Nature Box is an interesting company. A snack food distributor, so, clearly on my radar as I'm an avid snacker, but they go for a different segment of the market than most.
"We believe in a world where snacks should do more than just get you through your afternoon sugar slump. That’s why we strive to develop and maintain wellness by creating high-quality, great-tasting snacks with functional benefits. Our goal is to provide delicious, healthier snacks delivered in the most convenient way possible: right to your front door."Nature Box's main distribution is subscription snack boxes, sent to you at home every month (and, yes, they were into this LONG before the pandemic). You can't generally find their products in regular retail packaging.
But Nature Box also goes after the office market, offering their snacks in bulk for employers to provide to their kitchens and pantries. It is in this setting that I've most encountered them, but I've also seen them in airline lounges from time to time.
With over 100 snacks in their portfolio, I certainly haven't come close to trying them all, but, I've been quite pleased with many, and will gladly try any more that come my way.
"Slowin' down halfway through your work day? Satisfy those pesky afternoon cravings with our savory and crunchy Green Chile Snack Mix!"
With over 100 snacks in their portfolio, I certainly haven't come close to trying them all, but, I've been quite pleased with many, and will gladly try any more that come my way.
Savory Snack Mixes
Oh, snack mixes. My weakness. Seriously, I love snack mixes, and always have. I'm a constant muncher, and there is something so therapeutic to me about picking through a snack mix, going for a certain piece when I'm in one mood, another when that mood hits, etc. I even like it when a snack mix has one item I don't really care for, as I like to avoid them. I cherish the "best" pieces for last often, or sometimes, just go all in on them from the start. Snack mixes really are a way to, uh, eat my feelings, whatever they are at the moment.
Nature Box makes a variety of snack mixes and the dominant theme is great flavors. Which, for me, is a winning element.
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| Green Chile Snack Mix. |
The first snack mix I tried was green chile.
This was good. Packed with flavor, as I hoped from the name.
In the mix is pita chips, pretzels, whole wheat sesame sticks, bagel chips, and wild rice sticks. The pretzel sticks I was pretty eh on, but I liked the sesame sticks and wild rice sticks quite a bit, and the bagel chips and pita chips added great crunch and wonderful surface area to collect the seasoning.
The seasoning is what made the mix. Sugar (and brown sugar and molasses), onions and garlic, vinegar, tomato, chile ... and much more. Salty, spicy, zesty, just so flavorful.
A great munchie to have on hand.
****.
Update Review: I had it a year later, forgetting this review, and again loved the flavors. And again, my one line review: "This is great! But I wish it didn't have the pretzels.". At least I'm consistent. ****.
Update Review: I adore this actually, but not as as snack mix to just munch on, but rather, as something I throw onto a salad for crunch and flavor. ****+.
"Fiery hot buffalo sauce meets tangy creamy blue cheese to make the best snack mix ever! This snack is sure to satisfy any afternoon savory craving."
What did we have here? Sourdough pretzel chunks, green peas, waffle pretzels, wild rice sticks, and pita chips, all coated in a hot sauce and blue cheese mix.
This reminded me a lot of Snyder's of Hanover flavored pretzels - I love them, but in a gross kinda way, as in, the flavors I half-love, but half-think are gross, and yet I still devour too many, and then my stomach feels equally gross. (Anyone? Do you know what I mean?). Anyway, that is what this mix was like.
The flavor was fascinating, and almost kinda great, and yet I also sorta hated it. It was spicy (buffalo), but also ... something. Not quite sure what, certainly not something I'd call blue cheese, almost more like ranch. The textures were good with all the different components, and they were all well coated, so I did like it ... but had to be careful with how much I had.
It was good to toss into salads as well, although I mostly just wished it was the Sriracha crunch mix instead.
I almost loved this.
I really did like the tikka masala spicing, and I liked the corn and flax chips even (they really were loaded up with seasoning!), but the things I expected to like, the corn nuts and roasted crunchy peas, were just kinda meh for me. Not as flavored as the corn chips, just ... crunchy things.
These are crazy good. Like, crazy good.
These were a pleasant surprise. They didn't look or sound like much, as the ingredient list was pretty simple: Oven Baked Almonds, Cane Sugar, Tapioca Syrup, Dried Mangos, Crispy Rice, Brown Rice, White Rice, Palm Oil, Natural Flavor, Sea Salt, Guar Gum.
How good would little puffed rice balls with some bits of mango and almond possibly be? The answer: quite good!
They were light and airy, due to the puffed rice. Slightly sweet. The bits of mango added some chew, the almond some crunch. Really just delightful to munch on. Far better than they seemed they should be!
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| Green Chile Snack Mix. |
A few months later, I had it again, and was less enthusiastic. I still liked the spicing, but, I found the pretzels, bagel chips, pita chips to all be "eh" and were way too dominant. ***.
Next up, the very appealing sounding sriracha cashew crunch.
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| Sriracha Cashew Crunch |
This mix has some good stuff in it.
The cashews are really well coated in seasoning, extremely flavorful. I like many of the other ingredients, like the peas and sesame twigs, but I could certainly do without the edamame and the pita chips, although the colors and sizes and shapes are pleasing to look at.
