Survival Food – Freeze Dried & MRE

I just received the email notification from Mountain House below, confirming only 3 online dealers are being supplied, Nitro-Pak, The ReadyStore, and Emergency Essentials;

Updated: 7/31/2008

Dear Valued Customers:

This is an update on Oregon Freeze Dry’s #10 can situation. Because sales remain high, we continue to be unable to meet all #10 can needs. OFD is continuing to allocate as much production capacity as possible to this market segment, but we must maintain capacity for our other market segments as well.

We are able to meet demand for Mountain House pouches and most of these products are available for purchase on our website. For a list of locations where you can purchase #10 cans, which should enable you to obtain product from reputable dealers NOW, or at least in the very near future…click hereWe also want to again clarify inaccurate information we’ve seen on the Internet. This situation is not due to sales to the government domestically or in Iraq. The reason for this decision is solely due to an unprecedented sales spike in #10 cans sales.

We expect this situation to be necessary into 2009. We will update this information as soon as we know more. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your patience. We sincerely hope you will continue to be Mountain House customers in the future.

Sincerely,

OREGON FREEZE DRY INC.
CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT
1-800-547-0244

The 3 online distributors on the list Mountain House provided are;

• Nitro-Pak
• The ReadyStore
• Emergency Essentials

One further update on Mountain House #10 Cans availability, I called The ReadyStore customer service and they confirmed they too have regular supply.

The lead time listed on their website is 3-6 weeks.

The customer service representative from The ReadyStore said shipments of individual Mountain House #10 cans, cases of 6 #10 cans, and the freeze dried food reserve packages were all shipping in that range and will continue to be available.

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I have seen reports on various sites that say that Mountain House will not be selling #10 cans on their website until the end of 2009.

This statement is correct.

I called Mountain House customer service and they confirmed this is the case. An updated notice should appear on their website soon.

However it was also being said that dealers only had limited supply of Mountain House #10 cans and after that dealers could be out of stock for as long as 20 weeks!

The above statement is not correct!

Mountain House customer service confirmed that they would continue to supply their TOP DEALERS.

The supply is limited and on allocation to these dealers due to high demand.

I called Nitro-Pak customer service and they confirmed that they will continue to take orders and shipping lead times are at present 2-4 weeks and will continue into the foreseeable future. This applies to #10 cans sold by themselves and special food reserve packages.

However since the supply of #10 cans from Mountain House is on limited allocation to dealers, if demand increases even more, the lead times will only get longer.

However you will still get freeze dried food in #10 cans if and when you order from their dealers, the question is just on how long it will take to get delivery.

Here is the latest on #10 can price increase, it is expected to be as much as 15%.

Per Nitro-pak

P.S. PRICE INCREASE NOTICE- All Mountain House #10 can freeze-dried foods & units are going up August 1, 2008 by as much as 15%. HURRY, Order NOW and Save!

Nitro-pak’s Mountain House #10 Can Selection

This message is still on Mountain House’s website;

The reason for this is sales of #10 cans have continued to increase. OFD is allocating as much production capacity as possible to this market segment, but we must maintain capacity for our other market segments as well.

Just read on Nitro-Pak’s website that Mountain House freeze dried food prices will be going up July 1st. This is the statement on Nitro-Pak’s site;

**PRICES GOING UP JULY 1, 2008:Mountain House has announced that prices will be going up on JULY 1, 2008. In order for our customers to “lock-in” todays lower food prices, we will honor the current lower prices on all orders received before this date. ORDER NOW!”

The food shortages reported in the news have resulted in increased lead times and now the food price increases are starting to be seen on survival food’s such as Mountain House #10 cans of freeze dried food and pouches. There is no indication how much the prices will increase. As the note says orders placed now will honor the current prices. Since prices tend to go up fast but back down slowly I expect the higher prices on freeze dried food to last for some time unfortunately. Single mountain house #10 cans are orderable again on Nitro-pak’s site but based on this news I think most will be stocking up on bigger food reserve packages before the prices increase.

For a lot of us including myself, the cost of buying a 6 week or 3 month freeze dried food reserve is beyond our budgets.

An alternative is to buy 1 or 2 variety case of 6 Mountain House #10 cans once in awhile.

These variety “modules” come in main course, breakfast, or 5 day 2 person “starter pak versions.

For example the “Main Course Variety-Pak #1” module at Nitro-pak features;

- Total of 68 One Cup Servings, at only $2.93 per serving.

- one can of each of the Following Entrees:

• Chicken a la King
• Chicken Teriyaki
• Lasagna with Meat & Sauce
• Pasta Primavera
• Seafood Chowder
• Turkey Tetrazini

These modules are priced from $113 per case for vegetables, to $195 for the 138 serving breakfast pak at Nitro-pak.

Over 6 to 12 months you can build up a large emergency food reserve.

