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Our senses of taste and smell can transport us to far-off places without leaving home, and learning about other cultures broadens our minds as well as our palates. With an international food subscription box, your longing for exploration and discovery can easily be satisfied.
Exploring the world through food is a great way to break out of your routine, leave your comfort zone, and experience something new. With these best international food subscription boxes, you'll never feel stuck at home again.
Best International Food Subscription Boxes
- Best Overall: Try The World
- Best for Cooks: Raw Spice Bar
- Best for Snacks: Universal Yums
- Best for Kids: eat2explore
- Best Deep Dive: German Food Box
Best Overall : Try The World
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Try The World
Why We Chose It: With multiple options and eclectic curation, Try The World is a great way to discover far-flung tastes and ingredients.
Two boxes to choose from
Free shipping
Some poor reviews
The vast majority of international food boxes focus on snacks and candy—most people are fond of them, these items are not perishable, and they are easy to stock and ship. There's just one problem: Snacks and candy represent only a tiny slice of the overall international food scene. That's why Try The World offers two subscription boxes: the Snacks box and the Countries box.
The Snacks box includes six snacks and candies from six different countries every month. Past boxes featured popular items like Honey and Salt Toffee from South Africa, Yuzu Gummies from Japan, and Pickled Garlic Sriracha Banana Chips from Thailand. It's a great way to receive a broad selection of international flavors every single month.
The Countries box, on the other hand, focuses on one country at a time and contains not only snacks but also drinks, spices, condiments, and cooking ingredients. You'll get seven or eight items each month, all from a single country. Nations represented in the boxes have included Portugal, Morocco, Sweden, and others.
The Snacks box starts at $29 per month, depending on your subscription length. The price of the Countries box is similarly determined, but starts at $49. Shipping is free for both subscriptions.
Best for Cooks : Raw Spice Bar
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Raw Spice Bar
Why We Chose It: If you love to explore international flavors in your home cooking, Raw Spice Bar is the subscription for you.
Organic
Free shipping
Only one spice per month
Raw Spice Bar is a spice company that focuses on creating fresh, authentic international spice blends. The company stocks over a dozen different spice mixtures representing many international cuisine styles, including Greek Blend, Creole Blend, Xinjiang Blend, Grateful Garlic Blend, Za'atar, Lebkuchen Spice Blend, Shawarma Seasoning, Tandoori Spice Blend, and Moroccan-style Ras El Hanout.
Serious cooks know that freshly ground spices are so much more aromatic, nuanced, and flavorful than seasonings that have been sitting around in a jar. That's why all spices from Raw Spice Bar are toasted and ground just before shipping and labeled with the date of packaging. Plus, herbs from Raw Spice Bar are organic and transparently sourced for quality that is sure to show up in your finished dishes.
Raw Spice Bar's Spice Subscription is the way to go for cooks looking to challenge themselves and broaden their palates. Each month you'll get a 2-ounce packet of a spice blend, along with recipe ideas that will inspire you to make the most of it, for a cost of $10 or less depending on what plan you choose. Shipping is included.
Best for Snacks : Universal Yums
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Universal Yums
Why We Chose It: Universal Yums is the best tour guide for your journey through the fascinating world of foreign snacks.
Three size options
Free shipping
Negative Trustpilot reviews
No matter where you go in the world, you'll find all manner of munchies to which the local population is fervently devoted. Snacks, in other words, are universal, and that's what Universal Yums is all about.
Universal Yums guides you through the world of munchies one country at a time. Past boxes have featured countries like Italy, Russia, Colombia, Egypt, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. The boxes include a mix of sweet and savory munchies, depending on the tastes of the local natives. Austrians, for example, seem to prefer sweet treats, with top items like Chocolate Almond Wafers, Soft Orange Gingerbread, and Lemon Peppermint Patties. On the other hand, Thai people lean toward the savory side with snacks like Sweet and Spicy Garlic Crisps and Salty Pineapple Candy. To add fun and context to the featured goodies, Universal Yums also includes a 12+ page guidebook with snack info, trivia, games, and recipes.
