If you are a die-hard foodie and haven't joined the monthly food subscription boxes' wagon yet, here are some reasons to sign up soon
Subscription boxes are a great idea for sellers and consumers – one gets to introduce their products and the other, to try out new things. In India too, we have all sorts of subscription boxes, but the two that seemed to have caught on well are beauty and food subscription boxes. The latter is where our interests lie! Sample goodies are packed and shipped to subscribers, who get a taste of exotic imported ingredients, products of newly opened bakeries and even some good ol' Indian homemade stuff hard to find. The players in the city are few, in fact down from three to two. Brown Paper Bag stopped their dessert subscription boxes in favour of festive/occasion boxes. City foodies, who love to experiment, have two options The Gourmet Box and Eatopia. And if you are wondering how to choose between the two, perhaps we could help.
The Gourmet Box
Founded by Himanshi Vora and Janice Shah, www.gourmetbox.in features gourmet food products trying to break into the market. While some may be recent entrants into the market, the duo are always on the lookout for international and local products not yet on market shelves. Ready mixes, herbs, coffees, sauces, cereals from producers are researched, selected and shipped, so city foodies get a taste of things yet to come like Bean Therapy's dark chocolate blueberry and panko crumbs, or making news on the international food scene, like quinoa and organic coconut sugar.
Himanshi, who worked with an Italian company earlier, says the data of importers she colated during her ealier job helped initially. "We also meet a lot of local guys who don't retail in the market," says Himanshi. Tariero's infused coffees (based in Bangalore) is one such find.
All products, the duo say, are first sampled by their core team before they head out as part of their subscription boxes. During research the team also works on recipes and tips on using the new ingredients that would go in the box.
The boxes often follow a theme, for instance, last month's (August) theme was fitness and contained health bars, cereals and health teas. They've also done boxes dedicated to world cuisine like Mediterranean, Mexican, Japanese, Lebanese and Moroccan, and Oriental.
Our verdict: Good for foodies who are tempted to pick up and try all things unfamiliar and new on supermarket shelves. Their contents are a mix of gourmet dips, sauces snacks, and easy-to- whip-up meals, perfect for young professionals or students who like to try new things.
Bubble
Cost per box: Rs 1,500
Eatopia
Again, founded by two friends, former colleagues Tanul Mishra and Shipra Bhasali concentrate on finding regional goodies for their boxes. Tanul says, “We realised there's a lot of good Indian food but it stays mostly within that region's community.” The duo often meet people from specific communities or even travel to different parts of India looking for food stories and artisanal products. Again, these products are not available on market shelves. For instance, one of their hits, the Chai Box contained hand crafted teas from Tea Trunk and sesame and semolina cookies, jeera butter biscuits and coconut macaroons from Bombay's oldest and best loved bakeries.
The duo like to fashion their box as a do-it-yourself kit built around the theme, so ingredients are packed along with a recipe too. Their last box, a Mango box had among other things a spice mix that goes into mango pickles made in homes at Jharkhand. The duo also included a recipe of Achari Tikkis made using the same spice mix for the subscribers. Similarly, says Tanul, “During one of of our Kerala visits we fell in love with Malabar Biryani, so when we were working on the Kerala box, we hunted for the most authentic spices which are a special mix for the Malabari Biryani and a recipe from a family in that region which is part of the box.” They have also attempted festive boxes, like a Christmas Box and a Diwali Box.
Our verdict: Eatopia's food boxes are for the discerning regional food connoisseurs. If you are one of those who craves for the flavours of the yore that the city life doesn't offer, and food our mothers and grand mothers cooked, these boxes are for you.
Bubble
Cost per box: Rs 699
- The good thing about these websites is that they allow you to order for their previous month's boxes too. However, that's subject to availability.
- You can also gift these boxes
- The boxes contain samplers that can be shard by a family
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