Eat Better Food: Some Of The Best Gourmet Subscriptions For Foodies

Seafood is a healthy and delicious part of the diet, but it is even better when it is wild-caught ...

More seafood from Alaska—straight from the dock to your door every month. Many of the highest quality food and drink products are produced in limited quantities by artisans in very specific places, and these are often not available at your local supermarket or gourmet store. In addition, recent tariffs and financial uncertainly have threatened to spike the prices of certain key foodstuffs, while supply chain disruptions dating back to the pandemic still make supply of some foods hit or miss.



A recurring gourmet mail order food subscription can lock in both price and availability far in advance, while guaranteeing the highest quality, making sure you are eating and drinking the best of the best in the comfort of your own home. I have been covering the finest mail-order food for many years, here at Forbes and elsewhere, and if you are looking for one-off ordering options, check out this story I did here last year on the Best Mail-Order Gourmet Meat and Seafood . But today I am turning my attention to the best gourmet subscriptions for foodies.

When I wrote my New York Times bestseller, Real Food/Fake Food, Why You Don’t Know What You Are Eating & What You Can Do About It , I covered the entire spectrum of consumables, from meat to cheese to wine, but no single food has generated as much press and attention as extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), which has a long and nefarious history of fraud, adulteration, mislabeling and questionable quality. Already this year—and every year—there have been high-profile arrests and seizures in Europe over this issue. Unfortunately, food fraud spikes when prices rise and supply of the good stuff goes down and following one of the worst Mediterranean olive harvests in history, that is the sad story right now.

For the past decade I have been solving all the problems related to olive oil while enjoying the finest available simply by subscribing to the Fresh Pressed Olive Oil Club , and there may never have been a better time to give it a try. The world's best extra virgin olive oils make a great gift, but this club is not just for Christmas ..

. More giving! The club was founded by America’s leading olive oil tasting expert, T.J.

Robinson, aka “The Olive Oil Hunter.” His business model is simple: several times a year he travels the globe to the best olive growing regions, tries just-pressed oils from dozens of artisanal producers, chooses three he thinks are the best each quarter (and he is an internationally acknowledged tasting judge and expert), tests it, has it custom bottled for him and flies it back (most EVOO ships on slow boats deteriorating in quality all the time). He alternates seasonally between the Northern and Southern hemispheres, so each quarterly shipment is never more than the months old.

In stark contrast, three months is usually the youngest imported oil you can get in this country, and that is difficult, while some oil on store shelves can be more than two years old. Many consumers use olive oil well past its prime, but the reality is that it is literally fresh pressed fruit juice, and the sooner you get it and the faster you use it the better it tastes. That’s why three brand new bottles a quarter, offered in two sizes (250 and 500 ml) will keep you in ultra-fresh, high quality EVOO all the time.

Steven Raichlen , the bestselling author of dozens of cookbooks, host of multiple TV shows, the world’s leading authority on all things grilled and barbecued, and a winner of James Beard and Julia Child Awards, also uses the club and recently wrote, “I know T.J. because a while back he sent me a sample bottle of his amazing olive oil and asked me to try it.

It blew me away. That’s because T.J.

bypasses all the middlemen. He delivers—right to your door—the best artisanal olive oils direct from honorable, award-winning family farms around the world. And he does it right at harvest time when the olive oils are at their peak of flavor, aroma, and nutritional value.

Most important, every olive oil he imports is independently certified by an accredited third-party laboratory to be 100% pure extra virgin. As a result, T.J.

’s olive oils are nothing less than the purest, freshest, and most flavorful olive oils from gold-medal-winning producers. They are also custom-blended exclusively for T.J.

’s Club members and are available nowhere else on earth. They are out-of-this-world delicious!” In the ten years I have been getting my EVOO from Robinson’s Fresh Pressed Olive Oil Club, I’ve tried bottles from Chile, Argentina, Portugal and Australia in addition to the usual suspects, Spain, Greece and Italy, and that’s somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 bottles, 12 each year. I have never been disappointed and in fact have almost always been blown away.

Each bottle is accompanied with flavor profile, tasting notes and creative recipes, some of which are mind blowing. Everyone I have suggested the club to, from immediate family to leading food critics, has told me of the same experience. I have a lot of tips from my book when it comes to buying better quality olive oil, but if you love olive oil and use a fair amount of it, this subscription is the single best solution.

