Ichigo, the parent company of SakuraCo and TokyoTreat, asked me to review a TokyoTreat box. If you aren’t familiar with TokyoTreat, it’s a monthly subscription service that sends you a curated box of candy and other goodies from Japan. Most of the goodies aren’t readily available elsewhere or, as is often the case, you didn’t know the goodies existed!
The box TokyoTreat sent me is summer themed with flavors associated with summer, such as banana and watermelon. I was surprised about the weight! The box weighs around 3 pounds (or close to 1.5 kg for my metric readers). As you can see from the photos, the box is stuffed!
If you can’t read Japanese, each box ships with a booklet that discusses the theme, Japanese cultural practices surrounding the theme–summer in this case, and descriptions of the goodies. The booklet is glossy and vibrant with facts and other bits of information peppered throughout it. The booklet covers allergy information for each item and if the item is suitable for vegetarians or not. That vegetarian note is a nice touch!
I was pleased to see the surprise KitKat bag. Japan has wonderful KitKat flavors that I wish were easily available here in the States. I have yet to try a flavor I didn’t like! Fair warning: it is summer, so expect your KitKats to be melted. But they are individually wrapped, so just stick them in your fridge for an hour or so or just leave them in room temperature for a bit to harden up again. A few other goodies melted but, again, you can’t expect too much with the heat summer brings anymore.
I’ve eaten the items in the box at one time or another. Marshmallow treats are a common addition. They are usually fruit-flavored, in this case banana. The banana flavoring differs from the usual artificial banana most goodies have. It lacks the slight chemical after-taste. Some of the flavors are exotic (that is the point of the box, after all!) like the pollock roe-flavored puff stick. Don’t be afraid to try them! I was pleased to see Yaki Edamame crackers. I’m a sucker for them.
If you’ve never tried snacks from a different country, beyond the difference in flavors, the portion size may be strange. Namely, the portions are small, far smaller than what you get in the US. Some of this is so TokyoTreat can put in more variety, but American portion sizes are far too large. Portions sizes contribute to the obesity problem. After all, most of us are trained and inclined to clean our plates. The serving sizes of the TokyoTreat box, because they are individually wrapped, give you a good taste without overloading you on calories. That is, if you make the box stretch! The treats are also lower in Calories (or kilocalories as labeled) than most American goodies. Many of the treats weigh in at just 30-70 Calories per serving. I remember seeing at the local grocery store Hostess goodies that weigh in at 700-800 Calories per serving. Quite a difference in approach!
Normally, a box like this would last me at least 2 weeks. I nibble. But because I’ve already ate most of the goodies in the box in the past, I could’ve offered you my ranking of favorites as soon as I opened it:
- KitKat (I received the Cafe au Lait, which I like as much as the Matcha)
- Yaki Edamame Cracker
- Kakinotane
- Banana Castella (I’m fond of red bean paste filling)
I rank the marshmallow treats about equally. I’m not a big marshmallow fan, but they are good. I have to admit that I didn’t try the soda included in the box. I haven’t drank soda pop in more than 10 years. Soda pop is far too sweet for me now (which the Chupa Chups is low calorie, so therefore not super sweet), and I don’t like carbonation. There’s always one or two items in these boxes that either I avoid or, as in the case of the fried SakuraCo treats, trigger my IBS. I have a sensitive digestive system so I have to avoid many foods. Fortunately, in this box only the bottle of Chupa Chups sits on my avoid list. The watermelon seed ramune candy was a new one for me. It had more of a minty flavor than a watermelon flavor. The mini-milk balls taste like M&Ms before Hershey ruined their chocolate recipe. The potato chips taste like Shearer’s kettle chips.
Overall, I enjoyed the TokyoTreat box. As far as I can tell, the company doesn’t offer a single box purchase, which is unfortunate. At my library, the Youth Services Coordinator wants to run a “Taste of Japan” event for the teens, but it will just be a one-time event. I suppose I could sign up for the monthly service and then cancel after I receive the box for the event, but allowing for a single month purchase would be better.
If you enjoy a curated box of goodies, I suggest giving it a try for a month or so. Shipping was faster than I expected, and everything arrived in one piece, barring summer melting many things, but honestly, I expect that sort of thing. It doesn’t change the flavor. The Sakusaku Cookies in this box were melted into a single block. TokyoTreat and its sister box Sakuraco offers treats you may not know about or can get easily yourself. It is a fun surprise to open the box without looking up what’s on the menu for the month. It would make a great surprise gift.
Okay, so now I have to add the (terribly filmed) obligatory unboxing video for all those who like that sort of thing. My cat was pestering me off camera at the time, so you will see me show many packages upside down at first look along with a wonky camera angle.
