Learn About Backpacker's Pantry Responsibly Sourced Ingredients

Get to Know the Nutritious Ingredients That Fill Your Freeze Dried Meals

Here at Backpacker’s Pantry, sourcing the ingredients we use in our freeze-dried meals is a serious undertaking. The way we see it, ingredient selection is the most important task we need to tackle.

All ingredients aren’t created equally, and we want to fuel our community of outdoor enthusiasts and adventurers with the best food around. We have a feeling you’re just as passionate about good food, so read on to learn all about how we responsibly source every ingredient that goes into your pouch.

Is there anything that ‘disqualifies’ an ingredient from being used in a recipe?

Absolutely, there are certain ingredients that you’ll never see in a Backpacker’s meal. As a general rule, we try to use whole, organic foods as often as possible in all products. Some ingredients like brown rice don’t have an organic option that we can purchase. Still, our quality standards remain high.

We’re not fans of preservatives or anything with sky-high sugar content. We do use yeast extracts in the bases of our chicken and beef-flavored recipes, but that decision was made after extensive chats with our manufacturer about the processes used to extract the yeast. The product is high-quality and non-GMO, so it makes the cut.

Additionally, you won’t find any nitrates, sulfates, sodium nitrate, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), or butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) in our meals. BHT and BHA are food additives that preserve food, and they can be found in everything from butter to dehydrated potatoes to beer.

Where do Backpacker’s Pantry’s ingredients come from?

The bulk of our ingredients are grown and processed in the U.S. and we have contacts with food brokers and distributors from around the country. They know what our customers want to eat on their adventures, so we love swapping recipe ideas and coming up with unique flavor combinations.

Additionally, we collaborate with wonderful organizations like the Savory Institute. This innovative organization works directly with ranchers and farmers. Our partnership has allowed Backpacker’s to build a fantastic relationship with a small dairy farm in Kentucky that makes hormone-free milks and cheeses, for example. Through Savory, we’re even working on an exciting grass-fed beef project with a rancher in Gunnison, Colorado.

Sourcing spices and other ingredients from around the world

We try to source ingredients domestically whenever possible, but some come from around the globe:

• Spices are shipped from our partners throughout Asia. We have shelves and shelves of spices at our Boulder factory that are combined to make some seriously delicious freeze dried meals. The turmeric we use is some of the highest quality available.

• Some veggies and fruits are grown in Central and South America.

• Pasta from Europe keeps our pasta meals tasting great, and our rice noodles are specially made for Backpacker’s Pantry pad thai.

Every Backpacker’s Pantry freeze-dried meal is made with wholesome, quality ingredients you can trust to fuel every adventure. The hardest part is choosing what to eat first!