With superior flavor, texture and crazy marbling, Spain's Iberico pork is the Kobe beef of white ...

More meat, and no one carries more of it than Campo Grande. I am just back from a trip through Spain’s Basque region, and it was a stark reminder of why Spain has such a well-established reputation for producing the world’s best pork. Legendary heritage breeds like the pata negra feast on wild acorns and exquisite pork produces everything from amazing chops to the world’s most coveted cured ham.

Iberian pork is prized, and a U.S. company called Campo Grande specializes in it, offering several amazing sampler boxes with everything from racks of the best ribs you can imagine to steaks, chops and shoulders.

Most gourmet stores in this country carry high-end imported Spanish serrano ham and chorizo, but getting a rack of Iberico pork ribs is almost impossible elsewhere. They offer four curated gift box options, the Iberico Pork Box, Easy Grill Box, BBQ Grill Master Box and Ultimate Iberico Box, but you can also use the website to create your own custom box. Whatever you choose, there is a healthy discount for ordering a recurring subscription.

I’ve gotten numerous cuts of imported Spanish pork from Campo Grande and if you love the “other white meat,” this will take you to an entirely new level. Zingerman's is world-famous deli and gourmet store in Ann Arbor, MI but the very best thing they ..

. More make may be their fresh baked breads. Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor, Michigan is one of tef most famous and beloved delicatessens on earth, acclaimed for their stunning sandwiches.

But while they cure their own meats and use high quality ingredients in flavorful combos, I’ve always thought the real secret to success was their exceptional breads, each carefully chosen for the particular sandwich and all made in-house. In fact, when I got my parents in New York City a bakery subscription I was amazed by how these loaves that come frozen still tasted better than the best fresh local breads from the Big Apple’s finest bakeries—and there is probably no city in the country with better bakeries. The bottom line is that this bakery is stunning and if you love bread this club is a slice of heaven.

Zingerman’s has a printed and online catalog and robust mail order business in gourmet foods of all kinds (it’s where I get my balsamic vinegar), but because of its loyal following and decades of gastronomy success, their Artisan Bread Club has been going strong for years and is one of the best-established food subscriptions in existence. You can choose three-, six- or twelve-month subscriptions, with one or two different loaves per delivery, and there is also a more streamlined Classic Bread Club. and for those with a sweet tooth, a Sweet Bread Club.

These breads are the bomb. Who wouldn't want a monthly selection of the world's finest cheeses, complete with info and tasting ..

. More notes? If you get the bread subscription above, the perfect paring would be cheese. But even if carbs are not your thing, it’s hard to pass up the world’s finest cheeses, and that’s why Murray’s Cheese in New York, one of the planet’s greatest cheese mongers, has such a loyal following.

They are an excellent retailer but also an educator, offering regular cheese classes in their New York headquarters. But you do not have to live in the Big Apple to enjoy Murray’s finest offerings, thanks to their robust slate of Cheese Clubs —and cheese and meat charcuterie clubs, and even a macaroni and cheese club. The entry level Cheese Explorer’s Club sends three half-pound selections monthly, including one special pick not sold in the store and reserved just for club members.

From there the clubs add accompaniments such as fig jam, olives crackers and charcuterie, and come in several levels. The Mac & Cheese club delivers two 32-ounce containers of creamy bliss and is a one-of-a-kind offering. There’s no better way to indulge your love of dairy creaminess while learning about all sorts of new cheeses and regions.

If you love meat, you will want to "meet" the Butcher Box from Porter Road. Nashville’s Porter Road is an artisan brick and mortar butcher that works with local family farmers in neighboring states to obtain high-quality, ethically pasture raised poultry, beef and pork, all without hormones or antibiotics. They then sell their excellent wares over the counter and nationwide.

I have tried many things over the years from Porter Road, and they have remained one of my favorite mail order meat outlets, but there are two ways in which they stand apart. First, they have some of the most reasonable prices and shipping policies in this category. Secondly, their in-house butchering really stands out in the form of their house-made hot dogs, sausages, salamis and even dried beef sticks, the best I have tried.

