To All of Our Friends & Customers,
We are, and have always been, committed to selling products that meet these three core principles:
- Quality- Our Customers deserve products that we personally use & are confident recommending to our Friends & Families.
- Competitive Pricing- As a leader in our category, our Current & Future Customers deserve pricing that is Fair & Accessible.
- Strong Relationships & Loyalty- We work to build strong relationships & loyalty to earn Your Repeat Business & Referrals, as well as maintain Positive Support from our Suppliers.
Whenever any single or multiple-combination of these principles is hindered, our performance drops. When our performance drops, it impacts the lives of those whose work makes our business run; it affects the blogs & websites we support; it affects our ability to create & promote educational content on our blog & social media outlets; ultimately, it adversely affects our mission of helping you prepare.
Our decision to Carry & Promote Mountain House brand freeze-dried food, while discontinuing Wise Food Storage, is a direct result of two factors that came together:
- Our Audience wants a higher-quality dehydrated & freeze-dried food storage option than Wise Food Storage.
- Wise Food Company’s interest in new growth has made giving attention to Dealers a second priority at best.
We hold no ill-will & appreciate the positive business we experienced with the folks at Wise Food Company.
We will continue to provide our Customers with Quality Products that we Personally Endorse, Competitive Pricing that is Fair & Accessible, and work to Maintain Strong Relationships with our Customers & Suppliers.
For comments or questions, please call 877-386-5238.
Yours in Preparedness & Self-Reliance,
Jeff “The Berkey Guy” Gleason
10 comments… read them below or add one
Thanks for the info.
Was there a problem with Wise Foods quality?
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More of the problems had to do with business practices with their dealers, and their constant push for new dealers all in the name of profit, in my opinion.
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Well, I appreciate your honesty. I have some of both brands, and was concerned about the quality.
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Couple of links to lab tests of Mountain House vs Wise Foods
http://safecastle.blogspot.ru/2012/08/osu-lab-test-pits-mountain-house-vs.html
http://safecastle.com/documents/OSU-Sensory-Report.pdf
“A previous recent test performed at Columbia Food Labs addressed shelf-life claims made by Wise Foods, showing the oxygen levels in that company’s food packages are extremely high and not conducive to long shelf life for the foods in those packages.”
“Now this just released university test (conducted by the Sensory Science Lab at OSU in late July of this year) shows that there is a big difference in consumer preference in taste as well. Using a representative cross-section of 113 participants, a randomized, blind tasting test of comparable Mountain House and Wise Foods varieties was conducted.”
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In other words he (Berky Guy) can make more money from Mountain House. Not that making more profit is bad. I am all for making solid business decisions.
The tests referred to above are suspect and not in any way indicative of the quality of the product. They were apparently paid for by Mountain House. Pay a lab and they can make anyone’s product look worse than yours.
Apparently Wise was putting a dent in Mountain House’s market. Fine, that is business, so compete with them, do not try to trash them with phony “Scientific Research”.
I maintain both products in my stash. Mountain House needs to get more of the Bucket type products with individual pouches out there. #10 cans are impractical for someone like me who will only have to feed himself, not the generic “Family”. That is why Wise was kicking MH butt.
Just my pre 82 $.02.
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What’s impractical about #10 cans for solos? I’ve been using some Thrive foods out of #10 cans and am perfectly happy with how it’s working.
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HH, you certainly made a lot of assumptions in your response. While any taste comparisons are subjective in nature even if Consumer Reports is doing it, I’m more concerned by the results from Columbia Food labs regarding shelf life. After all Tommy2rs provided this info not Jeff Berkley. Thanks Tommy.
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Glad to hear he quit carrying Wise Foods. I never hear anyone mention Backpackers Pantry. Been around a long time. Good stuff.
Also some of Alpine Aires foods are more pure for those with allergies.
Personally, I have them all in my food storage, but don’t think you can beat Mountain House for taste. All of the above have 25 plus years shelf life in #10 cans.
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Mountain House is all I buy for my food prep. Tasts way better than Wise. I trust them.
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Just a quick note of clarification regarding testing, if I might…
We’ve been very upfront about commissioning both the oxygen content and sensory tests. (Much though we wish it was otherwise, unbiased 3rd party labs and universities require payment in return for performing analytical services.)
We certainly understand skepticism, but both tests were very straightforward, with clear and documented methodologies. (If you can call an O2 test a “methodology” (i.e., insert needle, read oxygen content…))
Ultimately, we want folks to make informed decisions regarding their emergency food preparation. When there’s a disaster or emergency 20 years from now, that’s the last time to find out that your food storage isn’t what you thought it was.
Regardless of brand, look for proven shelf life based on real-world experience rather than hypotheticals based on unnamed studies. Look at calories rather than “servings”, calculate $/calorie, use prepared entrees as part of a meal, not the full meal itself, and *please please please* try any foods you plan to store for emergencies before you buy a great quantity.
Emergencies are stressful enough without fueling yourself with food you don’t enjoy…
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