Disclaimer: Harvest Box sent me one of their boxes to try out.  They are currently running a promotion of $1 for your first order, with every registration going into The Million Punnet Draw for $2000 worth of prizes.

I am quite a keen eater of nuts. I went through a stage a few years ago where I ate a lot of them (I was stressed, not eating much else and trying to pack as many nutrients in as possible). There have been times where I’ve even made my own cereal, mainly so I can put in the nuts and dried fruit that I like, and not have to eat the ones that market research dictates.

So when Harvest Box got in touch I was interested to see what would turn up. I hadn’t heard of the company before but they’ve actually been around for a couple of years. The idea is that you order Harvest Boxes to be delivered to work and that, instead of reaching for a chocolate bar and can of cola at 3pm (yes, I have indeed worked in a software engineering environment!), you’ll be able to snack on something healthy. You nominate which day or days you’d like delivery and you get a packet of four different nut mixes.

You don’t get to choose which mixes you receive – the whole idea is that you get a surprise. But so it’s a good surprise, you rate the mixes. If you really dislike a mix, you rate it a “no thanks” and you’ll never receive it again.

In my opinion, not only does this beat the hell out of the chocolate bar and fizzy drink option but it’s probably an improvement on the sometimes very sad excuses for fruit baskets that appear in corporate environments.

My box contained: Fruit and Nut (raisin, hazelnut and dark chocolate), The K2 (banana, pepita, dark chocolate, goji berry and sunflower seed – presumably named because after eating it you’ll be so full of antioxidants you’ll be able to climb said mountain), Big Kahuna (banana, pineapple and raisin) and Bear’s Picnic (maple cashews and roasted peanuts). The mixes, around 30-40 g per package, are individually wrapped (in fully recyclable packaging) so you’re not compelled to eat them all at once.

The Harvest Box website is really easy to navigate and there’s no complicated permutations of boxes/sizes/delivery methods to get your head around – it’s $7.95 per box and you can cancel or suspend your deliveries through the website.

For anyone trapped at a desk this is a great way to keep your snacking healthy!

I should also disclose that I’d eaten my Fruit & Nut before I started this blog post and I’m a good 80% of the way through The K2 as I finish up!  So the whole portion control thing may or may not work for you!