graze sampler box - impressions

hi guys! i can't remember how i heard about graze doing free sample boxes, ...but they do. so i went ahead and filled out a profile and based on my profile, these were the four snacks i was sent! the regular subscription is 8 snacks per box for $13.99 including shipping. ~Lindsay
edit: i think i paid $1 for shipping, but the snacks were otherwise free.

snacks received: chinese shiitake broth, kettlecorn kern pops, raspberry & coconut muffin, and whole grain banana caramel dippers

first off, i'd like to give mention that this is actually my second box. the business people and/or web developers at graze so kindly did not feel inclined to provide emails or in-account confirmation when boxes are sent. anyway, it was about a full week (maybe two) after i was supposed to receive my original sample box. i contacted support and they responded saying that the tracker said it was delivered. since i never saw it in my mailbox or at my door, checked with the apartment management office, they kindly decided to send me a second. now my biggest complaint (moral of my story) is that why do they keep tracking information for customer service purposes, but don't give the customers access to that information as well? is it that difficult to add to my order history? because as an ecommerce developer, i dun think so.

secondly, i'd like to take a moment to talk about the packaging. i currently have my subscription 'snoozed' mostly for me to evaluate whether i want to continue with the subscription, as well as..... we almost haz house!! so if at all possible, i'd like to not order too much to our apartment from here on out. anyway! that being said, i have not ordered a full 8 snack box yet. so i don't know how representative this is of all of their boxes, but for the sample i received, it was literally held together by two pieces of plastic. not tape, but plastic. i'm honestly surprised that it somehow didn't rip or slip off in transit. otherwise, i think the package and contents arrived in relatively safe condition.

third, i'd like to give mention to the profile matching system thing. if i recall correctly, there were a series of questions that basically asked what your tastes were, and after you finished filling that out, you could go through your matches and click one of the options: trash, try, like, love. these will also help determine what is sent to you. you could also go and review the things that were filtered out and click those choices on the snacks if you want to try something that isn't a "match" for you. for example, i told it no spicy stuff. but chinese shiitake broth, uh hello i wanna try that! so when i clicked try, it had a warning: this is spicy and you don't like spicy! and guess what arrived in my box? lol. i'll get to this snack below, but i do like that it still gives visibility to things that may not be your match, but you might be interested in and it will tell you why it was filtered out.

onto the snacks. i'm a terrible person and i suck, so i only ended up photographing my chinese shiitake broth snack, partially because that's the one that intrigued me most.

1. chinese shiitake broth -- the matrix said this was spicy. it said i wouldn't like it. i wanted to try it. and it was almost right. hahahaha. my mouth was on fire. but it did taste good. i really enjoyed the concept of this snack. it's a mug sized soup (8oz) and you just put the base and dehydrated ingredients into a mug or small bowl and pour in some hot water. super portable and convenient! 太方便了！
2. kettlecorn kern pops -- these were pretty good. they were reminiscent of >other snack subscription service<'s product that i've mentioned getting once or twice... anyway, i like the competitor's snack better mostly because those have some seasoning on them and these were pretty plain. basically this snack was partially popped popcorn kernels.
3. raspberry & coconut muffin -- you guys. words cannot express the sadness when i realized it was all gone... i get it..portion control... but i think i may need to get some more of this... this was a mix of coconut strips, nuts, biscotti-like pieces, and dried fruit. super yum combination.
4. whole grain banana caramel dippers -- this was a super simple snack. the caramel was your normal caramel sauce, but the banana dipper things... those were kind of dry and slightly grainy in texture, but in combination with the caramel... so yuuum!

included in the box were some promo codes that i could give out.. looks like they're all the same code? i'm not 100% certain if i will benefit from you using it (as i threw the card away), but here ya go if you want to use it. code: V9HFFYGWB to get your 1st and 5th graze box free. graze.com