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For additional information on survival food planning see Planning Survival Food – Short and Long Term

Freeze Dried Food Reserve Packages

Mountain House 4 person 3 month “dinner Entree-pak”

True food preparedness means;

1. A food reserve with variety that tastes good so people can eat and be satisfied
2. Food that is simple and easy to prepare even in a disaster
3. Food that is easy to store and transport

The new Mountain House 4 person 3 month “dinner Entree-pak” meets all of these conditions and at low price per meal.

Priced at $985 this package offers an affordable peace of mind for preparedness for your family that easy to use.

So you don’t need to be a dedicated trained survival enthusiast to be prepared. You just need to make the right prepardedness choice.

Platinum Food Reserve
Food supports 4 People for 3 Months or one person for a year.

This bulk freeze dried food reserve is (at the time of this post) for $3150 , with free shipping and a 120-day ‘no-risk’ guarantee.

“…will provide over 2000 calories per day for one person for one complete year, or a family of 4 for 3 months! It comes with a total of 168 #10 cans (large restaurant size cans) that comes packed in 28 cases for easy storage.”

Nitro-Pak is where you can get;

• Mountain House Freeze-Dried Food

• 72-hour Survival Kits

• Free Shipping on orders over $100

• 120-Day ‘No-Risk’ Guarantee

As mentioned in a previous post, Mountain House #10 cans are still available at Nitro-Pak and other online retailers but the lead times have increased to 3-7 weeks.

Today I noticed that the Mountain House #10 can individual entrees and 6 can cases had disappeared from Nitro-Pak’s website.

The mountain house freeze dried food reserves, year’s supply, variety packs, and group food reserve units were still there and on sale but with aforementioned 3-7 week lead times.

I called Nitro-pak and spoke with Lisa in customer service. I confirmed that they were still shipping food reserve packages listed above but they have temporarily stopped selling the individual #10 can entrees and cases to devote all allocated supply to their food reserve packages and 6 can cases.

Lisa said they hoped to resume those sales by June 15th. So there is no need to panic.

You can still buy Mountain House food reserves packages now at the 3-7 week lead time.

I noticed on the Mountain House website that most of their #10 cans are out of stock.

#10 cans are the best bulk freeze dried food for survival as they last up to 25 years.

Here is what Mountain House website said;

“We are sorry, due to increased sales, many of our #10 cans are currently out of stock .
Please look for our #10 cans to be available on one of our many on-line dealer websites.”

As mentioned in previous post Mountain House #10 cans are still available at Nitro Pak and other online retailers but the lead times have increased to 3-7 weeks.

Hopefully this is just temporary due to some panic buying and supply will be more easy to come by later. I also noticed freeze dried food price increase which are likely due to the same food price increases and food shortages reported widely in the news.

Where to get;

• Mountain House Freeze-Dried Food

• MRE’s

• 72-hour Survival Kits

• Free Shipping on orders over $100

How much space do you need to store an emergency food supply for a family of 4 that will last 3 months?

4′ high and 6′ long by 18″ wide.

It can easily be put along the wall of a storage room in any basement or utility room.

This is 204 Mountain House #10 cans of freeze dried food that are breakfast, lunch, and dinner for one person for a whole year.

Here is a picture;

Variety is important to any survival food strategy. So this “ulitimate” survival food pak has a selection of 19 different Mountain House freeze-dried entrees.

Facts and where to buy the “Ultimate Pak Food Reserve”;

• 204 #10 Cans Mountain House Freeze Dried Food
• 2440 calories per day
• 19 different entrees
• Free Shipping
• 120-Day ‘No-Risk’ Guarantee
• On Sale Now at Nitro Pak
  

The image on the left shows boxes of Mountain House #10 cans. The image on the right shows Mountain House pouches.

Pouches are popular with hikers, rock climbers and back-packers. Mountain house also sells them in cases as a food reserve.

They are a meal in pouch, just add water.

A Mountain House pouch can be used as a survival food reserve and are specifically packaged as such in the “just in case unit” 7 day food supply box pictured above.

This is comparable to MRE with the distinction they taste better, are easier to digest but require more preparation since you need to add water.

When you compare a pouch to a #10 can the main difference is that pouches are an individual meal. Mountain house #10 cans are a bulk, 8-10 serving food reserve unit.

More important however, pouches will store for up to 7 years at 75° F (24° C), while #10 cans will last 25 years under the same conditions.

While it is more convenient to have the pouches and they are a good alternative to MRE if you can’t stand the taste or digest MREs, #10 cans are a much longer lasting and better investment for disaster preparedness.

The exception are those people who find the contents of the pouches comparable enough to fresh food, and will consume pouches periodically for regular meals and continuously re-stock them as a food reserve for disasters. Then the 7 year shelf life is not an issue.

Finally a food reserve of the same duration in #10 cans will store in a smaller space than the pouches due to the cans being a bulk (less packaging) food supply.

In summary;

Mountain House Pouch

• More convenient package as a meal
• taste better than MRE
• Store for up to 7 years

Mountain House #10 Can

• bulk, 8-10 one cup servings of one item
• store for up top 25 years
• store more efficiently than pouches

Buy Mountain House Just In Case Unit

Buy Mountain House #10 can Freeze Dried Food Reserve