ORDERS ARE NOW OPEN FOR 2024! PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW ORDER CUT-OFF TIME IS SUNDAY 5PM

FAQ / Contact Us

For any inquiries not answered by our website, or if your inquiry is urgent, please send us an e-mail.

Quick Links:

For all Subscription information, click here

For all Delivery/Pickup information, click here

For more Ingredients information, click here

  • What do you mean by "Zero Waste"?

At Yum Jar we are determined to help our customers reduce their waste, so we have created a Zero Waste Cycle that is super easy to follow, and at no extra cost to you. We reuse all our glass jar containers, our ice-packs, our herb trays, and even our cardboard boxes for as long as they are in good condition! All you have to do is remember to leave your previous box outside for collection with the empty, clean jars, herb tray, and lids, and the icepacks (defrosted) when your next order is being delivered. You'll be amazed at how reduced your rubbish and recycling becomes!

We're also buying everything in bulk in our kitchen to reduce packaging, returning containers to suppliers, and avoiding plastics and packaging that cannot be recycled as much as we can. We are now only sending half a household-sized bag of rubbish weighing less than 1kg per 1000 meals sent out to customers per week! The waste created is mostly things legally required in running a commercial kitchen, which we are always looking for better solutions for. We are sending all our compost to Edible Earth Garden in Porirua, recycling all our paper/cardboard/tins/aluminum and any unavoidable #1, #2, #5 and soft plastics. We are saving and taking all our soft plastics to the soft plastic recollection bins at the Warehouse and Countdown, and our bottle caps to the Sustainability Trust. Any occasional broken glass we take to the glass recycling ourselves so it doesn't go to landfill. We never recycle what we can just reuse!

  • What staples do I need to have in my pantry?

We include everything you need in our boxes except a few optional basics. We recommend having the following in your pantry:

- Olive Oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Sesame Oil, and Coconut Oil are our most recommended Oils, but you can always substitute your preferred oil into any recipe- or omit it altogether if you prefer!
- Salt & Pepper

You can purchase all of the above ingredients (and many others) as add-ons to your box from our Zero Waste Pantry Goodies Shop!

  • How long do the recipes take to cook?

All our recipes are designed to take the average home cook with basic skills and equipment less than 30 minutes from Box to plate! We include freshly prepared sauces and toppings (all made within 24 hours of your box delivery) in our meal boxes to greatly simplify and speed up the process.

  • How do you safely and hygienically reuse the jars?

When we receive empty jars back from our customers regardless of how clean they look they are hand-washed in the sink, put in our large commercial dishwasher, and thoroughly sterilized to ensure they are 100% safe for re-use. We ask our customers to wash all their jars and lids thoroughly with hot water and cleaning detergent before returning them to us. This reduces our washing time significantly and makes it a lot safer (and less gross!) for our staff.

  • Can you collect my jars if I’m not ordering this week?

Yes! If you aren't ordering again in the near future (ie. a month) you can email to ask us to recollect your box, or order a Jar Collection. We have limited capacity for these each week. If you are only away for up to a month and intend to reorder soon, please hold onto your jars for that time.

  • Can I donate other jars or ice-packs to you?

Yes please! We are always keen to receive extra jars to use and prevent from being recycled when they can be reused! Pop them in your box before you return it to us - but please make sure they are usable, clean jars and good icepacks only - we aren't a recycling service!

  • Is all the food Plant-Based? Is that the same as vegan?

Yes! Our definition of Plant Based is the same as Vegan, therefore no products derived from animals or insects have been used. For example, we don’t use: meat, dairy, poultry, eggs, honey, fish or shellfish products. We’re using a wide variety of vegetables, legumes, fruits, and other locally sourced, minimally processed, natural ingredients to create our delicious, nutritious recipes each week. We do occasionally use ingredients such as GMO free Tofu and TVP (soy protein) to add extra nutrition and variety to our recipes. We create a few ‘dairy alternatives’ for our recipes, so you will occasionally see terms like “cream” or “parmesan” used to describe these – but don’t worry, they are 100% vegan!

For more ingredients info, check out our Ingredients page!

  • Is your food Coeliac-safe?

All of our meals have a Gluten Free option. There is no gluten used in any of our pre-prepared sauces/dips/flour mixes. The only gluten products in our kitchen are dried pastas/noodles.  We store and package all gluten containing products separately and carefully, so the contamination risk is as low as possible. 

