Kid Snack Review: “Pretty good, but less fun than expected”
Review written by: Snackin’ Mom
The Snackin’ Family kids have been begging for months (years?) to get a snack box subscription. Most recently, Snackin’ Sister has been watching videos of kids sampling MunchPak, so that’s been at the top of her list. We decided to give it a try with a one-month sample of the 10-snack box.
What Is MunchPak?
MunchPak is a snack subscription box that delivers “new and popular snacks from around the world.” When you purchase a MunchPak subscription, you select five mini-sized snacks, 10 full-sized snacks or 20 full-sized snacks. You also choose the length of your subscription: one month, three months, six months or 12 months. For an additional cost, you can add a soda to each box. All subscriptions auto-renew, but you can cancel at any time. We canceled after one month, and the process was painless (though I had to confirm the cancellation multiple times).
The MunchPak website calls out the following brands they love: Hi-Chew, Kras, Pocky, Milka, Rap Snacks. Our MunchPak didn’t include any of those brands. Keep reading to learn what we received.
What Was In Our MunchPak?
Our MunchPak arrived approximately one week after ordering it. It was a cardboard box that was cellophane wrapped. Inside was a postcard along with 10 full-sized snacks. The postcard said this box was hand-packed to surprise us “with some super tasty treats.” Our box did not include a booklet with information about the snacks inside. The postcard said we’d get information like that, including interesting country facts, in the next box. I’m not sure why they don’t include that information in the first box. It feels like a huge miss not to have any information about what we’re eating or why those items were included in the box.
Every night after receiving the MunchPak, Snackin’ Sister and Snackin’ Brother closed their eyes and selected one snack each out of the MunchPak box. This is what we got.
Bourbon Petit Endo Japenese Crackers
Snackin’ Brother went first, and he randomly selected Bourbon Petit Endo Japanese Crackers. (I’m not sure if I wrote the name correctly. The package is in Japanese with an English nutrition label. I used that label to guess what these were called.)
We opened the package of Japanese Crackers and were instantly underwhelmed. We saw a bunch of cracker crumbs. The Japanese Crackers are made from pea powder (hence the illustration of peas on the wrapper). They look like mini Pringles. Each is about ¾ of an inch long. They have a slight green tint, presumably from the pea powder. The texture is similar to Pringles, but less satisfying. They have a nice salty flavor, but the pea flavor is also readily apparent, which meant the Snackin’ Family kids quickly moved on after sampling the Japanese Crackers. The Bourbon Petit Endo Japanese Crackers from MunchPak were not a hit with the Snackin’ Family. (Also, we’re unsure why bourbon is in the name.) Making that worse, after sampling, I reviewed the nutrition facts. These Japanese Crackers are stuffed with saturated fat – 6 grams in this little package.
And even worse, there is a warning on the label of these crackers to caution that the chemicals included in them are known to cause cancer, birth defects and reproductive harm (according to the State of California). I wish I’d read that before sampling them. I’m disappointed that MunchPak included a snack with that warning without highlighting the warning elsewhere on their box. In fact, I believe subscribers to MunchPak should have to opt in to receive snacks with consumption warnings like that.
Blue Raspberry Oodles from Badatz Paskesz
Our second pick, selected by Snackin’ Sister, was candy of Jerusalem, Oodles look a bit like nerds, but they’re about 2-3 times bigger and more consistent with their round size. We had the blue raspberry flavor of Oodles, and they were a bright sea blue, quite like a color I’d expect from nerds.
The consistency of the Oodles surprised us, because were expecting hard candies (based on their Nerd-like appearance). Oodles are labeled as “tiny tangy fruity chews” and their consistency matched that description. They’re chewy, and they stick to your back teeth. The Snackin’ Family kids loved the flavor, but they didn’t like the stickiness. After complaining about having the Oodles stuck in their teeth, we devised a suck-and-swallow system for eating Oodles. As a result, Snackin’ Sister discovered that all the flavor and the color are on the outside. Once that’s licked off, all that is left is a flavorless white blob.
Oodles were tasty, and we ate them all, but we would have been just as happy to taste them and move on to something else.
Aero Purely Chocolate from Nestle
Nestle’s wrapper for Aero Purely Chocolate says “feel the bubbles melt” and has a seal showing that the cocoa within is Rainforest Alliance Certified. This was one of the MunchPak snacks we were most excited to try, and it didn’t disappoint.
Inside the wrapper of this snack from England is one chocolate bar split into 10 squares. We divided the squares — four squares each for Snackin’ Brother and Snackin’ Sister, and two squares for Snackin’ Mom. As soon as the Aero Purely Chocolate was in her mouth, I guessed that this chocolate was free of artificial flavors. And, I was correct. No vanillin, and surprisingly, no vanilla extract either.
All three of us enjoyed the melting bubbles within Aero Purely Chocolate. Snackin’ Sister said it felt a bit like a sizzle as it melted in her mouth. And, Snackin’ Brother said the taste of the Aero Purely Chocolate was really good.
Zazers Fruity Peak in Grape Flavor
It was obvious from the outside that Zazers Fruity Peak, the next snack we picked from the MunchPak box, was essentially a fruit rollup. What we couldn’t figure out from the wrapper is where it’s from.
The Zazers Fruity Peak wrapper says “roll to the top of fruity flavor.” Snackin’ Brother enjoyed the artificial grape flavor, but Snackin’ Sister was not a fan. She said it tasted like grape-flavored medicine, but Snackin’ Sister often says that about grape-flavored things. Snackin’ Mom thought the flavor was super sweet and artificial tasting.
