eat2explore
eat2explore is a New York-based, bootstrapped D2C company selling subscription cooking kits featuring authentic recipes from 24 countries, cultural booklets, and curated drink pairings, targeting families, adults, and gift buyers across global markets.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What eat2explore does
eat2explore is a New York-based, privately held direct-to-consumer company founded in 2016 that sells subscription-based international cooking kits targeting families and adults. Each kit contains three authentic recipe cards, shelf-stable ingredients (4–12 items), a shopping list for fresh produce, a 16-page Explorer Booklet with cultural context, a drink pairing brochure (with the Adult Edition curated by professional mixologists), a real cooking tool, and a collectible flag pin/passport sticker. The catalog spans 24 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East, with dedicated editions for Family and Adult customers plus specialized bundles (Explore Europe 5-box, Gluten-Free 5-box, Baking Kits) and an entry-level Starter Kit. The technology stack is a standard Shopify-based e-commerce storefront with an online membership portal providing digital content (guides, blogs, videos); no proprietary AI, APIs, or SDKs are disclosed.
The company operates a product-led growth model, monetizing through monthly subscription plans (Family Edition and Adult Edition), one-time individual country box purchases ($29.95/box), curated gift bundles, gift-wrapping add-ons, and a wholesale program for B2B buyers. GTM is entirely DTC via eat2explore.com, supplemented by a wholesale channel, an affiliate program, a Refer-A-Friend program, an active multi-platform social presence (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X, Pinterest), and consistent earned media coverage in major outlets (The New York Times, Forbes, Condé Nast Traveler, CNN, TODAY, USA Today, EatingWell, Travel + Leisure, Delish). In 2024, the company was featured in Bizbash's Corporate Gift Ideas list alongside Giadzy, Dewar's, Murray's Cheese, and Firestone Walker, opening a B2B corporate gifting lane. The most recent product expansion, All-Ages Explorer Boxes, launched in October 2025. The company is founder-owned by Sucharita and Igor, operates with 1–10 employees, and has only one disclosed capital event — a $15,000 FedEx Small Business Grant in May 2020 — indicating a bootstrapped, lifestyle-stage operating posture.
eat2explore firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- eat2explore
- Legal name
- eat2explore
- Website
- https://eat2explore.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- eat2explore is a New York-based, bootstrapped D2C company selling subscription cooking kits featuring authentic recipes from 24 countries, cultural booklets, and curated drink pairings, targeting families, adults, and gift buyers across global markets.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
eat2explore industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Meal Kits & Cooking Subscriptions
- NAICS
- Other Specialty Food Retailers (44529)
- SIC
- Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Online Meal Kits & Cook-at-Home Boxes (CRAHAIAI)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Premium Gourmet & Chef-Curated Meal Kits/Prepared Meals (CRAHAJAK), Meal kits & subscription meal components manufacturing (AFAKAHAD)
Keywords
Where eat2explore is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
eat2explore business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Others
Revenue model
- Subscription Boxes (Monthly Explorer Box): Recurring monthly subscription model offering Family Edition and Adult Edition boxes featuring one country's cuisine with authentic recipes, shelf-stable ingredients, cultural booklets, drink pairing guides, and access to online content including videos and blogs.
- Individual Country Box Purchases: One-time purchases of individual country cooking kits allowing customers to explore specific cuisines without a subscription commitment.
- Gift Bundles: Pre-curated multi-box bundles (e.g., 5-box Europe bundle, Starter Kit, Gluten-free bundle) sold as one-time purchases for gifting purposes.
- Add-on Services: Additional revenue from gift wrapping services ($2 per item) and potential premium content or affiliate programs.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Individual Country Box - Single country cooking kit with recipes, ingredients, and cultural content |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Explorer Starter Kit - Entry-level bundle for new customers |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Explore Europe Bundle - 5 country boxes featuring European cuisines |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Explore 5 Gluten-Free Bundle - 5 country boxes with gluten-free recipes |
| Subscription | Monthly | Monthly Explorer Box Subscription - Recurring monthly delivery |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
eat2explore product offering
Product offeringCore offering
eat2explore sells educational international cooking kits delivered to consumers. Each kit contains three authentic recipe cards, 4-12 shelf-stable ingredients, a shopping list for fresh items, a 16-page cultural Explorer Booklet, a drink pairing brochure, a real cooking tool, and a flag pin/passport sticker. Kits are sold individually for 24 countries or via monthly subscription (Family Edition and Adult Edition), with themed bundles (Europe, Gluten-Free, Baking) and gift options.
Product overview
eat2explore operates as a meal-kit and cooking subscription service offering a portfolio of related products. The core offering consists of two subscription tiers: the Monthly Explorer Box (Family Edition) and Monthly Explorer Box (Adult Edition), which deliver country-specific cooking kits with authentic recipes, cultural content, and culinary tools. Individual country cooking kits are available for purchase à la carte (e.g., Spain at $29.95). The product portfolio also includes themed bundles (Explore Europe Bundle, Explore 5 Gluten-Free), specialized Baking Kits, and an Online Membership Portal providing digital content. Each physical kit contains recipe cards, shelf-stable ingredients (4-12 items), shopping lists for fresh items, a 16-page Explorer Booklet, drink pairing brochures, cooking tools, and collectible flag pins. The company recently expanded its Adult Edition with curated drink pairings by expert mixologists and announced All-Ages Explorer Boxes in October 2025.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Monthly Explorer Box - Family Edition Monthly subscription cooking kit featuring authentic international recipes, cultural stories, and hands-on activities designed for families with children.
