Delivery Review: Hive

I like to know I have options for getting food in the midst of these stressful times, so I recently tried an order from a company not far from me, Hive. (This is not sponsored. These are my actual, unadulterated thoughts.)

Hive is not a vegan company. Though they have a vegan filter on their website, it can't be trusted; plenty of non-vegan stuff sneaks in if you try to use it. I offered them feedback on this through their website and got no response. However, if you read the ingredient lists on everything--make sure you do!--there are plenty of great vegan options there. (It's the same with most stores, of course. Always read labels.)

Some things I like about Hive: The products all come in packaging that can be recycled, and they offer Terracycle envelopes for you if you need them at a small fee. The products are fair trade, which is important--we don't want to exploit people, and unfortunately a lot of what is sold these days is based on exploitation, particularly chocolate. Although my own haul is chocolate-heavy they have a pretty significant diversity of products. Everything they sell has to fit the "Hive Five" principles, which tilt toward sustainability, social responsibility, and quality.

They had some inventory issues so some of what I ordered wasn't available, but they emailed to tell me right away, credited me for the cost of the item, and added a $5 credit for a future order. It may be because they're pretty close to me geographically, but the shipping was super fast, too.

I was low on chocolate--and I think I may be a chocolate addict, given that it's the only stimulant I'm really medically allowed--so this is, as I said, a chocolate-heavy haul. I got three packages of TCHO bars to try (each one has three bars in it!), Holy Fudge, Dark Duo, and Toffee Time, which I'm looking forward to trying out; a Dr. Bronner's Magic bar (always delightful); a few packages of Theo cookie bites (dark chocolate and mint chocolate); some Noons chocolate bites (golden berry turmeric & mango flavor); a box of new-to-me maple cereal; a jar of Soom tahini; and some Yum Earth pomegranate licorice.

As often happens with a shipment that contains a box of something, the cereal box got a little squashed, but I think the product inside was unharmed. The box it came to me in is made from recycled paper and the filler was also paper-based; no excess plastic, which I appreciate.

I'd happily order from Hive again, but I will be very cautious about what they label as vegan (it's definitely quite obviously not a lot of the time--even beef jerky gets that label, and various things that contain milk or fish). I appreciate the impossibility of finding perfection and this is one of the best options available to me. For the moment, I am giving them a 4/5. They could push themselves up to a full 5 if the vegan filter actually seemed to do anything useful.