Universal Yums Review: Discover the Best (and Worst) Snacks from Every Corner of the Globe
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Looking for some tasty snacks from around the world? This Universal Yums Snack Box is a great treat. We paid for and tried 4 of their boxes to discover the best (and worst) snacks from around the globe.
If you’re a fan of snacks from around the world, Universal Yums is an international snack subscription box that delivers delicious treats straight to your door! The best part? You don’t have to leave home or shop for yourself! All you have to do is sign up and wait for your monthly Universal Yums Box to arrive.
In can be hard to know whether a snack box is worth the money.
Which is why we’ve written this review for you. We’ll go over how the subscription works, what the snacks are like, and whether it’s worth the money or not.
And if you’re feeling extra curious about the experience, we’ll share an unboxing pictures of us trying out all four different types of our past boxes. The Holiday Box, plus peeks at the Germany, Ukraine and Netherlands Box.
That way you can get a sense of whether this international snack box is right for you.
Universal Yums Box Comprehensive Review
Founded in 2014, Universal Yums box is filled with tasty snacks from different countries, delivered to your door each month. Previous snack boxes include; Thailand, Holiday box (see more below), Italy, Russia and more.
Each snack box comes with:
- A variety of sweet and savory snacks & flavours
- A booklet to guide your monthly adventure with food descriptions, recipes, trivia, pictures and more.
- A scoreboard you can use to rate the tastes, and choose your monthly favourites. Bonus, if you take a photo of the final scoreboard and tag universal yums on social media, you can be entered to win more of your team’s fav snacks.
Clearly, snacking is a favourite pastime around the world. Why not get in on then fun?
Universal Yums Reviews: International Snack Box
We heard good things about the Universal Yums international snack box, and wanted to give it a try for our family.
We checked out many different universal yums reviews before I decided ot give it a try. Like many people, we have been missing travel, especially tasting new foods and diving into new cultural experiences this year. Who’s with me?
Ordering
As it was around Christmas time, we started with the Holiday box, rather than Italy which was the other first box option at the time.
Right now you can start with Greece, Africa, India, Thailand snack box, but these do change from time to time. They also now have a little quiz when you click the get started button, so these may change depending on your preferences.
I was impressed with how easy the ordering process was, and how straightforward the info on the Universal Yums website was.
Sign up is right on the main page, plus a FAQ button at the bottom to take you to a page which answers all the main questions you may have about the box.
Within a few clicks, your snack subscription is set up, and now comes the hard part of waiting for your box to arrive.
⭐️ Order your first tasty snack box here! They make fun gifts for the holidays or Birthdays.
Holiday Snacks From Around the World
We were super excited to receive our box of “surprises” in the mail, and loved trying all the
Other than the fudge, truffles, and baklava, we hadn’t tried any of the other snacks before. It was fun to combine the more familiar with the unknown.
There was a great variety of sweet and salty snacks, with different textures. Everyone had different least favourite and most favourite snacks on their list.
- Some global holiday snacks were instant hits: mocktail bonbons, sugar & anise Polvoron cookie, garlicky potato chips, and sea salt & caramel fudge.
- Some global holiday snacks were just ok: The apple & dark chocolate Dominosteins (except for my partner who chose this as his absolute favourite treat in years) and the turkey & stuffing flavoured potato chips (a hit with the youngest only).
- And some were just plain “weird” to our north american taste buds, but surprisingly addictive at the same time, thinking of you Salted Egg Yolk Flavoured Popcorn.
The Universal Yums boxes were a hit with all our family members.
SNACK TIP: If you live somewhere cold and wintery, make sure the box is delivered either to the post office directly, or your home, where it won’t be left outside to freeze. Or, buy during the warmer months to avoid the risk altogether.
Pros and Cons of Universal Yums Snack Subscription Box
PROS
- Excellent variety of fresh snacks, tastes and textures – salty, sweet, fruity, crunchy, soft
- Can buy your favourite snacks individually too in their Yum Shop
- Surprises delivered to your door each month. Who doesn’t love surprises?
- Three different sizes to choose from – small, medium or large
- Booklet provides an immersive cultural adventure – recipes, info about the snacks, trivia
- Ingredients and nutritional information is listed in the booklet (in English). Common allergens are bolded.
- Free shipping in the US
- Easy process to order / cancel. Website clearly laid out.
- You can buy a gift subscription, monthly subscription or annual subscription
CONS
- No allergy safe snack options. They can’t accommodate food allergies.
- Can’t customize the box
- More expensive for global snack enthusiasts outside the US, with the exchange rate and additional shipping costs.
- Can’t order previous boxes
Extend your discover the world through snacks experience
Another reason for the pro side, is there are many ways you can extend your discovering the world through snacks experience:
- Great supplement to homeschooling. Food is a window into culture. Use it as a jumping off point to explore geography, music, language and more.
- Make a date night out of it from home – A Universal Yums box can provide some at-home date inspiration. Cook authentic food from your country’s theme for that month. Put on a movie that features the language or country, and enjoy some delicious Yums as your movie snack.
