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. However, 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 $16.00 per month, the Yum Yum Box for $27.00 per month, or the Super Yum Box for $41.00 per month.
This review is of the Yum Yum box, which is $27.00 per month.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
First Impressions
My great-grandma was born in Norway, so receiving a box from Scandinavia was really exciting. Recipes for lefse, kringle, and krumkake have been passed down through generations into my very own hands but receiving pre-made snacks from these countries is a whole lot easier for me, and really fun! After a bout of COVID left me without my sense of taste, I had to wait until fully recovered to dive into this box. After our quarantine and recovery, we decided to share this box with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, nephew, and niece-in-law. See what we received below and what we all thought.
(Because of a bit of a photography mix-up, we didn’t get our own photographs for this box, but rest assured, next month we will be back to normal!)
What's Inside The Box
Each month we receive a fun map of the country our snacks are from. This month we received lovely cartoon artistry of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland, along with some interesting trivia. The opposite side of this fun map includes the "Yum Scoreboard" and a fun scavenger hunt. Along with our map, we also received a handy dandy pamphlet explaining exactly where each treat is from and some background information on it. Fun and educational, just the way I like it!
Kims Corn Curl Snack/Cheesy Corn Puffs - if bought individually, $1.40 per pack - sold as a set of 3 for $4.20
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Similar to a Cheetos puff, these Danish corn puffs were large in size, crisp, and airy. We noted a mix of spices but didn’t find them very distinguishable from typical US branded cheese puffs. These were tasty, and our group of eight decided these were really good but were hoping for a bit more wow factor from those special spices.
Kims American Grill Potato Chips/Paprika & Chili Pepper Potato Chips - $1.40 per pack - sold as a set of 3 for $4.20
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Interestingly enough, these chips are called “American Grill” potato chips. With paprika and chili pepper, these ripple chips were crunchy, and of good size, but didn’t have a well-dispersed flavor balance. We noticed some chips were very bland without any flavor, and some had a ton of flavor. For the chips without flavor, they tasted like a Lay’s original. The chips with a ton of flavor were smokey and spicy, quickly becoming a big hit around the room.
Karen Volf Bite-Sized Cookies/Rum Icing Coated Cookies - $3.90 per pack - sold as a set of 2 for $7.80
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Appreciating this large package of cookies, we were all very interested to see what the rum icing flavor might be. These beautiful little rectangles are sweet and have a shortbread-like base with a lovely icing on top. The icing is non-alcoholic rum-flavored, but I didn’t pick up on the rum flavor at all. My brother-in-law isn’t very fond of sweets but ended up loving these cookies. Nobody disliked these cookies, and the large package depleted very quickly.
Jalapeno Pepper Popcorn - $3.20 per pack - sold as a set of 2 for $6.40
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Popcorn is probably my family's favorite snack, and this particular flavor combo was a little spicier than I was expecting! My 6- and 8-year-old loved the cheese and oniony flavor paired with the jalapeno but did drink a full glass of water each while munching. My sister-in-law found these too spicy, but everyone else really enjoyed these.
Goody Sour Oval Gummies/Sour Tutti Frutti Gummies - $2.50 per pack, sold as a set of 2 for $5
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These sour tutti frutti gummies were my favorite item in this month's box. Tiny and oval, these sweet and sour little treats also came in our favorite colors: green and yellow for John Deere! Slightly reminding us of a sour Starburst, our entire group loved these little gummies and the tartness they shared.
Yankie/Nougat & Licorice Milk Chocolate Bar - $2.10 per pack, sold as a set of 2 for $4.20
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Looking like a Milky Way bar, these are sweet, gooey, and chocolatey with an interesting twist…..licorice. I’m not quite sure how I feel about that addition, as I don’t love licorice, but these bars were okay. My kids ate these without any complaints, but the adults were going back and forth with their thoughts. Fun to try, but I think I’d be okay not eating one again.
Mixed Fruit/Raspberry Licorice Stick - $0.80 per pack - sold as a set of 6 for $4.80
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Another treat with licorice flavoring was this strawberry stick filled with lemon filling. The look of this treat was interesting, and my kids and brother-in-law felt it looked more like a meat stick than a sweet treat. The licorice was reminiscent of Twizzlers, but with a lemon filling. A strange taste and texture combo, but it was decent tasting. Would I buy it again? Probably not, but it was fun to try!
Wild Strawberry Toffee - $6.80 per pack
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Super sweet and chewy these wild strawberry toffee treats are very hard….my brother-in-law described these as tasting like a super old Starburst haha! I thought they were more appetizing than that but was slightly worried about ripping the crown off of my tooth with these bad boys.
Cocoa Mud Cake Balls - $5.00 per pack
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Huge hit with the group. We had to split these up quite carefully so everyone could try, but everyone adored these chocolatey Mississippi mud cake-flavored truffles. Super sweet, moist, and delicious, we definitely are ordering more to share for Christmas!
Cocoa Filled Oat Cookies - $2.70 per pack, sold as a set of 2 for $5.40
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This was one of the only treats that half of us really enjoyed, while the other half hated. Thick, chocolatey with a wonderful oat flavor, I was part of the half that really enjoyed these cookies. Paired with a cup of coffee, I myself thought these were a hit, while others didn’t. My youngest was wondering what Santa would think of these flavorful treats, so we did save one to see....I'll keep you posted!
The Verdict
After a stressful month, I couldn't wait to dig into our Universal Yums box. We found Scandinavia a wonderful mixture of savory and sweet treats and loved sharing them with our family. While I personally didn't love everything in the box, at least one person in our group enjoyed each item so nothing went to waste. It was really interesting in hearing the different perspectives from each of my family members, and it turned out to be a huge hit and potential Christmas gift idea! The snacks coupled with the trivia and family time made it completely worth the $27.00. I can't wait to see where we visit next month....and hmmm which sibling should we share it with next?
Scorecard Picks:
- Favorite: Sour Tutti Frutti Gummies
- Runner-up: Chocolatey Cookie Dough Balls
- Worst Yum: Mixed Fruit Licorice Stick
- Most Unusual: Nougat & Licorice Milk Chocolate Bar
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 choose to start with either Scandinavia, Taiwan, Turkey, or the everywhere holiday box.
Value Breakdown: This box is $27.00 per month (including shipping). I received 14 individually wrapped snacks which average out to $1.93 per item.
Which Universal Yums snack would you most like to try?
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