These are all product categories where if like me, you prefer drug free natural meat, it is much harder to find, and there are not a lot of outlets for links of chorizo, kielbasa or breakfast sausage made with such quality meat. From steaks, chops and chickens to ground beef and bacon, Porter Road delivers, and their Butcher Box subscriptions let you choose one of their curated selections and save 15% , with the option to switch boxes at any time, and your choice of frequency from every 2-8 weeks. You can also customize if there are different products you want.

The pre-selected boxes include a unique “Breakfast Heaven” option for early risers, and there’s a box for grilling fanatics. If you like meat across the board, including beef, chicken and pork, it’s hard to beat Porter Road. The best wild-caught seafood from Alaska in perfect individual packages: salmon, cod, halibut, .

.. More rockfish and more.

I learned a lot about aquaculture and imported seafood while researching my book (the vast majority of seafood in this country is imported, often with obscure origins), and as a result, I now try to buy only wild-caught domestic fish, which means a lot from Alaska. The Last Frontier is one the world’s greatest, cleanest and most sustainable fisheries, and in Alaksa it’s all wild-caught—fish farming is illegal across the board. Wild Alaskan Company is just what it sounds like, a purveyor of the state’s finest, “A monthly seafood membership that delivers sustainably-sourced seafood to your doorstep.

” You choose one of three boxes offered or customize your own. One is just wild salmon (coho and sockeye), there’s a white fish box (halibut, cod, pollock) and a combo box (all of the above plus rockfish). The fish is filleted into 6–8-ounce portions and individually vacuum packed, making it really easy to use no matter how many people you are feeding.

It’s also a perfect food club for the single diner. For each box you can choose two different sizes and while the basic plan is monthly you can opt for every month and a half or two months and you can change the schedule anytime if you are traveling. They also offer fresh specials to members depending on catch, options such as Dungeness crab, prawns, scallops and snow crab.

I had some of their halibut out of my freezer a few nights ago and it was great. One other option is to go fishing in Alaska yourself, as many of the best lodges will clean, cut, vacuum pack and freeze your catch to take home, giving you a year’s worth of world-class seafood. I did this and wrote about it here at Forbes , and it is an experience I highly recommend.

During the pandemic I started making sushi and sashimi at home, and for that I relied on seafood shipped from the Honolulu Fish Company. It’s important to note that in terms of legality or labeling regulations, there is no such thing as “sushi-grade” or “sashimi-grade” fish, that’s just marketing spin places use to get you to pay more or trust more. If I am going to eat fish raw I am very careful who I trust, which is why I go with HFC, which supplies many top restaurants and big-name chefs nationwide.

They work only with fishermen in Hawaii who use ethical practices, send their agents down to inspect every catch, and buy and sell only fish that are properly caught from sustainable species. For sushi or sashimi—or cooking—it's hard to beat the quality from Honolulu Fish Co. The quality is exceptional and on any given day they might have up to 30 species native to Hawaiian waters.

There’s always fantastic ahi tuna, and often swordfish, hamachi, snapper, kanpachi, sea bass and more, all wild caught (with the exception of salmon, not found in HI). They have a couple of subscription options , including the budget-straining “Sushi Night Twice a Month,” an indulgent thousand dollar a month habit with a delivery every two weeks. But the more attainable option is Bring the Whole Family Night, with a once-a-month delivery of a mix of the best catch of the day, typically three kinds of fish totaling 1.

5-2.5 pounds, plus accompaniments such as real Japanese wasabi (you probably don’t want to know what you have often been served when taking out sushi), high quality soy sauce and dry ingredients, for $350. Monthly deliveries of curated single-origin coffees from the best producers around the world, .

.. More complete with tasting notes and info Coffee is one of the most widely consumed agricultural commodities on earth, and most households use it.

But no matter how much you think you know about coffee, there are a lot of different styles and flavors and it comes from a lot of different places. A great way to narrow down what you really like without sacrificing any quality is through a subscription from Atlas Coffee Club , which like its name suggests, curates the best beans from around the globe. Atlas does nothing but subscriptions, and its Coffee of the Month Club includes a selection of single-origin coffees with tasting notes ad history for each bag.

You build your own club in the most specific way imaginable, choosing first whether you want ground or whole bean. The grind option is so detailed that if you pick it, you then choose from six different grind options, from French Press to drip to pour over and they even offer a specific grind for those who use an AeroPress machine. If you use a Keurig (K Cup) or Nespresso machine, Atlas can supply its own version of pods for those, with its fresh ground especially selected coffee, which is pretty impressive.

