As far as we’re concerned, you don’t need a good reason to sign up for a food or drink subscription. These 17 food and drink subscription boxes make the perfect gift for family and friends.
Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission.Reviews ethics statement
As far as we’re concerned, you don’t need a good reason to sign up for a food or drink subscription. These 17 food and drink subscription boxes make the perfect gift for family and friends.
David WatskySenior Editor / Home and Kitchen
David lives in Brooklyn where he’s spent more than a decade covering all things edible, including meal kit services, food subscriptions, kitchen tools and cooking tips. David earned his BA from Northeastern and has toiled in nearly every aspect of the food business, including as a line cook in Rhode Island where he once made a steak sandwich for Lamar Odom. Right now he’s likely somewhere stress-testing a blender or tinkering with a toaster. Anything with sesame is his all-time favorite food this week.
A coffee subscription is about as foolproof a gift as it gets. As long as the person being gifted drinks coffee and all.
I’ve tested and enjoyed many of the top coffee subscription services including Trade, Equator and many others. One stands out as particularly giftable and that’s Atlas Coffee Club. For one, the coffee comes from all over with lots of interesting roasts from Africa and Central America.
Each bag arrives as if sent by a friend (in this case it has!) with a glossy postcard and some information on both the beans and the region they hail from.
Cost: A three-month gift subscription starts at $60.
Tea Runners
You have options when it comes to tea subscriptions to bestow on someone. I tried five and one stood out as particularly great for gifting. Tea Runners nails it with curated selections of teas based on preferences. The monthly mailers are nicely arranged, wrapped in tissue paper and packed inside charming, giftable boxes.
Cost: Gift subscriptions for Tea Runners start at $26 and go up from there depending on how many boxes you order.
Shaker Spoon
Shaker Spoon sends all the ingredients (minus the booze) packaged for you to make interesting cocktails. What’s included would be really tricky to find anywhere locally so you’re having drink-making fun with some truly unique ingredients. We’re talking artisan cherry-vanilla bitters, pineapple shrub and a spritz bottle of white sage hydrosol. There are recipes for each themed box including Fall for Mezcal or All Eyes on Rye but you can freestyle with the ingredients too.
Cost: A single box is $59 (or cheaper if you gift more than one month or subscribe). Either way, it’ll lend plenty of cocktail inspiration to the budding bartender on your list.
Sweet and spicy gift subscriptions
Bar & Cocoa
Good chocolate is as safe as it gets, making this subscription a perfect gift for someone who’s tough to buy for — or a known chocolate lover, of course. Bar & Cocoa chocolate club will send some of the best bars in the biz (four full bars per month, to be exact.) And we’re not talking mass-produced Hershey bars either. Some of the celebrated chocolate producers supplying the sweets include Amano, Chocolate Madagascar and A. Morin. All are ethical, sustainable and eco-conservative. Like I said — the good stuff.
Cost: A three-month subscription starts at $135 but you can spring for a six- or 12-month run and any of them can be canceled anytime.
Fuego Box
Hot sauce people are very serious about the stuff and Fuego Box makes a perfect gift for anyone who is a bit of a hothead.
In addition to the subscription option, there are one-off gift boxes like this one with hot honey, peach habanero hot sauce and spicy garlic seasoning. Fuego Box is a small business that supports other small businesses so you can feel good about that.
Cost: Fuego Box’s hot sauce subscriptions start at $15 a month for one sauce — although $30 a month for three bottles is the better deal.
Meal kit and prepared meal subscriptions
Butcher Box
For a meat-eating foodie, a box of high-end meats is never a bad call, and your gifting options abound in 2024. We’ve tried ButcherBox several times and it stands out as the best service for gifting a meat box or subscription for the griller in your life.
Other online butchers specialize in niche beef such as KC Cattle Co‘s stock of 100% American Wagyu. Another newcomer, Porter Road, has some interesting cuts and holiday bundles, while old standby Rastelli’s will let you curate a box of meat and seafood to send. See our favorite online butchers to find a little something meaty to gift to your favorite carnivore.
Cost: ButcherBox subscriptions start at $169 for 9 to 14 pounds of meat.
David Watsky/CNET
Chocolate and snacks are a welcome indulgence but some folks might just want a little boost putting dinner together or appreciate a way to find new recipes to add to their routine. Green Chef offers some of the best meal kits for midlevel cooks with wholesome organic ingredients and a flurry of interesting weekly recipes.
The best way to give meal kits is with an e-gift card so the giftee can set up their own account and shipping dates and choose recipes for themselves.
Cost: Green Chef plans start at $12 per serving. You can score meals for up to 50% off if you’re trying it for the first time.
Goldbelly
If you’re too busy to plan a cross-country road trip to nosh on all the best eats this land has to offer, Goldbelly has a backup plan and you’ll spend way less on gas. This is the Best of Goldbelly subscription, and it includes three months of curated monthly boxes with some truly legendary food from places like New York’s Magnolia Bakery or the famed Russ & Daughters deli.
Each delivery is different and they can’t be modified, but that’s the fun of it and Goldbelly does a great job of making sure everything is packaged safely and securely.
