The reference box
What Universal Yums costs and includes
Universal Yums sends snacks from a different country every month, with a booklet of trivia and games about the place. When inventory allows, you pick the first country and can line up the next five. After that, each month’s country is a surprise. It comes in three sizes, and the comparison below uses month-to-month prices.
- Contents
- Yum Box: 5 to 7 snacks. Yum Yum Box: 10 to 12. Super Yum Box: 15 to 18, including full-size snacks and a drink or specialty food.
- Price and billing
- $20, $31, or $47 a month by size, billed on the 1st. Six-month and annual plans lower the per-box price to as little as $18, $27, and $41.
- Delivery
- Free in the contiguous US. Canada costs $5 to $10 a box by size. Alaska, Hawaii, and US territories cost $6 to $17.
- Customization
- You can switch box sizes on a month-to-month plan. The boxes can’t be changed for allergies or diets, and Universal Yums says some items may contain gelatin or trace amounts of meat for flavoring.
- On Cratejoy
- No. Universal Yums sells direct, and none of the boxes below are Universal Yums products.
Compare the boxes
| Box | Best fit | Cost and commitment | Delivery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Universal Yums Reference box |
A new country every month | $20, $31, or $47 a month by size. Less on 6- or 12-month plans. | Monthly. Free in the contiguous US, $5 to $10 to Canada. |
| Pachanga Box | One Latin American country a month | About $36 a month, $35 on a 6-month plan. | First box 1 to 3 business days after ordering, then around the 15th. |
| PTC International Snack Box | Several countries in one box | $40 a month, $29 a box on a 12-month plan. | Ships from Canada at the start of each month. |
| MexiCrate | Mexican candy on a smaller budget | $10, $20, or $33 a month by size. Less on 6 months. | First box within 2 business days, then between the 1st and 9th. |
| Bokksu | Japan in every box | $40 a month, $33 a month on 12 months. Shipping added at checkout. | Monthly, shipped from Japan. |
| IndiFix | Vegetarian households | $39 or $49 a month by size. Free US shipping. | Ships the first week of each month. |
| Vegancuts Snack Box | Vegan snackers | $33 a month, about $30 on 6 months. | Orders placed by the 10th ship by the 17th. |
Every Cratejoy box here offers 3- and 6-month prepay plans that lower the price per box.
The alternatives
Closest match to Universal Yums
Pachanga Box vs Universal Yums
Best for: Someone who loves the one-country-a-month format and wants to go deep on Latin America.
Each month Pachanga Box picks one Latin American country and fills the box with 18 to 25 snacks from it. If the featured country is Peru, every snack in the box is Peruvian. Pachanga Box has sold on Cratejoy for three years.
What feels familiar
One country per box, a mix you didn’t pick, and notes on each snack and on the country, so the box reads like a short trip.
What changes
The map shrinks to Latin America, and the count goes up. At about $36 a month you get 18 to 25 snacks, against 15 to 18 in a $47 Super Yum Box.
A mix of countries in every box
PTC International Snack Box vs Universal Yums
Best for: The snacker who would rather sample several countries every month than wait a year to circle the globe.
PTC Collectibles packs a mystery mix of candy, chips, chocolate, cookies, and cakes from different countries into each box, with Thai and Korean snacks among them. The seller is based in Canada and has sold on Cratejoy for four years.
What feels familiar
Foreign candy, chips, and cookies, chosen for you each month.
What changes
There’s no featured country, so the box trades the story for variety. The price drops the longer you commit, from $40 month to month to $29 a box on a 12-month plan.
Costs less
MexiCrate vs Universal Yums
Best for: A candy lover who wants a monthly box on a smaller budget.
MexiCrate hand-picks Mexican candy and snacks from a stock of more than 150, in three sizes: the Pequeña with about 10 to 15 pieces, the Mediana with 15 to 25, and the Grande, sized for sharing. It has 348 reviews on its listing and has sold on Cratejoy for four years.
What feels familiar
You choose a box size, and a surprise mix from one country shows up every month.
