Nitro-Pak vs. The Ready Store vs. Preparewise: Emergency Food Comparison
Do you sometimes wonder what you and your family would do for food if you were ever in a natural disaster? Not only is having an emergency food supply a good idea, it can also give you piece of mind. Hurricanes, winter storms, tornadoes and earthquakes can cause prolonged power outages, road closures and food shortages. A recent example of why an emergency food supply is important is what we saw with Hurricane Sandy.
Emergency food packages come in a large selection of meals, sizes and specialty type foods. Meals include breakfasts, lunches, dinners, vegetables, soups, grains, beans and legumes and much more. Emergency foods are available as freeze dried, dehydrated and MRE (made ready to eat).
Emergency Food Brands
Nitro-Pak
Nitro-Pak has been in business for 25 years selling emergency food and supplies. The company was founded by Henry Weyandt and is located in Heber City, Utah. They carry many of the top brand names in emergency foods including:
- Mountain House
- Backpackers Pantry
- Rocky Mountain Food Reserve
- OvaEasy Eggs
- Astronaut Foods
- Space Foods
- Datrex
- Mainstay
- Survival Food Tabs
The Ready Store
The Ready Store was founded by Jeff and Amy Davis shortly after the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and they are located in Draper, Utah. The Ready Store carries the following brands of emergency foods.
- Saratoga Farms
- Mountain House
- OvaEasy
- Datrex
- Mainstay
PrepareWise
PrepareWise was founded in 2011 and they are located in Salt Lake City, Utah. They carry only one brand of emergency foods, the Legacy Premium brand.
Emergency Food Supply Size Package Choices
Nitro-Pak
Nitro-Pak sells emergency foods in the following packages. When the company uses the phrase, 1-year supply, they mean enough food for one person for one year, which is why you will see in descriptions a 1-year package that serves 4 people for 3 months.
Supply Sizes:
- 1-year supply
- 6-month supply
- 90-day supply
- 3-14 days supply
- Family reserves
- Group reserves
- #10 cans
- Pouch
- Food buckets, which are assortments of emergency foods.
Allergen Free and Specialty Emergency Foods
- Gluten free
- Soy free
- Lactose free
- Nut free
- Vegetarian
- Pork free
- Low sodium
- Low cholesterol
The Ready Store
The Ready Store sells the following packages:
- 1-year emergency food supply
- 1 – 6 month food supply
- 6 – can ready packs
- Value buckets
- #10 cans
- Pouches
- 3 – 21 day food supplies
Customer comments about the quality of a three-year old Mountain House food pouch - The Ready Store
PrepareWise
PrepareWise labels their packages simply by the amount of servings in the package.
- 16 servings sample packs
- 32 servings meals
- 60 servings
- 120 servings
- 240 servings
- 360 servings
- 720 servings
- 2,160 servings
- 2,880 servings
- 4,320 servings
Specialty Emergency Foods
- 100% certified GMO free
- Gluten free
- Vegetarian
Pricing, Product and Calorie Information
Nitro-Pak
Nitro-Pak has a Low Price Guarantee. Their emergency food packages range in price from $392 for the Mountain House Foods 1-year vegetable pack to the Ultimate Family Preparedness Package for $8,999.00. All of the emergency food packages have a shelf life of at least 25 years.
Their best selling 1-year package is the QUIK and EZ Premier Family Reserve for $5,990.00. With this 541 pound emergency food package you will get the following:
- Enough food for a family of 4 for 3 months of breakfast, lunch and dinners. This includes meals, side dishes, snacks, desserts and beverages.
- The package will provide 2,100 calories per day per person.
- All lunch and dinner meals are 10-12 oz.
- Just add water and serve.
- A shelf life of 25 years in pre-packaged lightweight foil sealed pouches.
- Meals include rice and chicken, spaghetti with meat sauce, beef stew, chicken fajita and many more.
Other emergency food packages from Nitro-Pak include:
- Their second best selling package is the Family Dinner Entrée Pack for $1,166. This is a mix of Mountain House Foods and Backpackers Pantry dinner meals. This emergency food package consists of 412 dinners sealed in 36 #10 cans.
- Premium 3 Month Reserve for $1,100. This package has enough food for 1 person for 3 months or 2 people for 1.5 months. There are 45 #10 cans and 2000 calories per day.
- Mountain House – Easy Meal Security Pack cost $579.99 and includes 45 breakfast, lunch and dinner meals.
- Mountain House Deluxe Security Pack includes a 7-day emergency food supply for 2 people for a cost of $220. This package weighs 17 pounds and is light enough to take with you if you have to evacuate your home.