- Bring your box to work and be a snack superhero
- Compliments an at-home travel themed Christmas, or holiday celebration.
Unboxing the Universal Yums Holiday Box
First of all, you can’t miss their distinctive box, sitting in your mailbox. As it was the holiday box, the snack designs were in red and white, instead of blue.
My seven year old and I couldn’t wait to dig in and open the treats. We dragged my partner into the unboxing and tasting fun as well, even though he was trying to get back into his keto eating. Even he couldn’t resist the pull of delicious snacks from around the world.
Upon opening, we found a well packed box of 12 holiday themed international snacks. On top was the Yum Scoreboard and themed booklet for the month. Underneath were the goods.
Sweet Snacks
Let’s start with the sweet snacks first:
- Sugar & Anise Polvoron – Spain’s Christmas cookie. A yummy, crumbly, sweet, slightly licorice tasting cookie. Adult and kid approved.
- Mocktail Bon Bons – British ode to ringing in the New Year at the pub, but without the alcohol. While they didn’t taste like prosecco or British gin & rhubarb, they were soft, chewy, fruity goodness. Adult and kid favourite.
- Kruidnoten Cookies – bite sized spice cookies from the Netherlands. Like a gingersnap, without the ginger. This was a kid favourite. For the adults it was just ok. It felt like it was missing that ginger spiciness I kept expecting.
- Alpine Nut Cake – A Swiss nutty pie, filled with caramelized walnuts and hazelnuts. I barely got a nibble in as it the kid devoured it.
- Sea Salt & Caramel Fudge – A Christmas staple in England. This sweet and savoury treat is rich, buttery goodness. It was a favourite for one of the adults and the kid.
- Cocoa Dusted Chocolate Truffles – This silky, smooth, creamy ganache, chocolate truffle from France, was another adult and kid favourite.
- Chocolate Cream Pandoro – An Italian sweet bread with a surprise gooey chocolate centre. The kid thought it was delicious, and the adults thought it was just ok.
- Mixed Baklava – A syrupy, flaky, nutty pastry from Jordan. Unfortunately, our box got left in the mailbox and froze, so the baklava wasn’t as flaky as usual. Kid and adult approved, just not our favourite in the box.
- Apple & Dark Chocolate Dominosteins – A four layered sweet feast from Germany. A base of lebukuchen (gingerbread). A layer of tart apple jelly. Then a layer of persipan (ground apricot kernel). Covered in a layer of dark chocolate. My daughter and I thought it was just ok, but my partner thought it was the best dessert, and was definitely his favourite.
Salty, Savoury Snacks
Is all this talk of food making you want to grab some tasty International Snacks? Then let’s move on over to the salty, savoury snack world:
- Roast Turkey & Stuffing Potato Crisps – A UK feast, but in chip form. They did surprisingly have an herb stuffing flavour. Not an adult favourite, but the kid loved them.
- Salted Egg Yolk Popcorn – A rich, sweet and salty tasting popcorn, in honour of Taiwan’s many holiday egg traditions. This one definitely challenged our palates. Not a favourite, but definitely worth a try.
- Roasted Garlic Potato Chips – A garlicky, crunchy chip heaven, a Czech tradition. This was our family’s favourite salty snack. In fact, I wish I had some right now.
UNIVERSAL YUMS REVIEW
GERMANY, NETHERLANDS & UKRAINE BOX
Since the Holidays our family had a chance to try some more interesting snacks from Germany, Ukraine and Netherlands. I love that we look forward to unboxing the surprises each month, and that you never know what yout gonna get.
I also think it’s a great opportunity to expose your kids to different foods.. Especially if you are planning on travelling with your family somewhere the food is drastically different from what you are used to.
A snack subscription box is a great way to get your kids ready for trying new things, and most kids are happy to try something that’s salty or sweet first.
I will highlight a few of the unique and favourite world snacks from each box.
Universal Yums: Germany Box
A few fun standouts were the pulled pork “chips” from the Germany Box. They were not a hit, but I love that we got to try something a bit more unusual, even if my daughter said they tasted like dog treats. LOL! Not every snack will please the masses.
The Strawberry Rhubarb White Chocolate Bar and the dark chocolate covered marzipan more than made up for the pork crisps. I am not usually a fan of white chocolate or marzipan, but these definitely were high quality deliciousness. But watch out, you may find your kids teddy bears wanting in on some snack action!
International Snack Box: Ukraine
Our Universal Yums Ukraine Box arrived in February, so it came in a pink box for Valentine’s day. A February Universal Snack Box would make a unique take on the traditional chocolates for your sweetheart.
The highlights of the Ukraine box for us were:
- Favourites: Wasabi Flavoured Chips, Garlicky Bread Chips, Golden Key Mini Cakes with Condensed Milk Cream
- Strangest: Veal & Adjika Shaped Chips
Universal Yums Netherlands Box
The Netherlands Box was particularly a hit with our youngest, as there were a lot of fun shaped candies and stroop waffels.