- Monthly Explorer Box - Adult Edition Elevated monthly subscription cooking kit with sophisticated global recipes, cultural insights, and curated drink pairings for adult culinary enthusiasts.
- Explorer Starter Kit Entry-level kit for exploring world cuisines at home, priced at $60 (reduced from $80). Includes hands-on culinary and cultural adventure components.
- Explore Europe Bundle 5-box bundle featuring European country cooking kits, priced at $135 (reduced from $149.75), allowing customers to travel through Europe from their kitchen.
- Explore 5 Gluten-Free Bundle Curated selection of 5 country cooking kits with gluten-free recipe options for customers with dietary restrictions.
- Baking Kits Specialized kits focused on international baking techniques and recipes from various global cuisines.
- Country-Specific Cooking Kits Individual cooking kits for specific countries including Spain, Brazil, China, Ethiopia, France, Greece, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, Ukraine, UK, and USA.
- Gift Bundles Pre-curated multi-box bundles sold as one-time purchases for gifting purposes, such as the 5-box Europe bundle and Gluten-free bundle.
Companies that use eat2explore
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
eat2explore technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
eat2explore partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor.
- GiadzyminorGiadzy (Giada De Laurentiis brand) collaborated with eat2explore as one of the corporate gift options for the 2024 holiday season, featured in Bizbash's list of 23 Corporate Gift Ideas.
- Firestone Walker Brewing CompanyminorFirestone Walker Brewing Company collaborated with eat2explore as a beer pairing option featured in Bizbash's 2024 Corporate Gift Ideas list.
- Murray's CheeseminorMurray's Cheese partnered with eat2explore as a cheese pairing/gift option featured in Bizbash's 2024 Corporate Gift Ideas list.
- Dewar'sminorDewar's Scotch Whisky collaborated with eat2explore as a spirit pairing option featured in Bizbash's 2024 Corporate Gift Ideas list.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
eat2explore competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- KiwiCo: Subscription activity crates for kids spanning STEM, art, and geography themes. Comparable as a kids-education subscription that has expanded into cultural/global crates paralleling eat2explore's offerings.
- Little Passports: Subscription box delivering country-themed kits for children with cultural activities and educational content. Closely comparable to eat2explore's family-edition model that pairs international exploration with hands-on learning.
- Atlas Crate: Geography and culture subscription for children delivered by KiwiCo with country-themed activity kits. Closely comparable cultural-learning angle to eat2explore's country-by-country format.
- Raddish Kids: Monthly cooking club subscription for kids featuring recipe kits, culinary lessons, and cultural education. Directly competes for the same families-with-children cooking-kit occasion.
- Yumble: Subscription meal service for kids delivering prepared, ready-to-heat meals. Overlaps with eat2explore's family segment on weekly kids-meal occasions, though Yumble focuses on fully prepared rather than cook-together kits.
Broad incumbents
- HelloFresh: Global meal-kit leader with broad international and family-friendly menus. Comparable meal-kit subscription category but at vastly larger scale and without the dedicated cultural-booklet content layer.
- Blue Apron: Large US meal-kit subscription offering weekly recipe boxes with pre-portioned ingredients. Comparable as a meal-kit subscription incumbent but operates at much broader scale and without eat2explore's cultural-education focus.
- Home Chef: Meal-kit subscription owned by Kroger offering weekly recipe boxes including international cuisines. Overlaps with eat2explore on the international-recipe meal-kit occasion but at retail-grocery scale.
Others
- Goldbelly: Online marketplace for specialty and regional foods from notable US restaurants and makers. Comparable as a curated, gifting-oriented specialty food retailer with cultural/regional storytelling, though focused on prepared foods rather than cooking kits.
Emerging players
- Little Spoon: Direct-to-consumer kids' meal brand delivering fresh, organic, ready-to-eat meals with a subscription model. Adjacent competitor for the same family-with-young-children meal occasion.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
eat2explore social profiles
Digital presenceeat2explore financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
eat2explore leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
eat2explore funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
eat2explore M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about eat2explore
What does eat2explore do?
eat2explore sells educational international cooking kits delivered to consumers. Each kit contains three authentic recipe cards, 4-12 shelf-stable ingredients, a shopping list for fresh items, a 16-page cultural Explorer Booklet, a drink pairing brochure, a real cooking tool, and a flag pin/passport sticker. Kits are sold individually for 24 countries or via monthly subscription (Family Edition and Adult Edition), with themed bundles (Europe, Gluten-Free, Baking) and gift options.
Is eat2explore a public or private company?
eat2explore is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was eat2explore founded?
eat2explore was founded in 2016. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is eat2explore based?
eat2explore is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does eat2explore make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Subscription Boxes (Monthly Explorer Box) is the primary driver. The others are individual Country Box Purchases, gift Bundles and add-on Services.
Who are eat2explore's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are KiwiCo, Little Passports, Atlas Crate, Raddish Kids and Yumble. Broad incumbents are HelloFresh, Blue Apron and Home Chef. Goldbelly is listed as an others. Little Spoon is listed as an emerging player.
Does eat2explore have an API?
No public API is recorded for eat2explore.
What industry is eat2explore in?
eat2explore's product category is Meal Kits & Cooking Subscriptions. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRAHAIAI, Online Meal Kits & Cook-at-Home Boxes, with a secondary code of CRAHAJAK, Premium Gourmet & Chef-Curated Meal Kits/Prepared Meals. Its NAICS code is 44529 and its SIC code is 2090.