Joseph Joseph Nest Lock review: smart, space-saving food storage

Price on writing: £30 | Buy now from Amazon

If you are experiencing an avalanche of Tupperware containers whenever you open your kitchen cupboards, or struggling to find a lid that fits amongst a mass of different sizes, you’re certainly not alone. In fact, when it comes to kitchen organisation, food containers are often some of the most challenging items to store. The result? A constant struggle to find a matching pair for your packed lunch or leftovers when you need them. 

While their products don’t come cheap, Joseph Joseph is a Mumsnet trusted brand renowned for their practical space-saving solutions. The brand’s popular Nest Lock is no exception, with five nesting containers in a colour-coded design to help maximise space in your cupboards. Will simple storage be worth the significant price tag, however? Mumsnet writer Lucy put the Nest Lock to the test to find out. 

For more kitchen buys loved by Mumsnetters, don’t miss our guides to the best kettles and toasters.

Our verdict

• Design: 5/5 

• Quality of seal: 5/5 

• Versatility: 5/5

• Ease of cleaning: 4/5

• Ease of storing: 5/5 

• Value for money: 3/5 

A set of five food storage containers with an innovative nesting design, the Joseph Joseph Nest Lock makes a stylish yet practical storage solution. I loved how each container could be nestled inside the larger size for simple stacking. Even the lids clipped together in one pile, helping to maximise space and prevent unwelcome avalanches whenever I opened the cupboard door.

Each box in the set had durable snap-on lids that kept my contents airtight and prevented leaks, and I liked the convenient colour coding which helped me quickly match each lid to its container, even when short on time. 

While there’s no escaping the significant price tag, the Joseph Joseph Nest Lock offers the quality and practicality I’d expect from this Mumsnet trusted brand, but you certainly pay a premium for the benefits.

Joseph Joseph Nest Lock: design and style

It’s worth mentioning from the outset that I’m a big fan of the Joseph Joseph brand. I already have a number of their space-saving products in my kitchen including the Nest Chopping Board Set and Elevate Utensils Carousel. 

As I would have expected from this premium British brand, the Joseph Joseph Nest Lock is a smart piece of kit, with an intelligent space-saving design that really took the stress out of storing my food containers. 

I was sent the multi-coloured set - featuring five containers with transparent bases and rainbow clip-on lids in purple, blue, red, orange and yellow. If you prefer a more muted design for your kitchen, the Nest Lock set is also available in blue and green editions (currently £40 on Amazon), as well as a smaller four-piece set. 

I was really impressed that the bottom of each container is colour-coded, with a small spot helping you instantly lay your hands on the one that you need. The lids can also be clipped together and placed on top of the nest for convenient stacking, although this inevitably means it may take you a little longer to separate them when it’s time to use one.

The overall quality feels very high, with a range of sizes that make it a versatile choice for most kitchens. Safe for use in both sections of your fridge freezer, the dishwasher and the microwave, the thick plastic feels durable and hard wearing. However, like most transparent containers, it could scratch and discolour over time. 

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Leak test: how well does the Joseph Joseph Nest Lock’s seal perform? 

The Joseph Joseph Nest Lock lived up to its claim of being leakproof and airtight, with secure lids that let literally nothing escape once clipped into place. I even conducted a liquid spill test, shaking a sealed water-filled Nest container quite vigorously over my sink - not a single drop escaped.

Unlike the lids on the Lakeland Stack-a-Boxes which slot onto the base, each lid on the Joseph Joseph Nest Lock has four ‘clips’ to lock the seal into place. I did find these were a bit firmer to close and open than the LocknLock and Sistema Brilliance containers I also tested, so they could be a little harder to lock down for those with reduced mobility. 

From another perspective, however, I actually found this quite satisfying, as it provided some reassurance that the lid was securely held in place. I felt confident popping them into a bag without worrying about losing the contents. 

Related: The best American fridge freezer for food storage

What was the Joseph Joseph Nest Lock like to store?

The space-saving benefits of the Joseph Joseph Nest Lock are by far their biggest plus point, with a stackable nesting design. Russian doll style, each container fits inside the next size up, allowing you to stack the containers with one relatively small footprint inside your kitchen cupboards. 

The colour coding on the bases makes finding the respective lid really easy, and if you have other brands of containers in your cupboards, you can quickly identify the Nest Lock ones with zero container chaos. 

As some reviewers have noted, if you clip the lids into each other for compact storage, you may require two hands to separate them, as they hold in place quite securely. If you prefer the efficiency of being able to grab a container amongst the morning madness, I found pressing more lightly together ensured easy access. 

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How easy were the Joseph Joseph Nest Lock Containers to clean?

I found these containers very easy to clean, even after storing cold pasta for my lunch at work. When washing by hand, I loved the fact that the corners were curved instead of harsh right angles, meaning it was much harder for food to get stuck or trapped in between the creases of the plastic.

The Nest is also dishwasher safe on the top shelf, and I found it easy to stack in my slimline dishwasher. I didn’t experience any warping or significant damage to the containers, with just a few very minor scratches and signs of use at the end of my testing period.

Some Amazon reviewers found that their Nest Lock containers stained quite easily, especially with tomato-based sauces. I haven’t yet experienced any noticeable stains, however, I would imagine the likelihood would increase when storing sauces for longer periods or heating them through in the microwave. 

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Price: is the Joseph Joseph Nest Lock worth it?

At the time of writing, the Joseph Joseph Nest Lock will set you back just over £30 (this varies depending on the colour, however). There’s no getting away from the fact that an average price of £6 per container is a little on the steep side. That said, if you are prepared to pay a premium for style, space-saving and functionality, I feel they’re a good, if not a little frivolous, investment.

How we tested

I used the Joseph Joseph Nest Lock in my home over a period of two weeks, storing leftovers in my fridge as well as taking snacks and lunches to work in the office. I stored a range of foods in the containers including salads, cous cous, fruit and pasta. 

During testing, I carefully reviewed the Nest Lock’s overall quality and versatility, including assessing the performance of the airtight, leakproof seal. I weighed up the space-saving benefits of the nested design during storage, as well as evaluating the ease of cleaning both by hand and in the dishwasher. 

• Tested across a fortnight and used for food storage both inside and outside the home  

• Tested the ease of use and performance of the airtight lid 

• Examined the space-saving benefits of the colour-coded organisation 

• Emptied and washed both by hand and in the dishwasher 

• Cross-compared with other Tupperware and lunch box storage containers I've tested

About the author

Lucy Cotterill is a mum of two and a Content Writer at Mumsnet, specialising in lifestyle product reviews and round-ups. Having written product reviews on her own blog Real Mum Reviews since 2012, Lucy loves to research and explore the pros and cons of products, scrutinising reviews and consumer feedback to help parents make confident purchases.  

In an attempt to be more savvy with mealtimes, Lucy loves batch cooking, making the most of leftovers or creating a little extra pasta to enjoy the following day in the office. With this in mind, she's been thoroughly testing out quality food storage containers, to bring you our pick of the best - whether you’re storing food in the fridge or preparing a packed lunch for snacks on the go.  As well as reviewing products, she’s also written several Mumsnet kitchen round-ups, including the best integrated dishwasher and the sturdiest kettles for hard water areas. 

About Mumsnet Reviews

All Mumsnet product reviews are written by real people after extensive research and testing. We work hard to provide honest and independent advice you can trust. Sometimes, we earn revenue through affiliate (click-to-buy) links in our articles. However, we never allow this to influence our coverage.

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