Nitro-Pak has many other emergency food packages and pricing options to choose from. In addition to emergency foods, they also sell emergency supplies like radios, first-aid kits, survival kits, water storage and more.
QUIK and EZ Premier Family Reserve from Nitro-Pak
The Ready Store
The Ready Store has a Price Match Guarantee. Their emergency food package prices range from the BASIC year supply of freeze-dried vegetables for $328.25 to the Mountain House 2000 Food Storage 12-month Supply for $9,438.96.
One of their best selling emergency food packages is the READYPrep-2000 Food Storage Supply. A 12 month supply stored in #10 cans that supply 2,008 calories per day for a cost of $3,683.25. With this package, you will receive:
- 18 cans (422 servings) of breakfast.
- 44 cans (795 servings) of lunches and dinners.
- 12 cans (312 servings) of vegetables.
- 12 cans (296 servings) of fruits.
- 24 cans (1,128 servings) of side dishes.
- 16 cans (480 servings) of pasta and potatoes.
- 5 cans (571 servings) of sauces and seasonings.
- 4 cans (108 servings) of meat, eggs and protein.
- 27 cans (1,953 servings) of milk and drink mixes.
Other emergency food packages that The Ready Store sells include:
- Mountain House 2000 Food Storage – 6 month supply for a cost of $4,722.82. This package contains 1,171 servings of breakfast, lunch, dinners, vegetables, fruits and side dishes with a total of 2,060 calories per day.
- A 6-month supply of lunch and dinner entrees for a cost of $665.95. This package contains 366 total servings with a total of 81,161 calories or 222 calories per serving.
- The Ultimate 2-Week Supply of Food Storage currently costs $199.21. This package contains 127 servings of entrees with a total of 28,380 calories or 223 calories per serving.
- 1 month supply of MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) for $607.
The Ready Store carries many more emergency food packages in different sizes and costs plus they also sell survival kits, water storage and emergency supplies.
ULTIMATE 2-week emergency food supply from The Ready Store
PrepareWise
PrepareWise also has a Low Price Guarantee. Their prices range from a current price of $280 for their 120 serving entrée bucket to $7,350 for their Premium 4,320 Serving Package. With the Premium 4320 Serving Package you will get the following:
- 36 buckets of emergency food in this package. The size of a bucket is 16.25" x 13.25" x 12.75".
- Enough emergency food for 3 meals per day for 4 people for one year.
- Each meal averages 340 calories.
- Made in the USA and certified GMO free.
- Legacy Premium uses sea salt in all of their meals.
Other package sizes from PrepareWise include:
- Premium 2160 Serving Package currently costs $3,990 and includes enough emergency food for 3 meals per day for 2 people for one year with an average of 340 calories per meal.
- Premium 720 Serving Package currently costs $1,430 and provides enough food for 3 meals per day for 1 person for eight months or 2 people for 4 months.
- One of their most popular products is the 240 Serving Package for $490. This package contains enough food for 3 meals per day for 1 person for 80 days.
PrepareWise also sells survival kits and freeze-dried meats.
120 serving gluten free emergency food package from PrepareWise
Nutritional Information
During an emergency, nutrition is important. Stress, hard labor and less sleep can occur during an emergency and it is important the food you eat keeps you healthy. Calories equal energy and nutrition, this is why it is important to make sure every calorie counts and not eat empty calories.
Nitro-Pak
Nitro-Pak does not list nutritional values for an entire day with their packages. You can find nutritional information for each meal. The following is the nutritional values for the Mountain House Chicken Stew - amount per serving size of 1 cup (54g).
The Ready Store
The Ready Store lists the total daily nutritional values for many of their packages.
For some reason, they list the cholesterol values at 0 mg, which would only be true if the meal had no meat or animal foods in them and the list of included foods do include meat products. The following two charts will compare the total daily nutritional value between the Mountain House 2000 Food Storage 12-month Supply and the READYPrep-2000 Food Storage Supply.
Mountain House 2000 Food Storage 12-month Supply:
READYPrep-2000 Food Storage Supply per day nutritional values:
PrepareWise
PrepareWise does not list the complete daily nutritional values for their packages. They do list the ingredients and nutritional value for lunches and dinner meals. This is the nutritional values for the Enchilada, Beans and Rice dinner – Serving Size 3.2 oz. (92g).
