This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out our review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

One of my favorite things to do when I’m on vacation is to hit the local grocery store to try foods that are only available in that locale, so I was curious to see if Munch Addict boxes could bring that same sense of discovery to me at home. In the end, I found Munch Addict to be filled with fun and unique snacks that tickled (and sometimes shocked!) my taste buds — and got the whole family involved. 

All About Munch Addict

How Munch Addict Works

Each month, Munch Addict curates a collection of snack foods from different countries for you to try. The foods are typically sample-sized — think the size of a bag of chips you get with your deli sandwich or a piece of Halloween candy — and the flavors vary widely. 

Included in the box is a guide to explain a little bit about each snack. Don’t throw this out! Many Munch Addict snack packages are in a language other than English, so that informative piece will serve as your flavor tour guide.

How many snacks does Munch Addict include and how much does it cost?

You know that old saying that you shouldn’t go grocery shopping when you’re hungry? Flip that and reverse it when it comes to picking your Munch Addict box size — you’ll end up with a bigger box to discover more new munchies. The brand offers boxes with the following snack boxes: 

• 5 different snacks start at $13.50 per box
• 10 different snacks start at $23.50 per box
• 15 different snacks start at $33.00 per box
• 60 snacks — this box includes the same snacks as the 15 snack box version, but you get 4 of each snack - start at $99.99 per box

ACTIVE DEAL: Get 15% Off Your First Box!
CODE: MSA15

The longer of a subscription plan you choose, the more you save overall. No matter which box you choose, you can also tell Munch Addict to automatically add a drink each month for an extra $5.50. Like the snacks, the drink will come from somewhere outside of the U.S. For an additional $3.00, you can also benefit from priority processing, which ensures your bundle of munch will be on its way to you with tracking info within 24 hours. 

Where do Munch Addict snacks come from?

Munch Addict is all about broadening your tastebuds and introducing you to new snacks that you won’t easily find in the U.S. You may find a familiar American snack food in there, such as a small package of Oreos, but the flavor or variety will only be available outside of the United States. Other snack foods will originate far beyond U.S. borders, with foods from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and more.

Can I pick my Munch Addict snacks?

Yes and no. The base box of snacks is completely curated for you by the folks at Munch Addict, so you don’t get a say there. But there is an add-on option for subscribers that lets them load up their box with extra goodies!

My Munch Addict Review

First off, I need to confess that I do not have the most adventurous palate. My family jokes that my grandfather used to eat just 7 things, and I’ve inherited his picky eating habits. But I love trying to broaden my horizons …and my tastebuds …and I’m married to a bona fide foodie who I knew would be game for trying out new snacks.

I also have a teenager who's been hooked on trying foods from around the world ever since a friend brought back a pile of candies from Japan years ago. I had a feeling opening my Munch Addict box would be some simple family fun — something that’s getting harder and harder to find with a teenager in the house!

Unboxing My Order

Munch Addict arrives in a bright red cardboard box — it’s their signature color — so it stood out immediately when my post office clerk handed my mail over the counter. Eager to get home and get snacking, I let my family know not to fill up on dinner. We had snacks to try! Once I'd opened the box, I noticed the snacks were packed pretty tightly in there. Munch Addict uses every inch of that box, along with a brightly colored pamphlet that details each of the snacks included in the box.

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TKN Big Sheet Japanese Sauce 

Despite the name, this wasn’t a sauce, nor did it come from Japan! This flat sheet of seaweed comes from Thailand but gets its name from the sweet Japanese yaki flavoring. My daughter loves seaweed snacks, and this was a definite hit!

Crax Sesame

These crunchy sticks from Turkey reminded me of breadsticks with a sesame coating. Although I’m not a huge sesame fan, these were another hit with the teens who gobbled them down. 

Puchao Melon

These Japanese snacks were labeled by Munch Addict as “very similar to Hi-Chews” on their snack guide, and they were right on the money. I wish the fun-sized candy pack had been full-sized so I could snack on these for a week!

Pei Tien Thick Corn

Described as crispy airy corn sticks from Taiwan, my first thought was “whoa, way too sweet,” but my daughter wants us to look for more!

Wafe Up Chocolate

Another candy from Turkey, these crispy wafers with chocolate were reminiscent of wafer cookies that are popular here in the states, and they were a big hit!

Tutku

More chocolate from Turkey? Yes, please! How can you go wrong with a chocolate cookie with chocolate in the center?

Bagelen Cheese

The guide promised crispy cheese bread from Indonesia, but sadly these arrived so crumbled that we couldn’t really experience the crispy goodness that we were hoping we’d find inside. 

Oreo Thins Tiramisu

It was interesting to spot a few American brands in the box, and I experienced a flash of disappointment thinking this would be just another Oreo. We were pleasantly disappointed. Although Oreo Thins are available here in America, the Korean tiramisu flavor isn’t, and it was a definite hit. 

Lays Fried Crab Chips

This was the second American brand to show up in the box, and probably the most fun, if only because my husband’s face was hilarious as he realized he most definitely did NOT like these Chinese treats. No surprise my daughter’s teenage boyfriend was more than happy to step in … and eat the entire snack bag!

Boba Milk Tea Mochi

We love boba tea in our house, although we don’t get to drink it often. This Taiwanese twist, however? It was a definite no from us — the mochi was like a giant gummy candy, and not in a good way.

