Sakuraco

I subscribed to the one month subscription. My first box arrived quickly within a week of being shipped via DHL. This was great! True to the "express shipping" claim. I placed the order Jun 7,2022 and received the box Jun 13,2022. I live in Canada and according to their shipping policies, express shipping should take 2-14 business days.

Jul 7,2022: I get an email notification from PayPal that I was charged for the next month's box. I also received an email invoice from Sakuraco. I would have appreciated a heads up email from Sakuraco about this. When you subscribe to items from other places (e.g., Walmart), they send you a courtesy email that you will be charged in 7 days for your subscription purchases as a reminder. Now that's excellent service.

I didn't receive a shipping notification from Sakuraco until Jul 17,2022 and I got a tracking number to a tracking service called "17 Track" but it said there was no tracking info and the number couldn't be found in their system. So I wait. 13 days pass and I email their customer support for help. They respond in 4 days saying that there is now updated shipping info and to please be patient and keep an eye on the tracking site. And if I don't receive it in a couple more WEEKS, to contact Canada Post for info. They also say that they are always finding and using new shipping carriers, so that's why DHL wasn't used this time around. I find in their Q&A about shipping, that they really can't do anything once a box is shipped. If my box never gets to me or gets lost, then I'm at a lost. I won't be reimbursed or have another box sent to me unless the box was sent to an incorrect address and then makes it back to them. Why would they switch a known and trusted shipping carrier for my second box? I've had excellent and fast shipping from other places via DHL.

Aug 7,2022: It's been a month since I was charged for the box and I still haven't received it. Shipping info hasn't been updated since Aug 2,2022. It's apparently in and originating from Chicago. Who knows when (if ever) I will receive my box.

I've waited over a month for my box and I don't appreciate being subject to different shipping methods when I paid $12US for *Express* Shipping. Unhappy customer here.

The Sakuraco box came quickly, was beautifully presented, and in particular the balance of treats between sweet, less sweet, and 苦い (nigai, not so much bitter, more like matcha-style bitterness) was perfect. The detailed explanation booklet gave a great introduction to the history, culture, and ingredients in each item, with perfect (native-level) English. Some of the items, like the monaka mochi fugu, came with an extra tableware item (the sakura-themed bowl) and the interactive nature of dissolving the monaka fugu to reveal the mochi and red bean sweet soup was very fun.

The snacks, tea, and cakes appear to be carefully sourced to induce powerful smell memories of Japan. In particular the roasted aromas of the もなか (monaka wafer cake) in both my Sakuraco boxes the 黄な粉 (soybean powder) were rich in 焙煎か (baisenka, the same roasted aroma which gives ほうじ茶, houjicha, its distinctive scent). The red bean confection was at once smooth and very fine grained, so you know it's a bean-based dessert without being too mealy. The baumkuchen was delightfully moist, yet not too compliant.

Balance and depth seem to be the operative words in Sakuraco's offerings - this was my second box, and it was executed just as artfully and completely as the first.

At first, I was impressed by the speed of delivery and quality of the products 2 years ago when I started with a one-year subscription, however things have deteriorated greatly and to make things worse, I was renewed a full year subscription without any warning and refused a refund despite complaining several times. Their system is totally abusive. In fact, the first year I was incited to renew my subscription for 3 months or 6 months with the gifts that they advertise as an incentive to renewal, which normally should confirm that it won't be renewed unless you decide to actively renew your subscription by yourself. Instead, I was charged for a whole year again (that's several hundreds USD) without any warning, and despite complaining and bringing that valid and logical argument above, was constantly replied, nearly made fun of in fact, that the automatic renewal is clear on the website, which is a blatant lie! This is such a dishonest organization! To make things worse, for the past year, the quality of the products have declined a lot and instead of receiving the box before the beginning of the month it's supposed to apply to, I receive it at the end of the month. It's constantly the same kinds of snacks, particularly brown sugar hard snacks or the same types of rice crackers are nearly in every box, and some low quality local junk foods that have nothing to do with a Japanese tea time experience have become more common, too. There were even a few dried beans in a tiny plastic pouch in one of the boxes that were hardly edible at all... and something I've never seen anyone eat in more than 25 years spent in Japan! I normally love Japanese snacks and there are so many things they could include there that are scrumptious, but the contents are actually tiny and/or ordinary and so repetitive. Fluffy breads (previously one a month up to last year) have all but disappeared in the past months, it's dried stuff all the way and really not that fancy nor high quality at all. I even got some broken cookies in one recent box (which wasn't from a damage in the packaging) and a limp one in another one, mentioned it and there was no compensation either. Run away! Their service is not interested in the customer's satisfaction and horribly dishonest.

Salve, ho deciso di lasciare la mia review in italiano perché la vostra incredibile box è arrivata fin in Italia. Sono deliziose, un piccolo pezzetto di Giappone :) La box di febbraio è quella che mi è piaciuta di più.