Emergency Food Nutrition and Health
Anyone that could have health problems with high sodium or high cholesterol should note that many of these foods are high in sodium and some are very high in cholesterol. The highest amount of cholesterol I found was in the Mountain House Breakfast Skillet meal with 295 mg of cholesterol per 8 oz. serving.
Both Nitro-Pak and The Ready Store packages state that their emergency foods supply approximately 2,000 calories per day. This includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, side dishes, snacks and desserts in each day’s meals.
PrepareWise lists on all of their packages that their food gives 3 servings per day with each serving providing 340 calories. This is only 1,020 calories per day. With each of their packages, they list the included breakfast, lunch and dinners, but they do not mention side dishes, snacks or desserts to increase this calorie count.
As you can see from the nutrients list of emergency foods, you could be lacking a complete daily amount of some vitamins and minerals. A good multivitamin could be helpful to store along with your emergency food supply. Nitro-Pak sells a case (12 bottles – 180 per bottle) of Super Spectrum multivitamin for $262.99 or 11 cents per vitamin. They can be stored for at least 3 years without losing their potency. The Ready Store sells LifeCaps Emergency Supplements which also have 100% of the daily value of vitamins and minerals with a shelf life of 5 years.
Shipping Costs
Nitro-Pak offers free ground shipping in the continental United States for orders over $99 and all other orders cost a flat rate of $9.95. For orders outside of the US including international orders, you can call them at 1-800-866-4876 for a quote.
The Ready Store offers free shipping on orders over $100 in the continental United States. For all other orders, the cost is a flat rate of $9.95. Orders to Alaska and Hawaii must be called in on the telephone at 1-800-773-5331.
PrepareWise offers free shipping within the continental United States on all orders. They also ship to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico for an additional charge. PrepareWise is partnered with iGlobal Stores for international shipping. Click on International Customer at the checkout.
Customer Comments
Nitro-Pak
Nitro-Pak’s customers are pleased with the products they received. A few comments from their web site include:
- “After checking other stores, your prices are the lowest”
- “Very good company, headache free ordering and delivery”.
- “Nitro-Pak has a great selection of products.”
The Ready Store
The Ready Store customers are happy with the emergency food packages they purchased. A few customer comments from a hunting website called the Skinny Moose:
- “These were a huge hit and the can emptied very fast! The flavors were fresh and the directions were dead on.” (Scrambled eggs and sausage)
- “These are honestly amazing…are you sure they’re really dried?” (Scrambled eggs and sausage)
- “Out of all the Cereals this was my favorite. Nothing tasted better first thing on a snowy morning than a good hot breakfast, an essential part of the hunt. The blueberries came out great and the flavor was intense and fresh. The portion sizes; as listed on all the cans was a little anemic. ½ cup is just not enough for any normal sized backwoodsman. So as with all the products we made a few adjustments.” (Granola and blueberries)
Customers sampling Saratoga Farms emergency food - The Ready Store
PrepareWise
Customers who have purchased emergency food supplies from PrepareWise are happy with the product and the tastes of the products. A few customer testimonials include:
- “Everything that I have had so far is full of flavor and perfect for the kids. This should last our family for a long time should we ever need to eat it. Thanks for helping us protect our family, your company has been very nice to work with.” (2/16/12) – Shelly
- “We bought the biggest package that we could find and a very pleased with the purchase. We called and worked with customer service and they gave us a great deal. Thanks for everything.” (12/28/11) – Jeffery
- “Easy to store and easy to eat. A big investment, but very worth the peace of mind. Thanks for delivering on this great package. It took forever to get all of the buckets into our cold storage unit, but we are very well stocked now. Thanks again!!!” (1/24/12) - Shea
Don’t Forget the Water
In order to eat freeze dried and dehydrated food, you need water. Hot water mainly, but cold water will work. The Ready Store lists how much water will be needed for the entire package. Each company sells water storage and water filtration products. If you are worried about a clean water supply, you can stock up on MRE’s, which do not require water. Below are some water requirements for The Ready Store’s packages listed under the Features and Specifications tab.
- READYPrep-2000 12-month Food Storage Supply takes a total of 350 gallons of water.
- Mountain House 2000 Food Storage Supply 12-month supply takes 218 gallons.
- 1-year Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) food supply takes no water.
MRE ultimate self-heating full meal (case of 12) from The Ready Store
experts in Emergency & Storable Food on Knoji.
Thank You Francois and Merry Christmas to you.
Thanks for nice information.very interesting the content of your post, a relevant question and very well explained long ago that sought by the subject of the article, thank you.
an article that sets the standard (not that they let me in!)
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Great review! Merry Christmas, Sam.