Cost: Three months of the Best of Goldbelly is $250.
Snacky subscriptions
Murray’s Cheese
Curdbox gets my pick for most people, but hardcore cheeseheads looking for rare and intense creations might prefer Murray’s cheese subscription. Iconic New York cheese shop Murray’s has a few subscription options to hook someone up with impossibly good brie, blue and manchego cheese each month. I’ve tested the melty wares from Murray’s subscription and can confirm this is a best food club for a cheese lover.
Cost: You can prepay for three months of cheese deliveries for $65 per month ($195 total) or go all out and pay $755 for the year. Each shipment will include three to four expertly selected cheeses from the masters at Murray’s.
Wildgrain
Baking may be an ancient tradition but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Wildgrain understands and will send a monthly drop of expertly baked sourdoughs, multigrain, baguettes, croissants and fresh pasta made by a network of artisans and partner bakeries to a carbivore on your list. The bread and pastries come prebaked and frozen with specific instructions to warm them in the oven — no thawing necessary.
Most of the hot bread in my box turned out better than what’s available at your typical grocery store since that’s been sitting out for hours or longer. If it’s truly fresh-baked bread you’re after, Wildgrain is the best way to get it short of camping outside your local bake shop for when it opens.
Cost: Boxes range from $69 to $109 (shipping included) and include as many as three loaves of bread, two boxes of pasta, four pastries and 10 small desserts like apple pie bites or tartlets.
Bokksu
The Bokksu collects some of the best snacks from Japan and compiles them in a one-time or recurring monthly curated tasting box. I’ve both given and received a Bokksu and it is always a hit.
Inside the unmistakable orange boxes, you’ll find eats like seaweed tempura, green tea and lemon cakes along with Japanese candy such as yuzu gummies and matcha-strawberry Kit-Kats. What’s more, Bokksu includes some info-packed literature explaining a bit about each, including historical and cultural significance.
Cost: Bokksu subscriptions start at $30 per month and $50 for a one-time send.
The best thing about iGourmet is the seemingly endless options for gift boxes, basket subscriptions and more. I’d venture to guess that even if you’re not sure what food gift you’re looking for, you’re still bound to find it in the sprawling online marketplace of quality eats. Mouth has monthly subscriptions for everything from cured meats to gourmet cheeses. You can also peruse the gifts, where there are even more options, including gift boxes inspired by international cuisines.
Boozy gift subscriptions
Biodynamic and organic wines are more popular than ever, and it’s what Plonk Wine Club does best: curating monthly sends of unique wines from all corners of the globe.
cost: Subscriptions start at $110 for a box of four bottles. This club is pricier than other wine clubs we’ve looked at, but Plonk chooses wine of a caliber to match.
This is one for someone you really like. Or for someone who really likes tasting new whiskeys — and hopefully both. Flaviar sends include tastings and full bottles. There are also exclusive live online tasting events hosted by experts to help plug your giftee into the world of fine liquor.
Cost: You can gift them a tasting box, starting at $42 for members (registration is free), or splurge and get them a quarterly whiskey subscription, which starts at $199 for two deliveries.
More great food subscriptions
RawSpiceBar
Spice is the backbone of any great food I’ve ever had. As someone who cooks often but doesn’t have great access to fresh spices, I would love to get these on the regular.
Raw Spice Bar sends 2 ounces of a single spice or spice blend such as Indian garam masala or Japanese furikake. Plus, you get chef-tested recipes to make with each. The best part is the spices come freshly ground, unlike that stuff you get at the supermarket. Believe me, they’ll be able to tell the difference.
Cost: $15 a month.
Fulton Fish Market
Everything I’ve ever ordered from Fulton Fish Market online has been fresh, and when you’re talking seafood that’s about as important as it gets. For someone without a good fish market in their neighborhood, some quality fish by mail from this trusted fishmonger based in New York City is a total treat.
Cost: You gift your person a monthly, bimonthly or weekly subscription, starting at $75 per send. Or purchase an e-gift card anywhere from $25 to $200.
![Best Food and Drink Subscription Gifts for 2024 [CNET]](https://i0.wp.com/upmytech.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/214300-attachment.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1)
Why You Can Trust CNET
![eu-digs-in-on-digital-tax-plan,-after-us-quits-talks-[techcrunch]](https://i0.wp.com/upmytech.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/2988/eu-digs-in-on-digital-tax-plan-after-us-quits-talks-techcrunch.jpg?resize=390%2C205&ssl=1)
![hello-neighbor-label-tinybuild-lays-off-entire-versus-evil-publisher-staff-[game-informer]](https://i0.wp.com/upmytech.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/159344-hello-neighbor-label-tinybuild-lays-off-entire-versus-evil-publisher-staff-game-informer.jpg?resize=390%2C205&ssl=1)
![apple-fined-$12m-by-italy-over-iphone-water-resistance-claims-–-cnet-[cnet]](https://i0.wp.com/upmytech.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/16646/apple-fined-12m-by-italy-over-iphone-water-resistance-claims-cnet-cnet.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1)