Then you select your roast preference from three levels, the number of bags you want in each shipment, and how frequently you want deliveries (every 2 or 4 weeks). The logistics are great, the taste even better. If you love coffee, you will love Atlas.

Bison is a great alternative to beef, but it can be hard to find all the steaks and cuts delivered ...

More by Force of Nature. I have long been a fan of bison, which is almost always raised under better, more natural, free ranging conditions than beef cattle, is easy to find in a drug-free state, and is leaner and arguably healthier than beef, yet with the same robust red meat flavor. The biggest issue with buying bison is simply availability, and while many supermarkets now carry ground bison, getting steaks or other cuts is still quite challenging, especially at the mail order gift box level.

Unless you choose Force of Nature. Force of Nature is a mail-order meat specialist focused on regeneratively-raised meats produced with the highest quality farming techniques, and they offer beef and chicken too, but where they standout is the much harder to find meats including elk, venison, wild boar and yes, bison. The Bison Box is a selection of ground meat, sausage, steaks (ribeye and New York Strip) and it comes in three sizes with a discount for subscribing to repeat orders.

I tried the meat, it is excellent, and I love the way it is raised and produced. If you want to get more exotic you can choose a box that adds venison and some of their other products—there really are not many good mail-order outlets for naturally raised wild boar. There are a lot of wine clubs, but none quite like Ancient Wine Club .

Not surprisingly, the brains behind this are the Ancient Wine Guys, a foursome of Ph.D. archaeologists and historians who also worked in the wine industry.

Their shared passion for wines and history led to the club, which they describe thusly: “We select our wines not only for their impeccable quality, but also for their unique links to the history, geography, culture, mythology, and stories of the ancient world. Since we have collectively spent decades as wine buyers, carefully curating selections for a range of customers and budgets, we aim to feature wines that both respect history and aspire to be part of making it.” Taste your way through history with 4-bottle quarterly shipments from Ancient Wine Club, complete .

.. More with historical education.

Each 4-bottle shipment has a theme, such as one past shipment called Realms of Order: Wines of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, with selections form Cyprus, Lebanon and Turkey (this one being a 100% Bogazkere wine you are unlikely to find at your corner store). From Tarraco to Tarragona: Portrait of an Iberian City featured all wines from Spain’s Catalonia region, which would not be unusual in and of itself, except these are deep dives, such as one bottle that is 60% Macabeau and 40% Xarel-Lo, again, not your typical Spanish wine found in this country. Each shipment comes with essays by the Ancient Wine Guys about the delivery’s history, geography and archaeology, with expert tasting notes and pairing advice, and this is a really fun and interesting way to expand your knowledge of wines and the entire world, learning while imbibing—an educational drinking experience.

At $100 per quarter for four bottles, it’s also one of the most affordable subscription club indulgences out there today. Artisinal ice cream maker Salt & Straw has exploded across the country, but you don't have to leave ..

. More home to enjoy it. I sometimes make ice cream at home, from scratch, and it is delicious—but a big pain and a lot of effort.

If you use quality ingredients, a must for good results, t’s also more expensive to make yourself than to buy even the most ultra-premium brands on the market. That’s why as back-up I have ordered from Portland, Oregon’s famed artisan producer Salt &Straw, whose popularity has spread nationwide, with shops in spots like New York City. Salt & Straw uses traditional practices such as sourcing all of its milk from a local fifth-generation dairy farmer who eschews the growth hormones and antibiotics common in the dairy business and combines these with modern cutting edge gastronomic science to create intricate flavors and textures few—if any—other brands offer.

Think Chocolate Malted Potato Chip Pancake or Coffee and Stonefruit Marmalade. Salt & Straw’s subscription boxes come in equally eclectic options, including a rare Dairy Free version—try finding that elsewhere. The basic “Pints of the Month” club ships five distinctive flavors each time (you choose every one, two or three from months).

If you are not as open to random experimentation, you can opt for the Best Sellers Club, with more basic but still fun choices including Chocolate Gooey Brownie and Sea Salt with Caramel ribbons. If you have a sweet tooth, it’s hard to beat..