Pocky Crunchy Strawberry

Japanese Pocky is gaining attention here in America, and we were very familiar with it already. Available at Target, I’ve used it to decorate birthday cakes, and my daughter and friends munch on it at sleepovers. This was our first time trying the crunchy kind, however, and we definitely want more!

Cup Noodle Chip Tom Yum

Familiar with instant Cup Noodles? Now imagine it in a chip form. This snack came from Taiwan and bore the ominous “known to cause cancer in California” warning label, but the teenagers didn’t care (of course). They said it was too delicious to put down. 

Kopiko

I don’t like coffee. I know. I know. I know. Fortunately the rest of the family was more than happy to make up for my oddity and said these coffee-flavored hard candies from Indonesia were just the right amount of sweet and the right amount of bitter. 

Jans Milk Candy

Another Indonesian snack, this one got a thumbs up from me and me alone. Soft and chewy, they were too sweet for most of the family. 

Umbrella Cookies

 The final snack in the box was a package of Taiwanese cookies with little spirals meant to resemble and umbrella. Tiny and cute, they looked scrumptious. Alas, no one really liked the star anise flavoring. 

Nirvana Thai Tea

A jasmine tea sweetened with cream, the can of tea from Indonesia reminded me of a seltzer can but definitely didn’t taste like it. I wish the guide had hinted that it should be refrigerated before it was consumed!

What I Loved

Some subscription boxes are really just meant for one person to enjoy, and certainly you could keep Munch Addict to yourself. That said, I found that having my husband, teenager, and teenager’s boyfriend all gathered around, trying new foods together made this subscription box experience for me. We had FUN!

There were flavors that people definitely did not like — I wish I’d gotten a photo of my husband’s face as he bit into a fried crab-flavored chip from China — that provided big laughs. When one person found something they just could not get enough of, like the Taiwanese corn sticks my daughter fell in love with, there was (gentle) tussling to make sure everyone got their bite!

The box got us all talking — especially the teenagers — and there was plenty of debate about which snacks were the best vs. which snacks were definitely headed for the trash can.

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With so many packages in languages that I don’t speak or read, I found that reading the Munch Addict guide was a huge help to make sure everyone knew what they were eating! Designed with helpful images of each food bag so you could match the description to the snack, the guide also tells you where the snack comes from. 

It’s also helpful to have on hand so you have the name of the foods you LOVED so you can try to find them elsewhere on the Internet to stock up!

What I Didn't Like

The "Dangerous" Food

I’m all about exploration, but I can’t say it wasn’t a bit alarming to flip over a bag of chips to find a giant warning that one of the ingredients — acrylamide — is known to cause cancer in California. I did a little investigation, and the US Food & Drug Administration says that cancer link comes from exposure to “high doses,” which made me feel significantly better. Here we were just eating a chip or 3. Still, it did put a little damper on the fun.

The Crumbled Food

Munch Addict clearly tries to use all of the space in its boxes to pack in as much food as possible, but there is no padding in the box — it’s just food (and a drink) all packed in tightly. With no extra protection for the snacks, some of my treats arrived so crumbled it was almost impossible to eat. Oh crispy cheese bread from Indonesia, you sounded so good, but I’m afraid you were a little disappointing without that “crisp” experience that comes of biting into a solid food. 

My Verdict - Is Munch Addict Worth It?

Overall Appeal

Remember how I said I’m not the most adventurous eater, but my husband is? With the 15-snack-sized Munch Addict box, I found that there really was truly something for everyone — even picky eaters like me. I would have munched on the Japanese crunchy strawberry Pocky all day long if I wasn’t being urged to share by the rest of the fam, while my daughter’s boyfriend begged to take the Taiwanese Cup Noodle chips to finish the bag (he got a yes).

Price and Value

Munch Addict boxes start at $13.50 a month plus shipping for 5 snacks with discounts for long subscriptions or more snacks. That works out to about $2.70 per snack. It’s definitely more than you’d pay for a snack bag of chips or cookies at the grocery store. Then again, you likely aren’t able to find these foods at your local grocery store — and you would have to pay to get them shipped in from another country, which can be expensive. Want 60 snacks and willing to prepay for a year? Then the price drops to $83.25 per delivery — roughly $1.38 per snack, but again you will pay for shipping. There are cheaper alternatives out there. Hop on Amazon, and you can buy a crate of 30 snacks from Japan, for example, for $17.99 with free shipping for Prime members — putting your price closer to 30 cents per snack.

Convenience

Price aside, most of the more inexpensive crates out there are specific to one country while Munch Addict puts together curated collections of snacks from around the world each time. To get the same array, you’d have to do a whole lot more shopping. It also bears noting that if you want to get a crate of goodies every single month, Munch Addict takes care of that for you — while you’d have to order and reorder every single month if you found one of those one-off crates of goodies from a particular country. 

The Fun Factor

This is far and away the best part of Munch Addict. You get to try new foods you might otherwise never get to try, and you have a perfect conversation starter for groups of people. What tastes delicious? What reminds you of another food you already like? Which foods make you want to take a trip and dive deeper into the culture? Although these are just snacks, they’re also a perfect gateway to learning about a new culture, and discovering why it is they snack the way they do. I could easily see friends getting together once a month to unbox a Munch Addict box together after dinner, or teenagers unboxing their it together at sleepovers.

You can try Munch Addict for yourself here:

ACTIVE DEAL: Get 15% Off Your First Box!
CODE: MSA15

Have you tried Munch Addict? Head to the comments section and let us know!