The Zazers Fruity Peak was skinnier and shorter than regular fruit rollups, with a surprisingly long amount doubled up at the inside of the roll. Overall, it was underwhelming in flavor, size and texture. Considering a MunchPak box of 10 snacks costs more than $20, I was also not loving the fact that I’d essentially paid $2 for a fruit rollup, one of the cheapest kid snacks you can buy.
Mypa Hazelnuts from Nestle
This was our second Nestle snack in the MunchPak. We were excited to try this one because the wrapper shows a combination of chocolate, hazelnuts and wafer cookies. Sounds delicious.
After tasting it, we decided the Mypa Hazelnuts bar was… fine. The ratios seemed a little off, and there wasn’t much flavor. The smell was delicious and the crunch was satisfying. To be clear, we polished the Nestle Mypa Hazelnuts bar off quickly, but we’re not aching for another.
Mypa is a Nestle candy sold in Bulgaria, I believe, based on a Google search. After a conversation with someone from Bulgaria, I learned it’s actually pronounced Bora. Unfortunately, I could not read the ingredients or nutrition details on the packaging or find them in English online.
Kimble’s Ole School Corn Flake Chewy
The Snackin’ Family kids were not excited to try the Kimble’s Ole School Corn Flake Chewy in our MunchPak. They picked it on day three, and Snackin’ Sister said, “We’re getting one of the bad ones out of the way.”
Kimble’s Ole School Corn Flake Chewy is “made with creamy peanut butter” and “Georgia grown,” according to the wrapper. The peanut butter flavor was evident, but other than that, the Corn Flake Chewy was pretty bland. If I hadn’t seen the wrapper and someone had told me it was a Frosted Flakes cereal bar, I probably would have believed it.
We split the bar into seven pieces – three for each of the Snackin’ Family kids and one for me. Neither of the kids finished their share. The Kimble’s Ole School Corn Flake Chewy was not a hit. The nutrition label was also disappointing. Kimble’s Ole School Corn Flake Chewy has a homemade look to it, but the ingredient list includes high fructose corn syrup and artificial flavors alongside a bunch of sugars and hydrogenated oil.
Tayto Spring Onion Crisps
The Snackin’ Family kids were not excited about the Tayto Spring Onion Crisps (potato chips) from Ireland. When Snackin’ Sister finally picked it out of the MunchPak box, she proclaimed “We can get it over with.”
Snackin’ Sister and Snackin’ Brother each tentatively took bites out of their crisps. Although the bag states, “the secret’s in our flavor,” both tasters said, “uch!” and threw their crisps down. Snackin’ Sister then asked, “Why is it sweet?” Snackin’ Sister tried a second bite (and still didn’t like it). Snackin’ Brother did not attempt a second bite.
The flavor is really not bad. It tastes like a sweet onion flavor, and they probably pair well with a burger. I wouldn’t seek them, but I may finish the bag.
3Bit from Mondelez
3Bit is a Polish candy bar. It appears to be a vanilla cookie base topped with white chocolate and then covered with milk chocolate. The bar comes in five sections. Snackin’ Sister and Snackin’ Brother each got two. I got the fifth section of the 3Bit bar.
The 3Bit bar was delicious. The cookie was much lighter in color than the picture on the wrapper showed, but the taste combination was nice. Perfect ratios between the ingredients. It is a touch on the sweet side and leaves an aftertaste. The Snackin’ Family kids enjoyed the sweetness of it. No surprise.
Unfortunately, the 3Bit wrapper did not include English-language nutrition details, and I could not find them on the Mondelez website either.
Flake from Cadbury
The Flake bar from Cadbury is a treat from the UK, and it was indeed a treat. The Flake bar is like the croissant of chocolate bars. Thin layers of chocolate are layered, with pockets of air between them, to make one long, rectangular candy bar.
The air between the layers of milk chocolate makes the Flake bar a lighter, more melt-in-your-mouth experience than most chocolate bars. It was quite pleasant. Unfortunately, the Flake bar also appears to be quite fragile. It was a mess as we opened it. Chocolate crumbs poured out of the wrapper making a mess all over the counter.
Lion Peanut from Nestle
The Lion bar from Nestle is a European candy bar that is chocolate on the outside with caramel, crispies and peanuts on the inside. The one we got was labeled “Lion Peanut” so the peanuts may not always be there.
This was the last snack remaining in the box, and it was delicious. It was like Twix and Nestle Crunch had a baby, and that baby loves peanuts. This was one of Snackin’ Sister’s favorite treats in the MunchPak box.
Does the Snackin’ Family Like MunchPak?
The MunchPak experience was just okay. Opening it was a letdown. The box wasn’t packed in any interesting way, and it was a bit big for the 10 snacks inside. Unfortunately, that meant some of the snacks were damaged during shipping.
Our MunchPak didn’t come with any literature (A postcard inside said the second one would.), and that means we know only what we were able to discover about the snacks we sampled.
Lastly, the snacks were just okay. Of the 10, there were only about 4 we’d want to try again, another 3 that we enjoyed but don’t want again, and 3 we didn’t like or finish. At $2 per snack (with a promo code), I don’t want any waste.
Overall, we enjoyed the MunchPak experience, but we canceled our subscription after this first box.
Should You Subscribe to MunchPak?
If you love trying snacks from around the world, you may love MunchPak. It’s an easy way to sample salty and sweet snacks from other countries.
The Snackin’ Family recommends trying MunchPak for just one month to see if you like it before you subscribe for a longer period. Yes, it costs more when you buy it one month at a time. But that gives you the flexibility to unsubscribe easily if MunchPak isn’t right for you.
The Kid Snack Review Score for MunchPak