****.
Update Review: I adore this actually, but not as as snack mix to just munch on, but rather, as something I throw onto a salad for crunch and flavor. ****+.
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| Buffalo Blue Cheese Snack Mix. |
What did we have here? Sourdough pretzel chunks, green peas, waffle pretzels, wild rice sticks, and pita chips, all coated in a hot sauce and blue cheese mix.
This reminded me a lot of Snyder's of Hanover flavored pretzels - I love them, but in a gross kinda way, as in, the flavors I half-love, but half-think are gross, and yet I still devour too many, and then my stomach feels equally gross. (Anyone? Do you know what I mean?). Anyway, that is what this mix was like.
The flavor was fascinating, and almost kinda great, and yet I also sorta hated it. It was spicy (buffalo), but also ... something. Not quite sure what, certainly not something I'd call blue cheese, almost more like ranch. The textures were good with all the different components, and they were all well coated, so I did like it ... but had to be careful with how much I had.
It was good to toss into salads as well, although I mostly just wished it was the Sriracha crunch mix instead.
***.
"Savory Seasoning!"
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| Everything & The Bagel Snack Mix. |
This one has, well, bagel chips, as you'd expect, plus pita chips and onion & poppy seed sticks, all coated in more poppy seeds, onion power, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Basically, yes, an everything bagel with a few different things to munch on.
I found it ... ok. The flavors though aren't ones I'm a huge fan of, but if you love everything bagels, I'm sure this is fabulous.
I found it ... ok. The flavors though aren't ones I'm a huge fan of, but if you love everything bagels, I'm sure this is fabulous.
***.
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Tikka Masala Snack Mix.
I really did like the tikka masala spicing, and I liked the corn and flax chips even (they really were loaded up with seasoning!), but the things I expected to like, the corn nuts and roasted crunchy peas, were just kinda meh for me. Not as flavored as the corn chips, just ... crunchy things.
***.
"We’ve taken perfectly salted pretzel twists and given them an indulgent upgrade with honey and butter. Unlike other pretzels out there, you won’t find any artificial ingredients or corn syrup in ours. So go on, treat yourself!"
Pretzels
Besides chips, pretzels are probably one of the top snack foods, and of course Nature Box offers an assortment, all different shapes and sizes, different flavors of base pretzel, and plenty of choices for coatings. Swoon, the coatings. Much like the snack mixes, it is the seasonings that really make these.
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| Salted Honey Butter Pretzels. |
These are crazy good. Like, crazy good.
Salted honey butter? Yeah, you got me. An odd sounding flavor, but they are sweet and savory and oh-so-salty and the waffle shape holds in sooo much seasoning. That seasoning is just A++, I wish I could purchase it to sprinkle on things. I bet it would make some amazing popcorn!
I'm ... addicted to these.
****+.
Eh. These are fine, but not that cheesy, and I don’t like the hard sourdough nibblers that make up the base anyway. Just slightly cheesy coated nibblers.
Eh to these too.
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Sourdough Cheddar Pretzels.
Eh. These are fine, but not that cheesy, and I don’t like the hard sourdough nibblers that make up the base anyway. Just slightly cheesy coated nibblers.
**+.
"Looking for some spice in your life? While we can’t help with your dating profile, we can wake up your taste buds with these spicy and seriously addicting pretzels. Bring a bag along on your next road trip or game night to keep you mouth occupied."
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Kung Pao Pretzels.
Eh to these too.
These are the same shape as the salted honey butter ones, waffle shaped thin pretzels, coated in a kung pao seasoning. Much more seasoning and flavor, and the waffle shape helps trap it nicely, and I almost like the seasoning, but still, they are pretzels, and just not that exciting to me.
***.
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Yogurt pretzel
I tried both the regular and raspberry flavored yogurt pretzels, standard little pretzel twists, and was underwhelmed by both. Fine, but not great, other brands have a creamier coating, and more pronounced raspberry.
**+.
Fruit & Nuts
For the times where I want to pretend to be a bit healthier, Nature Box has assorted dried fruits, nuts, and fruit/nut bites. These too, are above average.
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| Mango Almond Bites. |
How good would little puffed rice balls with some bits of mango and almond possibly be? The answer: quite good!
They were light and airy, due to the puffed rice. Slightly sweet. The bits of mango added some chew, the almond some crunch. Really just delightful to munch on. Far better than they seemed they should be!
***+.
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Dried Mango.
"Dried fruit is our go to, healthy, grab and go snack, when we don’t want to sacrifice health or taste just for convenience. But not all dried fruit is created equal. And this Dried Mango is especially loveable. Never too dry, with just the right amount of sweetness, it’s texture is chewy but not tough. And, absolutely no sulfites or added sugar. Pop open the bag, and enjoy."
I really like this dried mango. It reminds me of the brand I had in Australia that I adored. Fruity, sweet, and perfect chew to it.
****.
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Dark chocolate toffee almonds.
Um, yum.
Great sweetness from the thin toffee layer, nice crunch, quality dark chocolate smothering the outside.
Noms.
****.
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