Texas in a Box
Locally focused subscription box company has cure for homesick Texans
If you have any homesick Texans in your life, this new offering from Batch might be just what the doctor ordered. The subscription box company is embarking on a six-month Tour of Texas.
Inspired by its January expansion into Austin, the Nashville-based Batch wanted to offer a broader sampling of Lone Star tastes. It is procuring locally made artisan foods and products in six cities, starting with Austin in April.
Subscribers for the full tour get one box a month for the five months thereafter, with selections from San Antonio (May), Fort Worth (June), El Paso (July), Houston (August) and Dallas (September). Each box contains four to five items, with descriptions and information about their origins.
Complete six-month tour subscriptions are $200, and you must sign up by April 1. Single city packages are $40. Batch also does specialty gift boxes, with prices starting at $29.
Co-founder and CEO Sam Davidson says they haven’t finalized all of the Texas offerings, but people can expect a “healthy balance” of items from all six cities. “Be on the lookout for things like BBQ sauce, salsa, candles, soap, popcorn, cookies and mixes,” he says. In Austin, some of the local purveyors have included Barton Table, Cornucopia Popcorn, Bona Dea and Kellie’s Baking Co.
Davidson says Austin was a logical place to expand, because of its “awesome reputation as a unique, flavorful city” and its many opportunities to showcase local makers. Does the Tour of Texas indicate a desire for a full-time presence in the other cities? Not necessarily, although he does admit they will be looking at them “through that lens.”