The Nutribox – ‘Healthy Snacking Made Easier’ - A Review & Giveaway

Launched in November 2012, ‘The Nutribox’ is a Sheffield-based company whose aim is to make it easy for all of us to snack in a healthier way. Once a month, they’ll deliver a box of ‘deliciously nutritious’, gluten-free goodies directly to your door (containing either 8-10 or 16-20 snacks, depending on which size box you choose), taking on all the hard work of sourcing tasty, healthy products themselves while leaving you to simply dig in when your box arrives!

A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to try one of these boxes. The timing was spot on as I – like possibly most of the country at this time of year! – was determined to replace my snack-time biscuits with something that’s better for me but at the same time is more interesting than a plain banana or a few grapes. This week’s post then, is a mix of my thoughts on the products that I’ve tried, and how well I’ve managed to integrate this into daily life. Oh, and a chance for you to win a Nutribox-mini for yourself - read on to find out how...

The Products

I have to say, when I opened my Nutribox for the first time I was amazed at how much was included, it seemed bottomless! Included in the box was a handy leaflet that divided the box content into three sections: ‘Fruit and Nut mixes’, ‘Snacks’ and ‘Treats’, which was a helpful way for me to keep track of what I’d eaten so far and enabled me to learn a bit about each of the products.

Two of the things that I was most keen to try were the Perry Court Pear and Perry Court Apple crisps. Each one counts towards your five-a-day and they’re both delicious. The apple crisps are super-sweet, though, so a pack could easily be shared around the office or between friends. I also can’t help but think that they’d be good served with ice cream…

The Ludlow Nut Company’s ‘Apple Crumble’, ‘The Energiser’ and ‘Brazil Nut Mix’ were all tasty and filling, and are definitely something I’ll be looking to buy again. Obviously the ‘Apple Crumble’ mix sounded appealing, as that’s one of my favourite desserts and really doesn’t sound like health food at all! ‘The Energiser’ really surprised me as I’m not normally a fan of cranberries and I wasn’t sure about sunflower seeds, but the whole mix together was really nice and the sunflower seeds tasted great even on their own. The ‘Brazil Nut Mix’ was always going to be a hit with me as I love Brazil nuts, but the banana chips were an added bonus.

When it came to the ‘nakd’ berry delight, ‘rude health’ pumpkin, and ‘beond’ organic acai berry bars, the flavours were all lovely but the texture was just a bit too strange for me. I daresay if I tried these a few more times and got used to the texture I’d probably like them as the flavours were great – especially the ‘rude health’ pumpkin bar with it’s added ginger kick.

The raw fruit cookies by ‘Miss Wallflower Candy’ were intriguing – they looked a lot like cookie dough and had that kind of texture when I picked one up. They have a slightly bitty cookie dough texture when you eat them, and a really nice flavour. They definitely make an interesting Hobnob alternative for a morning coffee break!

Perhaps unsurprisingly, my favourite products were the chocolate-based ones. The ‘nakd’ cocoa orange bar smelled amazing and tasted just as good. It was actually similar in texture to the other ‘nakd’ bar that I tried, but something about the cocoa made me overcome that…

I had been really keen to try the ‘ombar superfood chocolate’ bars as soon as I spotted them in the box, as I wondered how similar they would be in taste and texture to ‘normal’ chocolate. I didn’t find them to be as smooth as a bar of Dairy Milk, but they had a nice texture and a fantastic flavour. Nine times out of ten I think I’d be happy to swap my Cadbury’s or Galaxy bar for one of these, they really are that good.

I deliberately saved the ‘Pulsin’ Raw Chocolate Brownie until last. I’d seen a lot written on twitter about it and, based on the other cocoa products in the box, I was pretty sure that this was going to be my favourite Nutribox treat. I wasn’t wrong, it had a lovely chocolate flavour and a good texture, although not quite the gooeyness that I’m used to. I think anyone would be happy to be given one of these, and it’s a nice bonus that it’s a healthier alternative to a traditional brownie.

Overall, there were lots of things that I really liked and some that I will be buying again. Obviously, not everyone is going to like everything, but you never know until you try and that’s the beauty of these boxes, they encourage you to try things that you otherwise perhaps wouldn’t.

The Nutribox in Daily Life

I think that incorporating healthy snacks into your daily life depends on a few different factors: what you do in an average day, the people you generally spend your day with, and your own willpower. For me, I spend most of my day working in an office, when I take tea breaks there are usually cakes and/or biscuits around that have been brought in by my colleagues, and my willpower isn’t always quite what it should be.

Having the Nutribox, though, has been an easy way to have snacks that I know are healthier than the cakes and biscuits, and are also an interesting and tasty enough alternative that I haven't felt like I've been missing out on having a sweet treat from time-to-time.

50% Discount Code

If you’re interested in trying a Nutribox for yourself then using discount code LITTLEMISSHUNGRY50 on the Nutribox website will get the first ten people to use the code 50% off their first box. If you miss out on being one of the first ten then not to worry, you’ll automatically get 25% off your first box anyway for being a new customer**.

The Nutribox-mini Competition!

Alternatively, the Nutribox team are providing a Nutribox-mini for me to give away to one of you as a competition prize*. All you have to do is follow the guidelines below to enter.

How to enter:

To be in with a chance of winning yourself a Nutribox-mini, simply leave me a comment below telling me what your guilty pleasure snack is.

Extra entries:

To get yourself an extra entry, you can tweet about the competition (including a link this post), making sure you register the tweet through Rafflecopter (easy-peasy instuctions below).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can find out more by visiting the Nutribox webpage, liking the Nutribox Facebook page, or tweeting @theNutribox .

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*Terms and Conditions of Competition:

1.     The winner will be picked within three days of the competition closing and the prize will be sent out directly by the Nutribox company.

2.     The content of the prize is solely at the discretion of the Nutribox company.

3.    This prize cannot be exchanged for any other ‘the Nutribox’ products or used as part-payment towards any other ‘the Nutribox’ product.

4.     There is no cash alternative to the prize.

5.     This competition is open to UK residents only.

**All offers correct at time of publication.