What changes
The country never changes, and the box leans toward candy. The Pequeña runs $9.99 a month, about half the price of a Yum Box, and the first box ships within two business days.
Japan, every month
Bokksu vs Universal Yums
Best for: The subscriber whose favorite Universal Yums box was Japan.
Bokksu ships from Japan with 20 to 22 Japanese snacks, sweets, and a tea in each box, built around the country’s seasons. A 24-page culture guide covers each item’s origin, flavor notes, and common allergens. Bokksu isn’t sold on Cratejoy, so the link goes to the brand’s own site.
What feels familiar
A themed monthly box with a printed guide that explains every snack in it.
What changes
It’s Japan every month, with a new tea to pair, from matcha to hojicha. It costs more than a Yum Yum Box, and shipping is added at checkout. Three-, six-, and twelve-month plans add extra gift snacks.
All vegetarian
IndiFix vs Universal Yums
Best for: A vegetarian household, or anyone who wants India’s snack aisle every month.
IndiFix sends India’s best-loved snacks, from chips, cookies, and chocolate to noodles, nuts, and sodas, in two sizes: the Original Fix and the Super Fix. US shipping is free, and IndiFix has sold on Cratejoy for six years.
What feels familiar
A monthly surprise from a single country, with sweet and savory in the same box.
What changes
Everything in the box is vegetarian, which Universal Yums can’t promise. The trade is that India is the only destination.
All vegan
Vegancuts Snack Box vs Universal Yums
Best for: A vegan who wants a monthly discovery box without checking every label for gelatin.
Vegancuts sends 10 or more sweet and savory vegan snacks each month, with plant-based meal items and drinks in the mix, from vegan chocolate to avocado chips and hummus crackers. Its listing has 98 reviews and 64 past boxes on Cratejoy.
What feels familiar
A monthly box of snacks you haven’t tried, about the size of a Yum Yum Box.
What changes
The theme is plant-based eating, not a country, so there’s no passport feel. What you get instead is a box where every item is vegan.
The honest part
When Universal Yums is still the better fit
Keep Universal Yums if the whole world is the point. It moves to a new country every month, and its booklet of trivia and games turns the box into a family activity. Pachanga stays in Latin America, PTC mixes countries without a featured one, and the rest stick to a single country or diet.
Keep it, too, if you want to change sizes as your household changes. A month-to-month plan can move between 5 to 7 snacks and 15 to 18, and the box ships to Canada and US territories at a set price per size.
How we chose these boxes
We started from the reasons people leave Universal Yums: price, dietary needs, a favorite country, or wanting more of one region. Then we went through Cratejoy’s snack and international food boxes, kept the ones with a working buy button, and chose those that answer one of those reasons. That left five marketplace boxes from five sellers. We added Bokksu because the marketplace doesn’t currently have a Japan-only snack box open for orders. The photo at the top is Universal Yums’ own product image of a Yum Yum Box filled with Dutch snacks.
Questions before switching
Which alternative is closest to Universal Yums?
Pachanga Box. Like Universal Yums, it features one country per box and includes notes on each snack and the country. The difference is that every country is in Latin America, and each box holds 18 to 25 snacks.
Is there a cheaper snack box like Universal Yums?
MexiCrate’s Pequeña box costs $9.99 month to month for about 10 to 15 pieces of Mexican candy, about half the price of a $20 Yum Box. MexiCrate sticks to Mexico every month.
Is there a snack box like Universal Yums for special diets?
Universal Yums doesn’t customize boxes, and some of its items may contain gelatin or trace amounts of meat for flavoring. IndiFix is 100% vegetarian, and the Vegancuts Snack Box is entirely vegan. Neither is made for severe allergies, so check each listing’s ingredients.
Does Universal Yums ship to Canada?
Yes. Universal Yums ships to Canada for $5, $8, or $10 a box depending on size, and to US military addresses and territories. Shipping is free only in the contiguous US.
Can I send one of these as a gift?
The Cratejoy boxes on this list can be given as a gift from each listing page. Gift orders don’t renew. Universal Yums gifts are prepaid and can’t be cancelled.
