if they added a few
fortunes hidden down in the bag (or better yet the cookie), that might lure
them in. Better to call them Vanilla
Sugar Coins or Yummo Cookie Treats or Eat-These-When-Your-Mom-Isn’t-Looking
Cookies. If this box is marketed for kids (and it very well may NOT be, but I’m
not privy to such info), it is sorely lacking.
And Whole Wheat Figgy Bars?
Unless Fig is followed by Newton, best to leave the word out all together. And Whole Wheat is the kiss of death on any
kid-snack. Peppery Fries? Fries imply
that these will be hot and crispy and peppery
is not a word you’d want to put on the packaging of anything you offer a child.
I checked out the other offerings at Nature Box and saw a few things my kids might eat – if I put them
in a bowl first and gave them a different name. Sad to say, while there may be
some nutritional benefits to these snacks, my kids were turned off before they
even tasted them. At such a premium price, it’s not worth the risk. In the end,
I ate the Flax Coins and the chickens
loved the Peppery Fries. Alas, back
to the Cheezits.
Coming Soon: Conscious
Box review
It sounds like the problem isn't necessarily with NatureBox, but rather, with you and your children's eating habits.
ReplyDeleteOuch. But you're absolutely right.
DeleteNo. I've tried NatureBox as well and the problem is, they are full of sugar and very expensive for what you are getting. It's an instance of something being marketed as healthy and good for the environment and being none of the above. By the way, I tried some of their other options and they had sugar listed as the second ingredient on both the fruit and nut options.
ReplyDeleteThanks Elaine - you said what I was trying to say much more eloquently and succinctly.
DeleteI just signed up for Nature Box, primarily for the Flax Coins. To say that the snacks are loaded with sugar is a bit misleading. Yes, sugar is often the second ingredient, but it's only a couple of grams. Compared to the cups in other cookies, its not much. And remember, these are snacks. The packaging is all recyclable. So while there is a lot of it, it goes back into the system if you let it. So far, I'm a fan.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like it. I should have probably said in the post that the concept should whole-heartedly be applauded and hopefully the company will improve as it grows. Would love to hear back how it goes for you.
Delete