Several months ago, I wrote a post about a subscription box, called Bokksu, that my wife signed up for that sends a box filled with delicious Japanese snacks and treats to our door every month. At the time of that writing, I was reviewing the first box we had received. We’ve had many more come to us since then, and so I thought I’d provide an update as to how their follow-ups have been.
The Box Designs
Alright, this is a small point. But the reason I care about it is that I was wondering: does Bokksu care about its customer after the first box? When the honeymoon period is over, what’s left? Do they let their designs slide? Do they stop including beautiful descriptions of each snack in each box?
No, no they don’t.
Each of Bokksu’s box designs have been works of art in their own right. The most recent, designed to celebrate the Moon Festival, is minimalistic beauty at its finest. Before that, there were themes of love, Sakura – or Japanese cherry blossom – and others.
When we were working our way through box one, I was especially worried that the beautiful booklet, which accompanied the snacks and contained detailed information on each and every one of them, was a one-time thing. I’m so glad I my concerns were misplaced.
It may sound silly, but reading through that booklet and learning about why each snack was chosen, and where in Japan it comes from, is one of our favourite parts of enjoying the box. It takes us on a journey through Japan that makes enjoying the snacks about more than just grabbing a quick, mindless bite. It’s actually the total opposite: when we want to have a treat, we stop what we’re doing, sit down together, read the description of what we’re about to enjoy, and then close our eyes and truly experience the snack.
As a guy who kills like 5 bags of chips a week just because, I had no idea that snacking could be so mindful. And it’s thanks in large part to the beautiful descriptions that accompany each and every box.
The Snacks Themselves
Bokksu puts up another “W” in this category. Our first box was packed to the brim with snacks. It took us the entire month to go through them all! Not only that, but the actual choice of snacks was beautifully curated. The company somehow managed to strike a balance between finding flavours and textures that were exotic to western palettes, but also extremely delicious and approachable. That’s a hard line to walk, and they walked it well with box one.
With that as our first experience, I couldn’t help but wonder if the company was just putting its best foot forward, trying to entice us to subscribe for a longer period and lock us in, before sending us follow-up boxes that were more mediocre.
Wrong again, lad.
Every box since the first has had an equally thoughtful – and plentiful – curation of snacks, which are always a mix of sweet and savoury, soft and crunchy. Moreover, they don’t just keep including the same snacks over and over again. Each box contains a unique assortment, which is a huge part of the charm. You enjoy the snacks so much more when you know that you won’t be getting another one next month!
It does make wonder though: how the hell do they keep finding new, amazing snacks for these boxes? How many artisanal snack vendors are there in Japan?!?!
The Customer Service
Here is another place where Bokksu has really exceeded expectations. There are two examples I can give where the company had a chance to show its true colours. The first was when one of our subscription boxes was delayed in transit. After several weeks of waiting, my wife called to see what was up, and if there was an ETA, and instead of being told to keep waiting or something, they sent us another box, on the house.
I’m sorry, what?! We were blown away.
The second example is when the company reached out to us with a survey, which asked us a series of questions related to our snacking preferences and satisfaction with the boxes. The survey wanted to know if we were happy with the balance of sweet and savoury, if we had any issues with any of the snacks that were included, if we had any suggestions for how they could improve… and so on.
In short, they showed they care. They’re trying very hard to make each and every box one that you can’t wait to receive at your doorstep, and so far, I can confidently say that they’re doing a fantastic job. Customer service like this really does justice to the snacks they’re looking to curate; from the makers of the snacks, to their selection and inclusion, to their descriptions and post-delivery surveys, it genuinely feels like care is taken every step of the way, and that’s so important for a brand like this.
Wrapping it Up
We were blown away with our first Bokksu box, and now that we’ve got several of them under our belt, I can happily say that we’ve been equally impressed with every box that has followed since. If you’re looking to take your snacking game to a more exotic, more mindful place, give these guys a try with confidence. To save a few bucks, you can use this referral link (you need to live in Canada for it to work though, sorry international folks!) to get $15 off your subscription. You won’t regret it!