As much as we are extremely careful, we cannot completely guarantee all products we buy are completely risk free. Some bulk products we buy may have been processed before entering our kitchen on machines that while also carefully cleaned between use, may have processed gluten.

  • Is our food Organic?

Short answer: No. Long answer: while we do buy some organic goods, we don't do it as a rule. We want to keep Yum Jar accessible and affordable, and going 100% organic would come with a significant price increase to our boxes.

  • Do I have to Subscribe?

No, subscriptions are not mandatory with our service. However, if you choose to subscribe, you will receive a 5% discount on your order and each continued order in the same subscription, but the minimum amount of time before changing/cancelling your order is after paying for 2 deliveries. 

For all subscription information, head over to the Subscription FAQs page!

  • How much is it per meal?

The bigger the box, the cheaper per meal it becomes! For example, our smallest box is the Box Creator - 2 Recipe, 2x portions, and costs $15.63 per meal, whereas our largest box, the 20-meal Couple Goals Box, is only $11 per meal.All Boxes have their price/s listed at the top of their descriptions. 

Bigger family or household? Going on a group trip and need easy meal prep for more than 4 people? You are absolutely welcome to order multiple meal boxes depending on your household's needs, but we do require that all delivery orders made for the same address are delivered on the same day - as we have limited time and capacity for deliveries.

  • My preferred option says "Sold Out"

If everything on the website is "Sold Out" that means we have reached our order capacity for the week and closed our orders.
If you’re after something that is "Sold Out" on your preferred delivery day, but other days/products are available, just email us about it - we may be able to help and get your order in on the day you would like!

  • How long does the food in my meal box last?

Each box's meal components all have a safe-to-eat lifespan of approximately 1 week from delivery*, if all precooked food and veggies are kept fresh in the fridge, and other dried goods** are kept sealed in a temperate area.
*Any fresh leafy greens may perish faster than this, so we recommend eating the meals with them in first.
**The Corn Tortillas we use may look like shelf-stable items, but please keep these tightly sealed and in the fridge or they may grow mould.

  • I'm pregnant, is your food safe for me and my baby?

Most of our food will be completely fine for pregnant people. Plant Based diets are in general far less risky than diets containing meat or dairy products. Our precooked sauces will be safe for you to eat as long as the ones that require heating are heated to above 75 degrees Celsius, for at least 2 minutes. The only possible things to look out for might be coconut cream and coconut yoghurt, which we would recommend you eat within 3-4 days of the box delivery, and anything containing tahini, which presents a risk if uncooked. We would also definitely recommend washing all your veggies well, but we hope everyone does that anyway! Our products are not specifically designed for pregnant people, so we recommend you seek advice from your GP for more specific health information.

  • Can I freeze my sauces?

Yes! Most of our sauces will be fine to freeze for up to 2 months, and to eat once thawed and then reheated to above 75 degrees Celsius for more than 2 minutes. When freezing, please transfer the sauce to a container other than our glass jars, as these may break in the freezer. Make sure you freeze things before 1 week from their delivery! We also recommend consuming everything within 2 months of freezing. If you're unsure about what to/not freeze, just email us!

  • I work/live outside your delivery zone! Can I order?

Provided you can Pick Up your order from our Rongotai kitchen, you can definitely order from us! See the Delivery/Pickup page for more info. If you cannot pick up, and your address isn't far outside of our Delivery Zones email us with your address and we will see what we can do. 

  • Can I cancel my order?

Yes, to cancel your order, please email us. Cancellations requested before 9am on Monday the week of delivery will receive a full refund. After this time, cancellations may not be able to be fully refunded, but just get in touch and we will figure out the best option possible.

  • How do I change my Address/Phone Details?

To change your Address or Phone Number, log into your account, and click the "View Addresses" button displayed below your address. Click "Edit" button below the the address you want to change. Edit the Address or Phone number. Check the "Set as default address button", and then "Update Address". Please make sure to delete any old addresses from your account if they are no longer needed. Important: If you have a subscription you need to go into your subscription to edit your address as well or the subscription will use your old address! Also, if your order has already gone through for the following week, you will need to let us know about the change.

  • How do I know my card details are secure?

When you purchase by credit or debit card our website directs you to Stripe processing to take your details. The only thing our system retains are your profile details, the rest is secure in the banking system. Once your purchase is approved you will be brought back to the Yum Jar website. Your order needs to come back for it to be confirmed and for both of us to receive notification of your order.