The adult favourites were the cheese crisps with dried raspberries and real licorice. YUM! The least favourite were the Speculaas Cookies, as they were missing the hit of ginger I am used to. Cinnamon without the kick, was a bit lacking for us.
I am not sure what I would choose if I had to pick my favourite box. Each box had snacks from around the world I loved, and those that were a little too much for my tastes. I think that is the beauty of these boxes. You’ll get to explore and find out for yourself.
UNIVERSAL YUM – FAQs
Is Universal Yums Worth The Money?
All in all, we felt the Universal Yums subscription box was well worth the price, for the variety of items, ease of ordering, and the booklet, which provided interesting and useful information. Especially if you live in the USA.
For us Canadians, with the exchange rate and shipping, the medium sized box came to around $45 CAD.
Even at that price point I think it’s a worth a try for such a carefully curated box. I may not keep the subscription for as long as I would if the exchange rate wasn’t so poor, or if the shipping were free, but our family is happy to try out a few boxes as a treat.
Verdict: ! Universal Yums is a good choice if you are starting out on your global snack box journey, and are happy to have someone else make decisions about what goes into your box each month.
Is Universal Yums Safe?
Universal Yums is safe for most people, however there are no options for allergen safe boxes, and you cannot pick and choose what you want in the box each month. The Universal Yums box would not be safe for people with food allergies, food sensitivities, or dietary restrictions.
As to safety of the food products, yes the snacks are safe. Universal Yums has direct relationships with the companies who make the food, so they know what ingredients go into the products and how they are made. They also collect documentation and have processes in place to ensure all products are FDA compliant.
How Does A Universal Yums Subscription Box Work?
Choose your box & sign up for a subscription
- Head on over to the
- Click on the Get Started or ( You’ll need to choose between signing up for your own subscription month-to-month or yearly or choose to give as a gift for 1, 3, 6 or 12 months)
- Pick the size of the box you want to order. Then create your Universal Yums account and enter payment info.
There are three sizes of boxes:
- Yum Box (small): 5 to 7 international snacks
- Yum Yum Box (medium): 10-12 international snacks
- Super Yum Box (large): 15 – 18 international snacks
Easy peasy. Now you are ready to discover the world through snacks.
Universal Yums Store
If you aren’t sold on a subscription box and want to choose your own adventure in global snacks, they do also have their . Here you can shop from a list of over 100 items, and choose by favourites, country or product type.
This is a great option if you’d like to
How Much Is The Universal Yums Box?
The cost of the Universal Yum box varies depending on the size:
- Yum Box: $17 / month or $180/annually
- Yum Yum Box: $29/month or $312 annually
- Super Yum Box: $45/month or $492/annually
Shipping is free in the contiguous US and to military addresses (FPO/APO).
Shipping to other countries varies by size of box, and ranges from an extra $4 for shipping, on up to $30 (for the Super Yum Box to ship to Australia). Extra shipping applies to Canada, the UK, Australia, Israel, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands.
**Please note all prices are in US dollars.
How Long Does It Take For Universal Yums To Deliver?
Universal Yums notes in their terms of service that subscription boxes will generally ship between the 8th and 15th of the month, and take 1-7 days to arrive within the US.
Of course this depends on delivery times of their carriers, the US Postal Service or FedEx. If you live outside the US, it will likely take longer.
For example, it took about three weeks over the Christmas holiday for our family to receive our first Universal Yum box, in remote northern Canada (Northwest Territories).
When Does The Universal Yums Box Ship?
The first shipment date for the Universal Yums international snack box will vary, depending on when you order. The date can be seen during the signup process. Subsequent shipments will typically go out by the 15th of each month.
Can You Cancel Universal Yums At Any Time?
Universal Yums is easy to cancel. Your personal subscription box can be cancelled at any time by going into your account. Under the Manage subscriptions tab, click the cancel button under your active subscriptions. You can also skip a month, if you’d rather not cancel. Gift Subscriptions cannot be cancelled.
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Final Thoughts: Comprehensive Universal Yums Snack Box Review
There you have our Universal Yums review. It’s one of the most popular snack box options out there, and you can see why. There were a wide variety of delicious international Yums that both adults and kids enjoy, for a reasonable price, and an easy to sign up/cancel process. I like that they also throw in a few more unusual flavours to try, plus some more familiar ones, but with a twist.
We can’t wait for our next Universal Yums subscription boxes to arrive.
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These look delicious and they are not as expensive as I thought they would be. I love that they offer different sizes of subscription boxes. A big box would take me forever to get through OR I’d eat it in three days!
I hear you!I thought the same thing. Somehow our box disappeared at warp speed.
We love Universal Yums! Our first box was Scandanavia. It’s such a great product, but great point about the allergens. That is something definitely families should keep in mind.
I just love subscription boxes! This one sounds so cool, especially since it’s good so you don’t end up with tons of clutter after months of receiving new things.
Oh my gosh, I have been wanting to try this subscription box!
I’m not too much into candy but this box looks so fun to try and taste all the different snacks from around the world!
Looks good!!