The Monthly boxes come in three sizes: five to seven snacks, 10–12 snacks, and 18–20 snacks, for around $15, $26, and $41, respectively. You can subscribe monthly or annually, or for fixed periods of one, three, six, or 12 months. Shipping is free. Best of all, if you fall in love with a particular snack, you can order more. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "Yum Shop."
Best for Kids : eat2explore
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eat2explore
Why We Chose It: eat2explore is a fun, interactive, cultural, and culinary education for the whole family.
Fun for families
20 countries included
No option to choose your monthly countries
Rowena Scherer founded eat2explore, inspired by her childhood in Malaysia and driven by her experiences as a working mother and trained chef. Scherer resolved to serve families by bringing together culinary education, cultural awareness, and family fun in a single product/service.
The monthly eat2explore box contains a lot of material. There are three recipe cards, a shopping list, educational activity sheets, essential ingredients (like spices, sauces, and grain mixes), information about the featured country, cooking tools, and collectibles. Once you receive the box, it's up to you to shop for fresh ingredients like meat and vegetables and get your family involved in the adventure.
eat2explore offers boxes from 20 countries. You can either let the company choose which country will be featured in your monthly box or choose yourself by focusing on a specific continent. Subscriptions cost $21.20-$24.95 per month, with discounts available for longer-term commitments and prepayments. Shipping is a flat $6 per box.
Best Deep Dive : German Food Box
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German Food Box
Why We Chose It: The German Food Box takes you deeper into a single cuisine than any other subscription service.
Wide range of foods
Great reviews
Expensive
German Food Box creator Michael Pirro is a German expatriate residing in Florida. His passion for his home country's cuisine drove him to seek out authentic German products and share them with others.
The German Food Box is an outlier in the subscription box domain. Most international food subscription boxes only skim the surface of a country's cuisine, typically sticking to prepackaged snacks and sweets. It's rare to find a box that delves more deeply, offering entrées, side dishes, and baked goods, as well as snacks and candy.
German Food Box sends out a curated mix of six to eight authentic German products each month. You're likely to receive a wide range of items, such as bratwurst, weisswurst, rye bread, spaetzle, sauerkraut, pretzel mix, and seasonings, plus desserts, candies, recipes, and more. You may even get one of Germany's most traditional and celebrated baked goods, stollen.
Subscribing is straightforward. There's just one recurring monthly plan that costs roughly $50 per month, plus $10 shipping. You pay as you go, and you can cancel anytime.
Final Verdict
An international food subscription box is an accessible and entertaining way to broaden your palate with a regular assortment of overseas goodies. Rather than showcasing specific countries, we wanted to focus on subscriptions delivering a wider sense of discovery. That's why, with the exception of German Food Box, we tried to feature services that represented a wide variety of cultures and countries throughout the world. We believe that, for most people, the service that does that best is Try The World.
Compare the Best International Food Subscription Boxes
Company | Approx. Cost Per Month | Shipping |
---|---|---|
Try The World Best Overall | $29-$49 | Free |
Raw Spice Bar Best for Cooks | $10 | Free |
Universal Yums Best for Snacks | $15-$41 | Free |
eat2explore Best for Kids | $21.20-$24.95 | $6 per box |
German Food Box Best Deep Dive | $50 | $10 per box |
What Is an International Food Subscription Box?
International food subscription boxes vary widely. Many focus on specific countries, but a few feature products from around the globe. Though you might receive items from many countries over the life of a subscription, monthly boxes typically feature one country at a time.
How Much Do International Food Subscription Boxes Charge?
Most boxes cost between $20 and $40, depending on the number of items you receive.
What Kinds of International Foods Come in the Box?
Boxes are mostly limited to non-perishable prepackaged foods and ingredients, like snacks, candy, dry goods, spices, and canned foods.
Methodology
It's easy to find subscription boxes focused on one specific country. Rather than deliver a long list of such boxes, we wanted to emphasize services that allowed you to explore the world.
We looked for subscriptions that delivered that sense of exploration from different angles. Try The World offers the broadest range of products, while Raw Spice Bar is all about spices for home cooking, and Universal Yums concentrates on snacks. Eat2explore is about family fun as well as flavor. The obvious exception was German Food Box, which we included as a unique opportunity for depth rather than breadth.
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