House of Mana Up Subscription Boxes

 Disclosure: Complimentary product was received.  

Last year, in the midst of the pandemic, I ordered locally-made products from House of Mana Up to gift to someone on the East Coast. 

I loved the broad selection of products handmade right here in the islands.  From coffee to candles, soaps to sauces, you can find all sorts of wonderful gifts for friends and family (or even yourself!).  

I just discovered that they now offer a Subscription Box!  For $50 a month, you can get a thoughtfully-curated box of goodies featuring exclusive, limited-edition, or never-before-seen local products.  Each box comes with notecards detailing some of the stories behind the businesses, and shipping is free within the US!

I was fortunate to receive a box themed around "Ono food."  In the box was Salmon Jerky from Kaimana Jerky, Baker's Brew Coffee from Hawaiian Pie Company, and a Cook Real Hawai`i cookbook by Chef Sheldon Simeon.

Subscriptions auto-renew and you can cancel at any time.  

What a great way to support local!  This would be such a great gift to new college students, relatives who moved from the islands, or friends you've haven't been able to see in years.  Even if they're not from Hawai`i, just about everyone would feel special with surprises from Hawai`i.

House of Mana Up does more than just offer goods online (or in their shop at Royal Hawaiian Center).  They also offer tools and resources to Hawai`i-based entrepreneurs, supporting them in all facets of product development, marketing, financing, community and cultural relations, and more.  

It's such a great initiative, and such a wonderful way to support local.  

For more information on House of Mana Up's Subscription Boxes, click here.  

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MunchPak Review

Disclosure: Complimentary MunchPak received for review purposes.

I just love buying snacks, especially when we travel.  I particularly love buying unusual snacks, or snacks made in the country or state we're visiting.  Therefore, I was very excited to receive a MunchPak!

A MunchPak is a box of assorted snacks from all over the globe, which can be customized to your preferences, and delivered as often as you wish.

Upon receiving my MunchPak, I opened it up to see a cute note stating who it was made by.

I could immediately tell that one of the packages had opened up due to the oil stains.  Sure enough, the contents of one of the snacks had spilled out in the box.  There was no damage to the actual shipping box (if there is, MunchPak advises to contact USPS to file a claim), so the package must've burst open during the normal shipping process.

Despite the open package, all of the other packages were intact, and there was still plenty of yummy things to try.

Although I wish a little guide was included to tell me what all the different snacks were and where they were from, you can download the Snack Scanner App to scan each snack's barcode and get more information on each treat, or visit the MunchPak website.

The goodies in my MunchPak were: 

• Popping Candy Watermelon Flavor (China)
• Bestini Cheesed Snack (Bulgaria)
• Ferrero Kinder Happy Hippo Hazelnut (UK)
• Salt and Vinegar Hula Hoops (UK)
• Nimm2 Fruit Candy (Germany)
• Hatasoda Hatacosen Ramune Strawberry Soda (Japan)
• Glico Pocky Yasashii Amasa Strawberry Flavor (Japan)
• Nestle Mura Milk Chocolate Wafer (Bulgaria)
• 7Days Strawberry Croissant (Bulgaria)
• Maruta Nomuchyo Muscat Melon Jelly
• Swoffle Vanilla Filled Stroopwafel (Canada)

I couldn't wait to try out the items!

The first thing I went for, unsurprisingly, was the Nestle Mura Milk Chocolate Wafer.

It was delicious, and I loved the layers of wafers in the chocolate bar!

Next I tried the Bestini Cheesed (yes, with a "d") Snack, because I love cheese puff snacks!

They're not as cheesy as the ones I usually eat, but they were still really yummy.

My kids loved the Pocky and the Kinder Hippo!

In Hawaii, we are fortunate to have access to some of these types of snacks at many of our grocers (e.g. Pocky, Popping Candy), but we have not tried any of the specific flavors of the snacks included until we received the MunchPak.

I love how much variety there was in the MunchPak, and that we were able to try snacks from all over the world! The different variations of snacks that we're used to in the US was fun to try, and the box of munchies really made me want to travel to the different countries the products were made in!

There are three different MunchPaks you can choose from: MunchPak Mini (5+ full size snacks), Original MunchPak (10+ full size snacks), and FamilyPak (20+ full size snacks). You can make a one-time order, or subscribe for for 3, 6 or 12 months. You can also customize the MunchPak with your preferences (e.g. sweet, salty, spicy, etc.) for an extra $1 per delivery.

MunchPaks are great for anyone who enjoys snacks, travel, or simply enjoys receiving fun, surprising gifts.

Visit MunchPak to learn more.

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