Universal Yums is a snack subscription box that sends out snacks and candies from a different country each month. The contents of the boxes change each month as they highlight the best snacks from each featured country, but you can always expect a mix of flavors: salty, sweet, spicy, fruity, and more. Only authentic snacks from the featured country are included in this box. Choose from the Yum Box for $19.00 per month, the Yum Yum Box for $33.00 per month, or the Super Yum Box for $51.00 per month. (You also have the option to save by purchasing a 3,6-, or 12-month plan.)
This review is of the Yum Yum box, which is $33.00 per month.
Author's Note: This particular box did go up in price in recent months.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out our editorial guidelines to learn more about how we review boxes.)
First Impressions
Now that baseball is over, we are trying to slow down (and enjoy what's left of) our summer vacation by staying at home more often. June and July were absolute chaos, and while I love watching my kids play sports, there is really nothing comparable to relaxing at home just leisurely spending time together. Pairing perfectly with an impromptu Jurassic World: Dominion movie night, the Universal Yums box showed up a bit earlier than expected this month, and we couldn't wait to dive in. Not only did we get to enjoy the snacks together, but we learned a lot as well! Read below to find out what we thought of this month's treats.
What's Inside The Box
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Every month we receive a fun, illustrated map that shows where our Yums are coming from. This month, our brightly colored map depicts South America with a variety of trivia. The backside hosts the usual Yum Scoreboard and scavenger hunt. Also included in this box is a lovely pamphlet that guides you through each country via trivia, recipes, photography, and activities. While we almost always receive a sticker, they are newly designed to add you (or your families) names to the sticker, identifying that you did indeed travel to the designated country via Yums. Fun!
Lemon Plantain Chips - Buy a pack of 2 for $7.80
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The first snack we decided to indulge in this month were the lemon-flavored plantain chips from Ecuador. Made from "green bananas," these chips are cut thin, flavored with lemon, and fried. With a bit of a sweet essence, we found the lemon flavor too strong and overpowering, leaving these yellow little coins inedible. I even tried passing these off on my husband who generally will eat anything, and he said he just couldn't do it. No harm, no foul, but the stakes for the next snack just got a lot higher!
Chili Pepper Flavored Bites
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Airy and crunchy, these Brazilian wheat flour bites are absolutely fantastic. With chili pepper flavoring, these delicious little morsels were absolutely addictive, yet not too spicy. Reminiscent of a really good jar of salsa, all of our family enjoyed these and hoped to find them in the Yum Shop. After checking, this was the only snack not available for purchase, which was hugely disappointing! I definitely hope they bring this snack back, because that salty, peppery goodness is everything I look for in a snack.
Candy-Coated Cookie Clusters - Buy a pack of 3 for $5.40
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My boys generally love cookies and cream, but the way this Colombian snack was presented looked a little unappetizing. Instead of the cream being a crisp white with dark cookie inclusions, the mixture turned almost grey, which Charlie was actually a bit scared of. After a quick pep talk, he did try a bit, but just couldn't get over the look and gave Hank the rest of the bag. Hank felt okay about these candy clusters on their own, but mentioned he felt they would be a lot better in a bowl of vanilla ice cream. Guess what just got added to the grocery list....
Yogurt Flavored Plum Cake - Buy a pack of 4 for $5.20
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After reading the description of this Argentinian yogurt flavored plum cake aloud to the boys, they weren't quite sure what to expect. Generally, individually packed cakes aren't our favorites, but this turned out to be a huge win. Moist, creamy, and light, we weren't able to necessarily pick out the plum flavor but found the cake and filling itself to be divine.
Coconut Rice Crispy Bar - Buy a pack of 3 for $4.20
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Because we are on the go a lot, we have tried our fair share of breakfast bars with pretty poor luck, as flavor tends to be sacrificed for convenience. This Colombian coconut rice crispy bar however takes breakfast on the go to an entire new level. Tasting more like a dessert than breakfast, we were very big fans of the sticky, delicious coating, and found the amount of coconut to be perfect. The only complaint we had was that this bar was too small, otherwise we love, love, loved it.
Passion Fruit Flavored Bubblegum Pops - Buy a pack of 24 for $4.90
I gotta say, we had really high hopes for these passion fruit flavored bubble gum pops. We all usually enjoy suckers, but the kids thought these were wayyy too sweet and were a little afraid of the specks in the bottom half of the sucker. I thought they were decent, and actually appreciated the specks as I felt it made them unique but did find them maybe a tiny bit too sweet. I decided to stash the leftovers in my purse to share with a few friends I feel would appreciate them more than my kids did.
Coffee Flavored Chews - Buy a single pack of 50 for $4.20
It took me a while to become a fan of coffee, but now that my palette has become accustomed to that wonderfully delicious stuff, I can't seem to get enough! Though my kids weren't fans of these unique candies, I sure was as they packed the flavor punch of expresso right into this little chew. With a texture like a hard taffy, they are sweet and bold all wrapped in one. Yum!
Fried Corn Snack - Buy 1 pack for $4.30
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One of the most interesting snacks we received this month was this large bag of Peruvian native corn. These large kernels have been fried and salted to create a crunchy, treat. Upon first taste, they are delicious, but quite dry. If you plan on eating a handful of these, I suggest having a large glass of water nearby. Our family was torn on this particular snack, with two of us enjoying these, and two not. I have to say though, these were really cool to try!
Fruit Flavored Gummies - Buy a 2 pack for $4.80
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Who can resist a gummy creature? Both of my sons are gummy fanatics, so they wanted to try these gummies right away. Similar to Trolli gummy worms, these little creatures are coated with a sugar coating, yet are a quite tart. Featuring flavor combos like orange and strawberry, cherry and pineapple, and cherry and strawberry, I thought these were better than the Trolli versions, especially because they were smaller and cuter. We definitely will be adding a couple of packs of these to our yum cart!
White Chocolate Covered Peanuts - Buy a pack of 3 for $5.40
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Peanuts and peanut butter flavored items are probably in the top 10 food items I couldn't live without, so I was happy to give these white chocolate covered peanuts a whirl. Looking sort of a like a Peanut M & M, I decided the white chocolate candy coating wasn't quite as crunchy and the peanut itself was a bit saltier. If you like that sweet/salty combo as much as I do these are sure to be a hit!
Lemon Flavored Cookies - Buy a pack of 2 for $5.80
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Typically, lemon isn't exactly my favorite flavor, but when immersed in shortbread cookies, I am hooked. Light, buttery, and with that tiny twist of citrus, I could honestly sit and eat this entire bag in one sitting with a glass of milk. And just look at those elegant shapes, they are pretty enough to serve to company over tea. Definitely a delicious cookie to end this month's box on!
The Verdict
This month's Universal Yums headed to South America for the month of August rather than a specific country. They often cover a wider geographical location like this for the December holiday boxes. While we enjoyed the change up, I feel the booklet it so much more specific when the entire box is from one country rather than an entire continent. Curation wise, we enjoyed almost every single snack, loving the amazing balance of sweet, salty, and spicy snacks. What did you think of this box? Would you rather have all of the snacks from a specific country, or continent?
We can't wait to see where we will be headed next month. Any guesses?
Scorecard Picks:
- Favorite: Chili Pepper Flavored Bites
- Runner-Up: Fruit Flavored Gummies
- Worst Yum: Lemon Plantain Chips
- Most Unusual: Fried Corn Snack
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Yes, sign up now and you can choose to receive the South America or India box.
Value Breakdown: This box is $33.00 per month (including shipping). I received 17 individually wrapped snacks which average out to $1.94 per item.
Which Universal Yums snack would you most like to try?
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